After playing a good week of baseball last week against West Mifflin and Moon, the Hopewell Freshman Baseball team looked to keep it going yesterday against Montour.
As is the case in all athletics, it was one of those games where the Vikings weren’t as sharp as they were the previous week, which makes it difficult when you play a program like Montour.
To make things more challenging, Hopewell went up against a talented pitcher in Gavin Kenavey. The left-hander went six innings, allowing only 2 hits, 0 earned runs and striking out 11.
Left-hander Andrew Arzberger got the start for Hopewell and was effective early and ran out of gas late and was hurt by a few errors in the field.
A few bright spots aside from yesterday:
*CF Josh Gill continues to hit very well at the top of the lineup. Gill went 1-for-3 yesterday, and previous to that, had collected 2 hits apiece in the previous 3 games. Even when he’s making outs, Gill is making solid contact with the ball.
*Catcher Luke Vukovcan had another solid day behind the plate for Hopewell. Vukovcan threw out a runner attempting to steal 3rd base and looked to gun down another at second base but the Montour coach (no umpires in this game) called the runner safe. Also, a wild pitch got past him, Vukovcan was able to find the ball behind the plate and quickly dive for home plate to tag out the runner trying to score from third. At the plate, Luke had a solid single to center and was robbed of a double by a sliding catch by the Montour right fielder.
Hopewell’s Luke Vukovcan
*Arzberger went 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 runs (4 earned runs), 2 walks, while striking out 8 batters. In total, Arzberger threw 89 pitches, 54 of which were strikes.
GAME RECAP:
  -Top of 1st inning: Runners at 2nd and 3rd, 1 out, Arzberger fielded a sharply hit ground ball back at the mound, looked the runner back at 3rd and threw to first. He then struck out the next batter to get out of the inning without giving up a run.
-Top of 2nd inning: A much easier inning for Andrew as he struck out two more batters and fielded another grounder back to the mound.
Hopewell’s Andrew Arzberger
-Top of 3rd inning: After 2 runners scored, Montour had the bases loaded with 2 outs, but Hopewell got out without giving up anymore as 1st baseman Reed Budavich fielded a grounder at first base and ran to the bag.
-Top of 4th Inning: Another scoreless inning for Hopewell. After the leadoff batter reached on a single, the next 3 batters were retired in order. First out came on a grounder to Ethan Adams at second base. Second out came via a strike out and the final one as Jackson Yurcina fielded a grounder at second and threw over to Budavich at 1st base.
When looking at the final score, keep in the mind that this game was 2-0 Montour going to the 5th inning.
–Top of the 5th Inning: Montour scored 3 runs in this inning, one of them unearned but Hopewell limited the damage by recording a fielder’s choice, Owen Ackerman to Yurcina and then an inning ending strikeout.
Next Wednesday, Hopewell will return to action to take on Seneca Valley at home.