Home Tags Posts tagged with "George’s"
Tag:

George’s

Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hoffman Pitches Hopewell into the Pony League Finals

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

RACCOON TOWNSHIP-The Hopewell Team Hoffman Pony League team finished the regular season undefeated in large part to having an extremely deep and balanced roster.

The batting lineup had a number of players that capable of having big games, while also having a deep pitching staff with the ability to quiet the opposing lineup.

When you have both of those elements, you’re still capable of winning if one of the other had an off night.

That’s exactly what happened tonight as Hopewell took on Ambridge in the Beaver County Pony League Semifinals.

This was a game dominated by pitching, fortunately for Hopewell, Tyler Hoffman had his A-game and was extremely dominant leading the Vikings to a 6-0 win.

Hopewell’s Tyler Hoffman

Hoffman pitched a 7-inning complete game shutout, allowing just 6 hits, 0 walks and striking out 7 batters.

A big thumbs up to the Hopewell defense as they played an error free game and backed up Hoffman on the mound.

Hopewell was able to win despite only recording 2 hits in the game and much credit to the Ambridge starting pitcher Lucas B. Fortunately for Hopewell, they were able to take advantage of 3 Ambridge errors and reached base 8 times courtesy of walks.

The two Hopewell hits were collected by Hoffman and Rankin, while the 3 RBIs were from Vin Smetana, Hoffman and Liam Rankin, all coming on ground ball outs.

TONIGHT’S GAME RECAP:
This game had two huge moments where Hoffman was at his very best.

1ST INNING- Ambridge led off the game with a double and that was followed by a steal of third base. So, Ambridge had a runner at 3rd base with 0 outs but didn’t score. Hoffman recorded the first out on a strikeout and followed that with a fantastic defensive play. The Ambridge hitter hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Hoffman was able to grab, then with his momentum going toward the plate, he tagged the runner as he was attempting to score from third base. The inning then ended with a ground ball to Channing Yesionek at second base.

2ND INNING– Ambridge led off the inning with a single, but that threat was ended as the next batter grounded into a 4-6-3 double play (Yesionek to Smetana to Connor Reed).

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

3RD INNING- Hoffman started the inning off with a strikeout, followed by a ground ball back to the mound and the inning ended on a fly out to Nico Yannessa in right field.

4TH INNING– Out No.1 came via a flyout to Evan Vogel in left field and the inning ended on a really nice defensive play. Ambridge hit a deep fly ball to left field. The runner had an easy double but tried to stretch it to a triple. That didn’t work as Vogel made a strong throw to Smetana in short left field, who then threw a strike to Austin Gallagher at third base, who put down the tag on the runner.

5TH INNING- Hopewell was leading 3-0 but Ambridge once again looked like they were going to get on the scoreboard as they opened the inning with a double and a single. After the runner at first stole second base, the Bridgers had runners at 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs.

Hopewell looked to be in trouble, but Hoffman came up big. The next Ambridge hitter attempted to lay down a bunt down third base but Hoffman quickly fielded the ball, looked the runner at third back and threw over to Reed at first for out No. 1. Hoffman then followed that up with a strikeout, followed by a pop up to Gallagher at third.

Big time pitching and possibly the biggest sequence of the game.

6TH INNING- Hoffman started off the inning with a strikeout, then got a ground ball out to Yesionek at second base and then a fly out to Kruz Krotec in center field.

7TH INNING– Hopewell tacked on a few more runs so Hoffman was working with a 6-0 lead going to the last inning which was more than enough. The inning started with another ground out to Yesionek at second followed by a strikeout. Following an Ambridge triple, Hoffman fittingly closed the game out with a strikeout.

FINAL- HOPEWELL 6 AMBRIDGE 0

“I felt more and more comfortable as the game went on especially with the team playing lights out defense behind me,” Hoffman tells Vikings Sports Now. “Our team is locked in and ready to play in the championship.”

