Mike Vukovcan RACOON TWP– The Western Pa. Pony League Organization has 16 teams this season ranging from Beaver, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Ambridge, Central Valley, New Brighton and Riverside. Many of these team enter multiple teams, which is the case with Hopewell.
Last night, the two Hopewell teams squared with Coach Hoffman’s squad taking on Coach Reed’s group at Racoon Municipal Park.
These two teams are evenly in terms of talent, although Team Hoffman’s team was missing a key contributor. That aside, it was a close game until late when Team Reed pulled away with big 5th and 6th innings to away with a 15-9 win.
Here’s a look at some of the standout performers from tonight.
TEAM REED:
-Jaxsen Covalt: 2 for 4 at the plate with 3 runs scored, 1 walk and 1 RBI. Covalt also entered the game in the 3rd inning and pitched 2 scoreless innings, striking out 3.
-Andrew Arzberger: 4 for 5 at the plate with 4 RBI. Andrew also pitched the last 2 innings, striking out 6 batters.
-Liam Rankin: Liam had a 2-run single as part of his teams 6 run 5th inning. Rankin also made a couple nice plays defensively at 3rd base.
-Some of the other Hopewell kids with RBIs last night for Team Reed were Nico Yannessa, Ethan Adams and Connor Reed.
TEAM HOFFMAN:
-Ryan Gaguzis: 2 for 2 at the plate, along with 2 walks. Gags also scored 3 runs and made an above average play in center field.
-Tyler Hoffman: 1 for 3 at the plate, along with a walk. Tyler scored 2 runs and also drove in 2 runs with a triple. Hoffman also played a solid game behind the plate.
-Luke Vukovcan: 2 for 4 at the plate. Luke drove in 3 runs and also scored 2 runs. Luke started for Team Hoffman and went 4.1 innings allowing 5 earned runs and struck out 6 batters.
-Noah Honess: Noah drove in 2 runs tonight for Hopewell.
*The biggest difference in tonight’s outcome was team defense. Team Hoffman’s squad committed an uncharacteristic 7 errors, compared to just 1 for Team Reed. It’s almost impossible to win making that many errors, especially when you’re going up against a quality opponent.
Next up for both teams- Team Reed will take on undefeated Beaver tonight. Best of luck guys. Team Hoffman has a day off before they’ll host Riverside on Thursday.
