Mike Vukovcan Hopewell Township– It’s not only baseball season in Hopewell but the Vikings Softball team is gearing up for the start of the 2025 season.
This afternoon, Hopewell hosted Riverside in a scrimmage at Hopewell High School. On Monday, Hopewell took part in their first scrimmage of the season and lost to New Castle, 13-6.
Today, thanks in part to great pitching, Hopewell turned things around as they shut out Riverside, 6-0.
Tremendous job on the mound today by Kara Barkovich, Allison Ramaley and Alana Covalt as they held the Panthers to 0 runs and only 3 hits. Barkovich got the start and went 2 innings, allowing 1 hit, walked two and struck out one. Ramaley pitched the 3rd and 4th innings, allowing only 1 hit, 0 walks and struck out 2. Covalt closed things out allowing just one hit.
The fact that Hopewell struck out only 3 of the 18 batters meant that Riverside put the ball in play and credit to Hopewell for playing solid defense, committing only 2 errors.
Riverside only had a couple of chances to score and when they did, the Hopewell defense was rock solid.
In the top of the 1st, Riverside put runners at 1st and 3rd with 0 outs, but Barkovich got a strike out, followed by a tremendous double play turned by Victoria Mann, Covalt and Ramaley.
In the top of the 4th, the Panthers got a runner to 3rd with 2 outs, but Ramaley came up with a strikeout to end the inning.
Hopewell scored their runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings, with the 4th being the big inning as the Vikings plated 4 runners.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Hopewell scored the first run of the game when Marina Pinchotti scored on a wild pitch with 2 outs. Hopewell led 1-0.
In the four-run 4th inning, Ramaley drove in Barkovich with an infield single, to make the score 2-0. Then with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Pinchotti each on an error by the Riverside right fielder and all three runners scored to make the score 5-0 Hopewell.
The final Hopewell run came home in the 5th inning on an RBI single by Mann, which brought in Claire Sarkis.
The Hopewell Varsity softball team returns to action on Monday when they travel to Blackhawk for another scrimmage.