NEXT UP– The win moves Hopewell/Team Hoffman into the 2026 Beaver County Pony League Championship, where they’ll take on No. 2 seed Riverside. This will be a Best of Three series, which is scheduled to get underway on Thursday at Raccoon Field.

The first pitch is scheduled for 6 PM, let’s do our best Hopewell to come out and try and support this team as they attempt to win a championship.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Baseball

Two Hopewell HS Baseball Players Win Travel Tournament in Virginia!

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Kids that grow up playing sports, dream one day of becoming major league/professional athletes and traveling around playing in major venues.

The fortunate ones that get to live out that dream are very few so if you get a chance to experience something like it, it would still be special.

This weekend, two members of the Hopewell HS Baseball program were in Virginia competing with their travel baseball program, the Beaver Valley Red 15U team.

Sophomores Luke Vukovcan and Andrew Arzberger took part in the Hokie Classic, and the neat part is that games were played at Radford University and Virginia Tech University, two D-1 programs.

The facilities and turfed fields that these two played were incredible, especially at Virginia Tech. For example, the scoreboard at Virginia Tech showed pitch by pitch stats, such as MPH of the pitcher, spin rate, exit velo, etc. Getting to see how fast each pitch was being thrown was something everyone enjoyed.

To make things even more memorable, both Vukovcan and Arzberger played well and to top the incredible weekend off, Beaver Valley Red were champions of the Hokie Classic.

The tournament consisted of 5 games, although Vukovcan only played in 3 games (returned home to Hopewell for his brother’s graduation party).

Here are the combined stats, batting and pitching, for the two players:
Arzberger (5 games): 3-for-12 with a 2B, 3 RBI, run scored. Andrew also pitched 2 innings, allowing 2 hits, 5 runs and 1 K.

Vukovcan (3 games): 4-for-6 with a 3B, 2 RBI, a walk and was hit by a pitch. Luke pitched 4 innings, allowing 0 hits, 2 ER and 3 K’s.

It was pretty neat to see both players record hits at these venues, not to mention extra base hits. Here were a couple of Vukovcan’s hits, including the triple.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

One other thing to show is the way third game of the weekend ended. BV was winning 8-7 in the last innings, but the opposing team had the tying run on second base with 2 outs.

The hitter then hit a sharp single to center field, but BV center field Max Torboli fielded the ball quickly and threw an absolute pea to Vukovcan at the plate, who applied the tag. Game Over!

Arzberger and Vukovcan are fortunate to be members of this really talented Beaver Valley Red squad as it’s comprised of very talented players throughout the WPIAL and Ohio.

The quality depth of the pitching from top to bottom is incredible with players such as Blake Swinning, Carson Gates (Burrell), Christian Meyer (North Catholic HS), Dante Cascavilla (Mohawk), Dylan Hamilton (Beaver HS) and Gavin Latchaw (Beaver HS).

All of these players just finished their freshman seasons and will be names to watch over the upcoming years in the WPIAL (Swinning is from Ohio).

The other fun thing is that the entire roster can hit so no matter where you are in the lineup, scoring runs is a legitimate possibility.

Hitting Leaders from the Weekend:
Swinning: 8-for-13
Harvey: 4 hits and 7 RBIs
Hamilton: 6-for-13
Meyer: 2 hits, 4 RBI
Glaser: 4 hits, 4 RBI
Torboli: 5-for-10
Gates: 3 hits and 4 RBI

By the way, Virginia Tech and Radford won’t be the only big-time venues that this team plays in this summer season. In a couple of weeks, BV Red 15U will travel to South Bend, Indiana to play at Notre Dame.


Lifetime memories were definitely made over the weekend!

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Youth Baseball

Zac Seech With CAREER GAME to Lead Hopewell to Over Ambridge

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

AMBRIDGE– We’ve had a lot of tremendous individual performances in the Hopewell Youth Baseball League this season, but none were better than the show Zac Seech put on this week.

