Mike Vukovcan HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– Winning isn’t easy at any level so when it happens, you should enjoy it.
Tonight, Coach Ryan Rinaldi’s Hopewell 9/10-year-old Sadler Landscaping team took on Hopewell’s Coach Winiarski’s squad.
Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.
This was a tremendous game with solid pitching on both teams but the difference in the game was Team Rinaldi scoring 6 runs in the 5th inning, which propelled them to an 8-5 win.
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
This was a gutsy win for a number of reasons, first and foremost because of Hopewell 10-year-old Deacon Ankrom.
First of all, Ankrom was called upon to pitch in the 5th inning as he was brought in with the bases loaded with 0 outs and his team leading just 6-5. Ankrom on to strike out the next two batters and then fielded a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
Then in the final inning with his team leading 8-5, Ankrom was struck in the eye by a sharp comebacker to the mound. Coach Rinaldi and his staff immediately went out to check on Ankrom, who told the coaches he was OK and wanted to finish the game.
Ankrom collected himself and went on to record three straight outs, 2 liners to Jonah Honess at third base and fittingly a strikeout to end the game.
Tip of the cap to you Deacon for displaying your toughness.
Coach Winiarski jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 4 innings but after being shut down over the first 4 innings back by Jordan Pe, Team Rinaldi kept battling and eventually broke through in the 5th inning.
Declan Rinaldi and Honess started the inning with back-to-back singles, which was followed by a 2-run single by Tristyn Trkula, who had an outstanding game.
Ankrom then singled to drive in Trkula, which gave them their 3rd run. Team Rinaldi then tied the game at 4 on back-to-back singles by Mason Thumm and Kade Glass. Team Rinaldi then took a 6-4 lead following a single by Micah Zughaib.
Team Rinaldi then added 2 more runs on a RBI single by Jackson Kleckner, which scored Will Vukovcan, who was hit by a pitch. The other run scored on a RBI groundout by Grayden McNally.
Outstanding pitching tonight was turned in by multiple Hopewell pitchers:
Peck- 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 K’s
Tourney- 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 K’s.
Trkulja- 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 K’s.
Ankrom: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks and 3 K’s.
