Mike Vukovcan BEAVER– Ryder Kostrick is one of the most talented young athletes in the Hopewell School District.
Along with being an outstanding basketball and cross-country runner, Kostrick excels on the baseball field as well.
This afternoon, the 8th grader got the start for the Hopewell Junior High baseball team and pitched a no-hitter leading the Vikings over Beaver, 5-0. Keep in mind, Kostrick did this against a team that had 9th graders on it.
Big-time performance by Kostrick as he went 5 innings, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and striking out 7 batters. This game was only 5 innings because it was the first game of a double-header between the two teams.
Hopewell pitcher Ryder Kostrick
This game got off to quite the start as Hopewell leadoff hitter Vin Smetana swung at the first pitch and hit a HR to right field. Nice job Vin!!
“I was watching the pitcher warm-up, and I saw him throwing high in the zone, so I went to the plate thinking he was going to throw me a high fastball,” Smetana told Vikings Sports Now. “He did and I’m happy I could help my team by putting a good swing on it. Ryder was great on the mound tonight. Great team win.”
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
That run was all Kostrick needed as he cruised through the Beaver lineup.
In the bottom of the first, Kostrick set down Beaver 1-2-3 with a strikeout, pop up and ground out to Smetana at shortstop.
In the bottom of the second, another 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout, a groundout and a pop up to Smetana.
In the bottom of the third, Kostrick struck out two batters along with getting a ground ball to Wade Enders at third base.
Hopewell was able to add on in the top of the fourth. Kostrick led off with a single and after advancing to third with a stolen base, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Nico Yannessa, Hopewell led 2-0.
Hopewell added 3 more runs in the frame, courtesy of a couple Beaver errors along with an RBI single by 7th grader Kruz Krotec, which scored Liam Rankin, Hopewell led 5-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kostrick struck out the first two batters and closed things down by getting a groundball to Smetana at shortstop.
Ryder needed 3 outs in the 5th to pick up the no-hitter and a Hopewell win and he did exactly that!
“It feels really good to pitch the complete game no-hitter,” Kostrick told VSN. “But it wasn’t just me that made the no-hitter happen as everyone contributed and I got great defense behind me. Offensively, our team did good scoring 5 runs. I could’ve done better at the plate but overall, I’m very happy with what I did on the mound today.”
“Going into the game, I was a little bit nervous but as the game went on, my confidence just boosted through the roof and that’s a big reason for my performance. The confidence my teammates had in me also definitely helped me, especially when I was down 3-0 in the count a couple of times. I could hear them rooting for me and I was able to come back and record the outs. I set a couple goals for myself this season but throwing a no-hitter wasn’t one of them but I’m extremely happy that my teammates and I made it happen.”
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 5 BEAVER 0
Congrats to this Hopewell (Blue team) Junior High team as they’re now 2-0. Both of their wins have been shutouts.
Hopewell returns to action this Saturday when they travel to Blackhawk.