Seech is one of the better players in the 11–12-year-old league and has had plenty of big games in his career but none better than what he did Thursday night.

How about this for a stat line: Seech ended the night going 3-for-4 with 3 homeruns, one of which was a grand slam and 7 RBI as Hopewell/Trey Thomas Images defeated Ambridge, 17-6.

Seech homered in the first, get grand slam in the second and blasted a solo HR in the 4th.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

Seech wasn’t the only Viking with a big game as Bowen Smith and Wes Gigliotti both went 3-for-4, Owen McGovern was 2-for-2, Carter Dicicco was 2-for-4 and Hayden Grant went 1-for-3 with an RBI.


The top five batters in Hopewell’s lineup (Smith, Gigliotti, Seech, McGovern and Dicicco) finished the game an incredible 13 for 18 with 12 runs, and 10 RBIs.

A few of those players also had good days on the mound as Smith, Seech and Gigliotti pitched 4 innings, allowing just 2 hits, 1 earned run, allowed 2 walks and struck out 5 batters.

The win improved Hopewell Trey Thomas Images record to 5-1.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Youth Baseball

Trio of Hopewell Youth Baseball Pitchers Combine for No-Hitter

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Plenty of exciting things are happening in the world of Hopewell baseball as the High School program is still alive in the PIAA Playoffs and one of our Pony League teams are undefeated and looking like the No. 1 seed in the Beaver County Pony League Playoffs.

It doesn’t end there as last night as something exciting took place in Hopewell Youth Baseball, the place where all it begins for future Viking baseball players.

Three Hopewell pitchers combined for a no-hitter, as Hopewell’s Team Winiarski defeated Freedom, 10-0.

Congratulations to Hudson Lavia, Jordan Peck and Coleson Orie who pitched the No-No!! Great job guys.

In the 9–10-year-old-league, pitchers are only permitted to go 2 innings. Lavia got the start and was nearly perfect, allowing only 1 walk and striking out 2.

Hopewell’s Jordan Peck

Peck pitched the 3rd and 4th innings and didn’t walk anyone and struck out 4 batters.

Orie then had the pressure of keeping the no-hitter intact and that’s exactly what he did and struck out all 6 batters he faced.

Hopewell’s Coleson Orie

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

A couple things that stood out is that Lavia, Peck and Orie only walked 2 batters, which is impressive for this age of kids. Also, they were very efficient with their pitch counts- Lavia (30 pitches), Peck (20 pitches) and Orie (26 pitches).

As is always the case in no-hitters, the pitchers are aided by a couple solid defensive plays that preserve the no-hitter and that was the case last night.

In the bottom of the 1st, first baseman Cam Winiarski knocked down a hard ground ball that deflected to second baseman August Arostegui, who picked it up and threw it to Winiarski, who got back to the bag.

In the bottom of the 3rd, a hard ball was hit up the middle that shortstop Jordan Peck knocked down, the ball deflected over to second base, where Colton Eiler picked up and stepped on second base for a fielders choice.

Offensively, Hopewell collected 11 hits and were led by Levi Magnone and Peck, who both had 3 hits apiece.

RBI getters for Hopewell were Peck (3), Magnone (2), Winiarski (1), Orie (1), Lavia (1), Eiler (1) and Cash Lockerbie (1).

All in all, congrats on the no-hitter Lavia, Peck and Orie.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Youth Baseball

Defense and Strong Pitching Leads Hopewell’s Team Rinaldi (9-10-Year-Olds) to Win Over Undefeated South Side

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– In any level of baseball, whether it’s the high school, minor leagues, MLB or youth baseball, strong pitching and defense will give you an excellent chance to win.

Last night, Hopewell’s Team Rinaldi (Sadler Landscaping) 9-10-year-old team was going up against South Side/Wilson, which came into the game with a perfect record of 7-0.

This team from South Side has been dominant this season, averaging 13 runs per game so this was going to be a challenge for Hopewell.

