Mike Vukovcan AMBRIDGE– It was an impressive start to the Ambridge All-Star Tournament for the Hopewell 9-Year-Old Team.
With two games on the schedule today, things started with a matchup this morning against Seneca, in which Hopewell showed plenty of character.
HOPEWELL VS. SENECA VALLEY:
Trailing 8-0 going to the top of the 5th inning, Hopewell made a tremendous comeback and finished the game with an 8-8 tie.
Maddox Kennedy led off the 5th by reaching on an error, which was followed by a single to center field by Quinn Zappas. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Zappas and Kennedy then scored on another error by SV on a ball hit by Deacon Ankrom. After a walk to DJ Towler, Michael Kurta grounded out to short but on the play, both Ankrom and Towler both scored to make the score 8-4.
The inning continued as Jordan Peck then singled on a fly ball to left field with 2 outs, which was followed by a walk to Brody Benson. Jonah Honess then stepped to the plate and clubbed a trip to left field, scoring Benson and Peck. Because of a 6-run scoring limit, the inning ended with Hopewell trailing 8-6.
With 1 on and 1 out, Honess came in to relieve Aaron Ackerman, which pitched a solid 3 innings, allowing just 2 runs and striking out 4 batters. After taking over, Honess went on to strike out the next two batters, which gave Hopewell a chance to either tie or take the lead.
In the Top of the 6th, with 1 out, Bennett Beron reached on an infield single. Next up, Kennedy hit the ball in play and reached on an error by the SV third baseman. Hopewell then tied the game as Ankrom doubled to center field, bringing in both Beron and Kennedy.
With no extra innings, Hopewell needed to record 3 outs in order to preserve a tie and that’s exactly what they did, but it wasn’t easy.
Two runners for Seneca Valley reached with 1 out and they attempted to push the issue. SV attempted a double-steal, but Hopewell’s catcher DJ Towler was up to the task as he gunned the runner out at third base. The game then ended as Honess fielded a ground ball back to the mound and threw over to first base.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 8 SENECA VALLEY 8
HOPEWELL VS. BLACKHAWK:Â
Game two wasn’t nearly as challenged as Hopewell jumped out to an early 6-1 lead and never looked back. The Vikings out-hit Blackhawk 14-3 and went on to a 12-4 victory.
Jordan Peck got the start for the 9-year-old team and went the first two innings giving up just 1 hit, 1 run, while striking out 3 batters. Aaron Ackerman pitched the next two plus innings and was fantastic, surrendering only a single, no runs and striking out 5 batters.
Taking a look at the Vikings Box Score: Jordan Peck, Brody Benson, Jonah Honess, Ackerman and Tristyn Trkulja all collected 2 hits apiece. The top 4 hitters in Hopewell’s lineup (Peck, Benson, Honess and Ackerman) went 8 for 15, with 8 runs and 4 RBIs.
SCORING SUMMARY-
Top of 1st: After jumping to a 1-0, Hopewell added two more runs on 2-run single by Maddox Kennedy. Then Quinn Zappas followed that up with a 2-run single to center field, scoring Kennedy and Bennett Beron. Hopewell led 5-0 after one inning.
Top of 2nd: After 2 outs, Jonah Honess came up with a clutch RBI single to score Peck and Hopewell led 6-1.
Bottom of 2nd: Pitching with a 5-run lead, Peck had an easy second inning as he struck out two of the three batters that he faced.
Bottom of 3rd: Ackerman relieved Peck in the 3rd inning and was very effective as Aaron struck out two batters. Blackhawk did get a runner to 2nd with 2 out but he was thrown out trying to steal third by Hopewell catcher Maddox Kennedy.
Bottom of 4th: Things started out shaky as Blackhawk’s first two batters reached base, but Ackerman then settled in to clean things up but striking out the side. It helps to get out of jams when you have a fastball that Ackerman possesses.
Top of 5th: Speaking of Ackerman, he led off with 5th with a line drive double to center field and he scored on a 2-out error by Blackhawk. Hopewell led 7-1.
Top of 6th: Hopewell then busted the game wide open with a five run sixth inning. Trkulja started things with a single to left field and after moving up to second on a wild pitch, Tristyn scored on an RBI single by Michael Kurta. Michael moved to second on the throw to the plate and then scored as Peck drove him in with an RBI single. Like Kurta, Peck also moved to second base on the throw and scored as Benson came through with an RBI single. The next Hopewell batter was Honess and he ripped an RBI double to center, scoring Benson. The final run came home on an RBI groundout by Kennedy, which brought in Honess.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 12 BLACKHAWK 4Â
Hopewell starts the Ambridge Tournament 2-0 and will likely earn either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed tomorrow in bracket play.
Good Luck Hopewell!!
