It Was a Special Night of Baseball in Hopewell

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It was a fun night of baseball at the Kane Road Complex!

Although a few games have been played there prior to this, last night was officially ‘Opening Night’ for 2025 Hopewell Youth Baseball.

Luckily, the rain wasn’t an issue and all three fields were filled with kids from Hopewell playing baseball.

Hopewell Youth Baseball President Jon Lavia put a different spin on the evening as the players competed against each other in a pickup/sandlot fashion. Instead of playing against teams from different leagues, Lavia and the Hopewell Board wanted to make it all about Hopewell and getting all kids involved.

For the kids in Little League, players from Team Homer Nine (Mancos) were added to either Team A&S FCU (Dunn) or Team Yesionek. Players who don’t normally pitch were given the opportunity to do so and Team Yesionek moved players around to positions they don’t typically play. 

For the kids in Minors, the teams were picked “sandlot” style.

At the Coach Pitch Level, they broke the 6 teams down into two 3 team slots, and split players up to evenly distribute them from whichever team had the fewest players available.

The kids had fun competing against each other and from the leagues perspective, it was a tremendous success.

The highlight of the evening was what took place prior to these games. In a tradition that was started many years ago with former President Dave Gill, seniors on the Hopewell High Baseball are honored and recognized.

Hopewell Youth Baseball presents these seniors with gifts and then the players throw out a pitch from the mound. The players received a wooden a ‘Forever Viking Plaque’ and a picture collage celebrating their years growing up through Hopewell Youth Baseball.

This is a neat and meaningful time because playing on these youth fields is where things all began for these seniors.

Last night, David Medich and Logan Butter were in the spotlight! Those two players were joined by current members and the coaching staff from the 2025 Hopewell team.

Tonight was a powerful reminder of what makes Hopewell Baseball so special.

All in all, it was a tremendous night for the players and the league. Also, a big shoutout to Kylie Ackerman and Laura Giering for having the concession stand up and running very efficiently. On a night like last night with so many families and kids, you need food and beverages and the workers at the stand did a tremendous job.

Vikings Sports Now spoke with Lavia who was very happy with how everything played out last night.

”I thought last night was a great success for Hopewell Baseball, on a number of levels,” said Lavia. “We were fortunate that the weather held. We had amazing attendance, especially considering that the Glow Dance was happening concurrently. It was great that we were able to honor Logan and David, and recognize their families for their impressive commitment to Hopewell Baseball. It was a great touch of class by BJ Rankin to have the JR high team present to support the seniors, but I expect no less from someone of his character.”

“It was a group effort and the ultimate celebration of Hopewell Baseball, and what the sport means to our residents,” said Lavia. “It’s more than balls and strikes, it’s the friendships and bonds made along the journey. The tears and the laughter. Baseball is a game of managing failure, and that’s always an easier task to tackle when you have a great group of friends and teammates by your side.”

“I want to thank our amazing Board for making this happen, and all of the members of the Hopewell Baseball community who were able to attend last evening, and make it a night to remember for players from the Coach Pitch to Varsity levels.”