However, thanks to outstanding starting pitching and strong defense, Hopewell came away with a 7-4 win.

Last week, Team Rinaldi defeated another team from South Side, 13-10, which also came into the game undefeated.

That was until they took on the Vikings!

STRONG PITCHING!
Total team win but it was no doubt sparked by the 4 pitchers that took the mound- Tristyn Trkulja, Jonah Honess, Mason Thumm and Declan Rinaldi. Big time performance!

Trkulja got the start and went 2 innings, allowing just 1 hit, 2 runs (1 earned run), 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

This performance continues Tristyn’s strong recent outings on the mound. In his last 3 games, here are his combined stats: 6 innings, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Honess went the next 2 innings, giving up just 1 hit, 2 runs (0 earned runs), 0 walks and 3 K’s. Thumm pitched a perfect 5th inning, striking out 2 batters and Rinaldi closed the game out, allowing 2 hits, 0 runs and 0 walks.

OUTSTANDING DEFENSE!
The pitching was strong and were helped out by their guys in the field.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

1st Inning: Trkulja fielded a comebacker to the mound, Kade Glass recorded an out on a nice fielder’s choice at second and Micah Zughaib ended the inning by catching a flyout to right field.

2nd Inning: Trkulja struck out the side in the second.

3rd Inning: Rinaldi caught a fly ball at short stop and Grayden McNally fielded a ground ball at 3rd base and threw the runner out at first.

4th Inning: Honess struck out 2 batters and the final out came on another ground out to third base. A shout out to the first baseman on the team (Will Vukovcan and Trkulja) who’ve done an outstanding job catching the throws over to first. It seems like a simple thing but that’s never the case when you’re dealing with 9 and 10-year-olds.

5th Inning: Thumm recorded 2 strikeouts and the other out came on a line out to Rinaldi in center field.

6th Inning: Honess caught a lineout at shortstop, Rinaldi fielded a groundball at pitcher and the game ended on a groundout to Honess at shortstop.

HOPEWELL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS:
*McNally, Honess, Trkulja, Glass and Nick Hughes recorded hits for Hopewell.

*With only 5 hits, the Hopewell hitters did a nice job at not swinging at pitches out of the zone as they drew 11 walks. Thumm with 3, Vukovcan with 2, McNally with 2, Rinaldi with 1, Honess with 1, Zughaib with 1 and Cullen Harcum with 1. Jack Stager also reached base twice as he was hit by a pitch two times.

Team Rinaldi (Sadler Landscaping) has now won 4 of their last 5 games and will return to action next Tuesday when they travel to Freedom.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Youth Baseball

Hopewell 8-Year-Old Coach Pitch Shuts Out Freedom, 5-0

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

FREEDOM– Hopewell’s Salute 2 Service 8u team picked up their third win of the 2026 season on Monday night with a 5-0 victory over Freedom.

Rarely do you see a team pitch a shutout in coaches pitch but that was the case last night as Coach Mack’s team was tremendous defensively.

A great example to highlight that point was a play that occurred early on in the game.

The Freedom hitter connected on a nice single to the outfield. After fielding the ball, Hopewell right fielder Maverick Linza threw it in to second base (which is the proper fundamentals). From there, second baseman Enzo Markowitz, who was covering the base, scooped up the ball, ran towards the runner, who made a wide turn of first base. Markowitz then threw a strike to 1B Cohen Biller, who caught the ball and put the tag on the runner.

Great job Vikings!!

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

Offensively, Hopewell piled up 22 hits in the game and were led by Biller, Eli Rodgers and Markowitz, who each had 4 hits. Michael Linza had 3 hits. Lorenzo Ferrozzutti, Jake Brunton and Maverick Linza had 2 hits apiece and Luka Pierce also had a base hit.

RBI getters for the Vikings were Biller (1), Rogers (1), Michael Linza (1), Pierce (1) and Brunton (1).


Hopewell’s Salute 2 Service will return to the field tonight as they take on Hopewell 5-Matthews.

