Mike Vukovcan SHALER TOWNSHIP– In the last tournament of their Hopewell Youth Baseball careers, two members of the 12-Year-Old All-Star team had moments that they won’t forget.
Elliott Mancos and Austin Gallagher belted homeruns, their first as Hopewell All-Star players, as the Vikings defeated the Mon River Mudcats, 11-1 in 4 innings.
Gallagher paced Hopewell’s lineup going 2-for-2 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs. Mancos went 1-for-2 with 3 RBIs, Wade Enders went 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs and Kruz Krotec was 1-for-2 with 1 RBI and 3 runs scored.
The Hopewell coaching staff only needed to use their pitchers for 4 innings as Krotec and Enders each went 2 innings. Krotec started and allowed 1 hit, 1 run, while striking out 5 batters. Enders finished things up allowing 1 hit and striking out 4 batters.
SCORING SUMMARY-
Top of 1st: Wes Gigliotti led off the game with a walk and went on to steal 2nd and 3rd base. Gigs then scored as Krotec reached base on a Mon River error. Krotec stole second bae and then scored on an RBI single by Enders, Hopewell led 2-0.
Top of 2nd: Mon River scored a run in the bottom of the 1st but Hopewell quickly added to their lead. Gallagher led off the 2nd with a single to center field, which was followed by a walk to Colby Cunningham. Mon River made a pitching change but Mancos gave him a rude introduction. On a 1-2 pitch, Mancos cranked a ball to deep RF for a 3-run HR, Hopewell led 5-1.
Top of 3rd: Krotec led off the inning with a walk and immediately stole 2nd. For the game, Hopewell players stole 12 bases. Next up, Enders hit a sharp ground ball to left field, which brought in Krotec, Hopewell 6-1.
Hopewell wasn’t done. Henry Dunn then reached on an infield single, which was followed by a walk to Rhett Rankin. Mon River made a pitching change and ironically, the same thing happened with the next batter as it did the first time with Mancos. Gallagher stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and on a 1-0 pitch, Gallagher took the ball the other way and planted it over the right field fence for a GRAND SLAM!! Hopewell 10-1.
Bottom of 3rd: Enders took over for Krotec in the 3rd inning and went on to strike out the side.
Bottom of 4th: Leading 11-1, Enders stayed on for the 4th and finished things up for Hopewell. The first out came on a fly ball to Cunningham in center. Enders then struck out the next batter on 4 pitches. Then after two runners reached, Enders then ended the game by getting a ground ball to Mancos at second.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 11 MON RIVER MUDCATS 1
Hopewell will start bracket play tomorrow with a record of 1-1 and they’ll open up play with a 10 AM matchup against Bauerstown.