 

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Baseball

On Senior Day, Hopewell Baseball Pulls Out Important 3-2 Win Over Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– The Hopewell Vikings hosted the Blackhawk Cougars this afternoon in a game that was meaningful in many different ways.

Let’s start with, it was Senior Day, which meant that seven members of the Vikings program were playing their last game at Joe Coella Field.

Tip of the cap to Hopewell seniors Kingston Krotec, Charlie Smetana, Logan Triscila, Ben McDonald, James Gill, Payton Korker and Drew Donovan. Those gentlemen have meant a ton to the Vikings program both on the field and the culture they’ve created for the younger players.

The game had more meaning than just the emotional aspect of Senior Day because this was a very important game in the standings.

Hopewell entered today trailing first place Blackhawk and Beaver by just one game in the standings. Although they’ve already clinched a playoff berth, playoff seeding was on the line as they could still finish anywhere from first to fourth place.

Right-hander Kingston Krotec got the start and as he’s done all season in section competition, Krotec came up with a clutch performance as Hopewell pulled out a late-inning 3-2 win.

For the sixth time in six section starts, Krotec went the distance, pitching 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. In all six section starts, Krotec gave up 2 earned runs or less.

The game was tied at 2 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, when Hopewell scored an unearned run to take the lead.

Offensively, Gill led the way for Hopewell with 2 hits, while McDonald, Donovan, Krotec and James Armstrong picked up a hit apiece.

HOPEWELL/BLACKHAWK GAME RECAP-
*Top of 1st: With a runner at first and 1 out, the Vikings defense turned a twin killing as the Cougars hitter grounded back to Krotec, who turned a 1-6-3 DP

*Bottom of 1st: Hopewell got on the scoreboard first as Armstrong and Krotec led off the game with singles and Armstrong scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Smetana, Hopewell led 1-0.

*Top of 2nd: Blackhawk tied the game at 1 and were threatening to get more but Krotec ended the inning with a strikeout with 2 runners on.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

*Top 4th: Blackhawk scored a run in the third inning to go up 2-1 and their leadoff hitter started the 4th inning with a double. After a sacrifice bunt, Blackhawk had a runner at 3rd with 1 out, but Krotec was tough as he recorded a strikeout and an inning ending groundball to second baseman Collin Davis.

*Bottom of 4th: Hopewell tied in the game in the bottom of the frame. Donovan led off with a single and advanced to second on an error. Following a Gill single with 2 outs, Ben McDonald came through with a clutch RBI single to center.

*Top of 5th: Once again, Blackhawk got a runner in scoring position with less than 2 outs but once again, Krotec didn’t blink as he induced a groundball to Donovan at short and a line drive to Korker at third base.

*Top of 6th: Blackhawk’s leadoff hitter reached via a single but was quickly erased as Hopewell turned another double play, Davis to Donovan to Triscila.  Game stayed tied at 2.

*Bottom of 6th: Hopewell was able to break the tie in this inning, but it wasn’t easy. Gill led off the inning with a line drive single to center, followed by a walk to McDonald. Then with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, pinch-runner Javion Lindsey came in to score on a passed ball. Hopewell led 3-2!

*Top of 7th: Krotec, who was very efficient with his pitch count, came back out for the final inning, needing just 3 outs. If anyone thought that Krotec wasn’t going to deliver, they didn’t see him pitch all season. He wasn’t going to blow this lead and this opportunity.

The Blackhawk hitter swung at the first pitch and grounded out to Davis at second- 1 out. 3 pitches later, out #2 came on a fly ball to Jake Knobloch in right field. The game ended as the Blackhawk batter swung at the second pitch and flew out to Armstrong in left field.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 3 BLACKHAWK 2

WINNING IS FUN!!

Hopewell’s work isn’t done as tomorrow’s last section game is another big one. Hopewell and Blackhawk are now tied for second place and trail first place Beaver by one game.

If Hopewell wins, they will clinch at least second place. If they lose, they will finish in 3rd place. However, if Hopewell wins and Beaver loses to North Catholic, the Vikings will finish the season tied for 1st place.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell High School Football

Another SEC School Jumps into Race for 2028 QB James Armstrong

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Arkansas Razorbacks aren’t a team that recruits Western Pennsylvania very often but quarterbacks like James Armstrong very often.

On Thursday, Arkansas became the latest Power 4 program to extend an offer to Armstrong and the third SEC school this week (Georgia and Auburn).

In total, Arkansas becomes Armstrong’s 13th Power 4 offer.

Armstrong’s Power 4 Offers:
Pitt
Penn State
West Virginia
Georgia
Florida State
Duke
North Carolina
Colorado
Ole Miss
Syracuse
Virginia
Auburn
Arkansas

A couple of notes, both Georgia and Florida State are attempting to get Armstrong to make a visit in the near future. Both programs are having major recruiting days for top prospects and would love to get him to make a visit to their school.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

Taking a look at his list of offers a majority of them are from ACC and SEC programs, so I would look for Big 10 schools to get involved in the near future.

Currently, it’s baseball season for Armstrong as the Hopewell Vikings baseball team has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and hope to make a long run. After that, HC Matt Mottes and the Vikings football program will begin spring workouts in the middle of May.

A couple of other Hopewell players that are getting recruiting interest are sophomore running back Nasir Wade and sophomore wide receiver Avery Bokor. Wade already holds 3 D-1 offers, while Bokor is working for that first D-1 offer.

Vikings Sports Now will continue to be your source for all recruiting news involving Hopewell athletes.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell HS Baseball

Arzberger Pitches Gem as Hopewell JV defeats CV, 5-1

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

CENTER TWP-Last Thursday against Avonworth, the Hopewell JV baseball team played a solid game but lost 6-5. This afternoon against Central Valley, the Vikings once again played well but this time they came away with the win.

In arguably their best performance of the season, led by the pitching of Andrew Arzrberger and Camden Hoth, Hopewell defeated Central Valley, 5-1.

The freshman left-hander went 5.2 innings, allowing just 5 hits, 1 earned run and struck out 8 batters. Arzberger threw 96 pitches, 54 for strikes.

Hoth relieved Arzberger in the 6th inning with the bases loaded and 2 outs and ended the inning with a strikeout. The right-hander then pitched a 1-2-3 final inning as he struck out the side.

Offensively for Hopewell, freshman outfielders Reed Budavich and Ryan Gaguzis led the way with 2 hits apiece, Gags also collected 3 RBIs.

Freshman catcher Luke Vukovcan was on base three times this afternoon with a single, walk and hit by pitch. Hoth also reached base 3 times via walks.

Hopewell also played a solid game in the field as they didn’t commit an error and Vukovcan played an above average game defensively behind the plate.

Keys Moments in the Game:
*Central Valley had bases loaded in the 1st inning with 0 outs and didn’t score as Arzberger recorded a strikeout followed by a double play turned by Ethan Adams to Jaxsen Covalt to Budavich at first.

*Central Valley had a runner at 2nd with 2 outs in the second, but Arzberger ended the inning with a strikeout.

*Hopewell scored in the Top of the 3rd inning as Josh Gill led off with a walk, followed by a single by Vukovcan and a walk to Hoth. With the bases loaded with 0 outs, Gill scored on a ground ball by Adams that was ruled an error. Gaguzis then stepped to the plate and on a 1-2 pitch, went the other way with a single to right field, Hopewell led 3-0.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

*An easy 1-2-3 inning for Arzberger in the 3rd as Covalt and Adams both recorded outs on ground balls and RF Gunner Reese caught a fly ball to end the inning.

*CV threatened in the bottom of the 5th when the first two batters reached via walks. However, Arzberger settled down and struck out the next 2 batters and the inning ended on a ground ball to Adams, who flipped to Covalt at short for the force out. Hopewell led 3-1.

*Hopewell added another run in the 6th inning, courtesy an RBI single by Gaguzis, which scored Hoth, who walked. Hopewell led 4-1.

*Arzberger seemed to have another easy inning in the 6th as he got two quick outs, first one on a pop up to Adams followed by a fly ball to Gill in center. However, CV didn’t quit and loaded the bases following 2 singles and a walk. With the bases loaded in 2 outs, Hoth was brought in to replace Arzberger, and it worked perfect as he recorded a strikeout. Hopewell led 4-1 after 6 innings.

*The final run scored following smart base running. Gill reached on a fielder’s choice, which was followed by Vukovcan getting hit by a pitch and Hoth receiving another walk. Then with the bases loaded, Gill attempted a steal of home, got in a long rundown and eventually beat the tag at home to score, Hopewell led 5-1.

*Hoth did his job in the final frame as he recorded 3 quick strike outs.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 5 CENTRAL VALLEY 1

These two teams will play again tomorrow (weather permitting) with the scene shifting to Hopewell High School. First pitch is set for 4 PM.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Big Inning, Solid Pitching Leads Hopewell Junior High to Win Over Central Valley

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Prior to the season, Hopewell Junior High baseball coach BJ Rankin told Vikings Sports Now that he felt as though the strength of his team and he’s been 100% correct.

This afternoon, Hopewell traveled to take on Central Valley and the duo of Ryder Kostrick and Liam Rankin led the Vikings to a 6-2 win.

The victory was Hopewell’s 3rd of the season, which is impressive considering this team was winless last season.

Hopewell’s offensive wasn’t overwhelming and did all their damage in the 1st inning, which was all they needed.

Hopewell’s Kruz Krotec

Hopewell Six-Run First Inning:
*Vin Smetana led off the game with a hard single to right field and after reaching second base, would score on an error on a ball hit by Kruz Krotec. Hopewell loaded the bases following a single to left field by Tyler Hoffman (2 hits in the game for Hoffman) and Nico Yannessa was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Connor Reed came through with an RBI single that brought in Krotec, Hopewell led 2-0.

Later in the inning, Hoffman would score on a passed ball and then Liam Rankin singled to center, bringing in Yanessa and Reed.

Hopewell’s Defense:
*After getting staked to a 6-0 lead, Kostrick and his teammates played a flawless game in the field.

1st Inning:
*Central Valley loaded the bases with 0 outs, but Hopewell was able to limit the damage, which turned out to be the turning point of the game.

-The first out came when Channing Yesionek fielded a ground ball at third and threw home to get the runner for a force out.
-After CV scored a run on a bases loaded walk, Hopewell got out #2 on a popup to catcher Tyler Hoffman.
-CV added a second run on a passed ball but Kostrick ended the inning with a strikeout. Hopewell led 6-2 after the first inning.

George's Family Restaurant

Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.

2nd Inning:
*Easy second inning as Kostrick recorded a strikeout, a groundball out to Yesionek at third base and then a fly ball out to Rhett Rankin in right field.

3rd Inning:
*Another stressless inning for Kostrick as the first out came on a fly ball to Brandon Cecchini in right, followed by two strikeouts.

4th Inning:
*Liam Rankin took the mound to start the 4th inning, and he was lights out striking out the side.

5th Inning:
*In the final inning, Rankin started things off with another strikeout but then got into a jam as he loaded the bases. Rankin then found a way to get out of things as he recoorded his 5th strikeout of the game and the game ended on a pop up to Reed at first base.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 6 CENTRAL VALLEY 2

Winning is Fun!!

Pitching Line:
Kostrick: 3 Innings, 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 4 Walks and 4 Strikeouts.   (77 pitches, 38 Strikes)
Rankin: 2 Innings, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 2 Walks and 5 Strikeouts.     (40 pitches, 22 Strikes)

Next up for Hopewell is a game on Friday against Ambridge.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts