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Lisa McCoy/State Farm Insurance Week 5 Players of the Week

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

It’s time to announce our fifth Lisa McCoy Agency/State Farm Insurance Hopewell Player of the Week, for both baseball and softball.

The winner will receive a baseball or softball with their Player of the Week inscription on it, along with a gift card to Shulligan’s Sports Bar & Grille.

The winners will be selected from either the High School, Junior Varsity or Middle School program. These Player of the Week honors will all lead up to Vikings Sports Now announcing a Player of the Year in both sports.

As it’s been all season, due to worthy candidates on multiple teams, this wasn’t a slam dunk decision.

However, we have two candidates that were more than worthy to receive this award.

Congratulations to Hopewell HS Boys JV freshman outfielder Reed Budavich and Hopewell HS freshman softball catcher Gianna Rossi.

Rossi has been a steady contributor to the Vikings softball team all season and this was her week to get recognized.

Hopewell’s Gianna Rossi

In Hopewell’s impressive 10-8 win over Central Valley on Monday, Rossi went 3-4 with an RBI.

Rossi has been playing softball in Hopewell since tee ball. Aside from Hopewell, Rossi also is a member of the Pittsburgh Lady Roadrunners travel program.

Rossi is a versatile player that can play catcher, outfield and third base. Despite being a freshman, Gianna has played over 50 innings for the varsity team and has done a solid job behind the plate with a .947 fielding % and has really improved on her framing as a catcher along with her overall defense.

Hopewell’s Gianna Rossi

When looking over the baseball candidates, Budavich had a great week and was a big reason for Hopewell’s 2-game sweep of Central Valley.

In those 2 games, Reed went 5 for 7 (double), 2 RBI and 2 runs. Also, like he’s done all season, he was very strong defensively for the Vikings.

Hopewell’s Reed Budavich

Budavich is an example of a player that works hard year-round at the sport and is all that work is paying off as he’s having a very good freshman season.

Aside from playing for the high school program, Budavich plays Colt Baseball in Hopewell as well as being a long-time member of the Pittsburgh Diamond Dawgs travel program.

Once again, congratulations to both Gianna Rossi and Reed Budavich.

 

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Hopewell JV Wins 2nd Consecutive Game, 14-4 Over Central Valley

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– Maybe it has to do with playing 5 games over the last 2 weeks, which in turn gives players on field reps or maybe just these players are getting better.

Regardless of the reason, the Hopewell JV baseball team turned in their 3rd consecutive strong performance this afternoon as they defeated Central Valley, 14-4 (5 innings).

The Vikings scored a season high in runs (14) and a season-high in hits (13) as they won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Speaking of getting better, that’s certainly been the case with freshman outfielder Reed Budavich, who went 3-for-4 today with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Over the last 2 games, Budavich has gone 5 for 7. Nice job Reed!

Leadoff hitter Andrew Arzberger went 2 for 3 with 2 runs, 2 walks and an RBI, while freshman shortstop Jaxsen Covalt went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Freshman catcher Luke Vukovcan reached base 3 times, with a single, 2 walks and also picked up a game-high 3 RBI. Over his last 6 games, Vukovcan is batting .615 (8 for 13) with 3 runs, 5 RBI and 4 walks.

Other hit collectors today for Hopewell were Camden Hoth (1-3, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 walk), Ethan Adams (1-2, run, RBI, 2 walks), Owen Ackerman (1-2), Ryan Gaguzis (1-4, RBI), Gunner Reese (1-1, 2 runs, 2 walks) and Josh Gill picked up 2 walks, a run and an RBI.

Hopewell sophomore Camden Hoth

Sophomore Owen Ackerman got the start for Hopewell and went 3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks and striking out 2 batters.

Hoth continued his solid work on the mound as he pitched the last 2 innings, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs and striking out 1 batter.

After not committing an error in the field yesterday, Hopewell was solid again today, committing only 1 error.

HOPEWELL’S DEFENSIVE OUTS:
-1st inning: Adams fielded 2 groundouts, while Budavich caught a fly ball in right.

-2nd inning: Adams fielded a groundout; Ackerman caught a line drive.

-3rd inning: Arzberger catches a pop up,  Vukovcan threw out a runner attempting to steal 3rd base.

-4th inning: Adams catches a pop up, Covalt catches a pop up

-5th inning: Covalt fielded a groundout at SS, Budavich catches a flyout to RF, Hoth catches a line drive.

Hopewell’s Ethan Adams

This Hopewell JV team has the rest of the week off before returning to action on Monday when they travel to Blackhawk.

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Best Performance of Season Leads Hopewell JV to 9-4 Win Over Ambridge

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

Hopewell Township – In their last game against Beaver, despite not getting the win, the Hopewell JV team played a solid game both offensively and defensively.

Today, the Vikings repeated that performance and took their game to another level as they turned in their best performance of the season in a 9-4 win over Ambridge.

The story of the day was the performance of the Hopewell hitters as they collected a season-high 10 hits, 3 walks and only struck out 3 times. That hit total of 10 could’ve been higher if not for a couple nice defensive plays by Ambridge.

The beneficiary of the offense was freshman left-hander Andrew Arzberger who was in command all game. Arzberger went 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), while striking out 4 batters.

“Andrew came out strong and gave me 6 great innings,” said Hopewell HC Nick Hoth. “Camden then came in and did what I needed him to do and just close the game out. Proud of both of them. Fielding was cleaner today with a few great plays from our infielders and our outfielders keeping the ball in front and limiting free bases for them.”

HOPEWELL/AMBRIDGE JV GAME RECAP:
Top 1st: Arzberger got two groundball outs, and then after allowing an unearned run, Ambridge loaded the bases with 2 outs, but Hopewell escaped it as RF Gunner Reese made a nice running catch.    Ambridge 1-0

Bottom 1st: With 1 on and 1 out, Brody McCullough with a nice piece of hitting as he singled to LF, which was followed by a single to left field by Arzberger. In the last 2 games, Arzberger has done a really nice job going opposite field for hits.

Then with the bases loaded and 1 out, freshman catcher Luke Vukovcan singled to center field to drive in Jaxsen Covalt and McCullough. With a runner at 3rd and 1 out, Cam Hoth put the ball in play with a hard ground ball to second, which brought in Arzberger. Hopewell led 3-1

Top 2nd: Arzberger had a dominating second frame as he struck out the side and needed just 13 pitches.

Bottom 2nd: Hopewell took advantage of a couple Ambridge errors to add to their lead. With runners at the corners and 1 out, Ethan Adams grounded out to second, but it drove in Owen Ackerman.

Next up, Covalt recorded an infield single, which brought in Reese. Hopewell now led 5-1 and they weren’t done.

McCullough with another good at-bat as he went opposite field for a single, Covalt scored on an Ambridge error. Arzberger followed that up with another hit to left field, which brought in McCullough. Hopewell led 7-1

Top 3rd: Nice Hopewell defense in the third as Ambridge had a runner on first with 1 out but the inning ended with a 5-4-3 double play (Hoth to Adams to Reed Budavich at first). Hopewell 7-1

Bottom 3rd: Hoth led off the inning with a double to right field. Ryan Gaguzis then laid down a sacrifice bunt, which moved Hoth to third base. That paid off as Ackerman delivered an RBI single to CF. Hopewell now led 8-1.

Top 4th: Nice defense in the 4th as Hoth fielded two hard grounders to third and fired them both over to Budavich. Arzberger ended the inning with a strike out.

Top 6th: More nice defense from Hoth as he made another play at third for the first out. Then with 2 outs, Budavich ranged far to his right, fielded the ball and beat the runner to the base

Bottom 6th: Hopewell scored their last run of the game in the sixth. Gaguzis led off the inning with an infield single, followed by a double by Budavich, which put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Then with 2 outs, Hopewell took advantage of a 2-out error to score run No. 9. Hopewell 9-2.

Top 7th: Hoth came on to relieve Arzberger and struck out the first two batters he faced.

Then after Ambridge scored 2 runs and with 2 outs, Hoth ended the game as he got a pop up to Covalt.

FINAL: HOPEWELL 9 AMBRIDGE 4

“I think it was a great bounce back win from the double header loss last week,” said HC Hoth. “I knew last week’s losses did not show what this team could do. Today we limited errors and put the bat on the ball more. I think our base running was a lot better tonight and we used small ball to get around the bases.”

“Tomorrow, we play them again and hope to replicate today’s events.”

Game 2 of this series is tomorrow as the Vikings travel to Ambridge. First pitch is scheduled for 4 PM.

 

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Hopewell JV Baseball Beaver Doubleheader Recap

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– While the goal of every team is to win, when it comes to JV sports, sometimes it goes beyond that.

Because of a number of different things and factors, the most important aspect for JV competition is player and team development. These are the players that are next in line to compete for a spot on the varsity roster so the goal is for development in order to show the coaches what they have and what could be on the way in the future.

With that in mind, the Hopewell JV baseball team took on Beaver in a double-header on Thursday and although they didn’t win either game, plenty of positive things came out of the game and development was shown.

BRIGHT SPOTS FROM GAME ONE- HOPEWELL VS. BEAVER

PLATE APPEARANCES:
-In a double-header (where there are 5 innings played), Hopewell collected 5 hits and drew 5 walks, which was an improvement from their last game against Peters Township. Also, keep in mind that because of weather, this team hasn’t played a game in over two weeks.

-Aside from the 5 hits, a number of Hopewell batters had competitive at-bats that resulted in hard hit balls that were outs. In particular, Jayvion Lindsey, Brody McCullough and Ethan Adams had really solid at-bats.

-After striking out 12 times against Peters Township, the Hopewell batters only struck out 4 times yesterday, which was a huge improvement. The fact that this happened against a pitcher that was a junior makes that more impressive.

-Hopewell Hits: Reed Budavich (2), Adams (1), Lindsey (1) and McCullough (1). Budavich laid down a perfect bunt up the third base line for one of his hits.

DEFENSE:
-Aside from cutting down on their strikeouts, the Vikings also improved their play in the field. After committing 4 errors in the opener, Hopewell only committed 1 error on Thursday. That’s encouraging because this was a team that was putting the ball in play.

-Specific defensive plays:
*Catcher Parker Hoth almost gunned down a runner trying to steal second (near perfect throw).
*Reed Budavich made an above average catch in right field in the first inning to prevent Beaver from scoring.
*Luke Vukovcan with quick reaction from the pitcher’s mound to field a ball up the 3rd base line and get the runner at first.
*Vikings turn a double play in the 3rd inning as Adams snares a line drive and SS Jaxsen Covalt does a nice job getting to second base to take the throw from Adams to double off the runner.
*Ryan Gaguzis made a nice catch in left field on a hard-hit ball near the line.

PITCHING:
-In high school baseball, pitching is the key and Vukovcan did a nice job on the mound as he was able to go the distance- 5 innings, 3 runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. In 5 innings, he threw 78 pitches (51 of which were strikes).

He was challenged throughout the game by this solid Beaver lineup but held his own, keep the velocity on his pitches and didn’t let any inning get out of control.

1st Inning: With 2 outs and runners on, kept game scoreless as batter flew out to Budavich in RF.
2nd Inning: Bases loaded, 2 outs, records a strikeout to end the inning

3rd Inning: 2 on, 1 out, records a strike out and ends inning on pop to Cam Hoth at 3rd base

5th Inning: Bases loaded, 2 outs, gets batter to ground out back to the mound

FINAL SCORE: BEAVER 3 HOPEWELL 1
*The game was tied at 1-1 going to the last inning. After Beaver scored 2 in the top of the 5th, Hopewell loaded the bases in the final inning but were unable to score.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:

In Game Two, it was scoreless through 2 innings. Hopewell scored a run in the top of the 3rd inning to take the lead, but Beaver scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. This game was called after 4 1/2 innings as it got dark and the weather was starting to change.

BRIGHT SPOTS FROM GAME TWO
*Parker Hoth delivered a hard RBI single to center field
*Andrew Arzberger with a nice at-bat as he hit an opposite field double to left-field
*Cam Hoth pitched a solid first 2 innings, showing good velocity and placement

*Hopewell turned another double play, which was a duplicate of what happened in Game One as Adams caught a line drive and doubled off the runner at 2nd base with a throw to Covalt.

NEXT UP:
*The Hopewell JV team is scheduled to return to action on Monday as they’ll take on Ambridge in 2-game series (weather permitting). The game on Monday will be played at Hopewell, with first pitch scheduled for 4 PM.

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell (Hoffman) Pony League Loses 3-2 to Beaver in Well Played Game

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

RACOON TOWNSHIP– This evening at Racoon Township Municipal Park, Hopewell (Team Hoffman) took on Beaver in a Western Pa Pony League Game.

Beaver entered the game in first place with a record of 3-0, while Hopewell has only played one game as they defeated Central Valley in their season opener.

It’s early but it would not surprise me if these two teams met up again later in the season as both teams are talented as was on display tonight. Beaver came away with a 3-2 victory but Hopewell has a ton of positives to take away from tonight.

The most encouraging thing for Coach Hoffman has to be the pitching he received from his team tonight. The Vikings showed depth as 5 players combined to really quiet a dangerous Beaver lineup. Luke Vukovcan, Ryder Kostrick, Ryan Gaguzis, Vin Smetana and Noah Honess were all outstanding tonight.

Hopewell’s Ryder Kostrick

Vukovcan got the start and pitched the first two innings. The right-hander didn’t allow a run, 1 hit, 2 walks and struck out 5 batters. Kostrick pitched 2.2 innings, allowed 3 runs, Gaguzis got an important out in the 5th inning and Smetana and Honess pitched the 6th and 7th inning respectively and looked great.

Beaver threatened In the top of the 1st inning as they got runners to 2nd and 3rd with just 1 out. However, Vukovcan struck out the next batter and after issuing a walk to load the bases, he recorded another strike out to end the inning.

Hopewell had a great chance in the bottom of the first inning as Smetana and Gaguzis led off with singles. With 2 on and 0 out, Tyler Hoffman came to the plate and smoked a ball down the first base line. Unfortunately, the first baseman had Ty positioned perfectly, catching the ball and doubling the runner off first.

Vukovcan had an easy top of the second inning as he struck out the side and needed just 10 pitches.

Hopewell got on the board in the bottom of the second. Reed Budavich, who had three really strong plate appearances, reached on an error. Next up, Kostrick lined a ball into the right field corner for a triple, scoring Budavich. As the second baseman tried to get Kostrick at third base, the throw got past the third baseman, which allowed Ryder to score. Hopewell led 2-0.

After Beaver tied the game in the 3rd inning, Hopewell threatened to take back the lead in the 4th inning. Hoffman led off the inning with a great piece of hitting as he took a pitch the other way and dumped it into right field for a single. Vukovcan then grounded into a fielders choice and promptly stole second base. Next up, Budavich laced a ball to center field, but once again, it was right at the Beaver center fielder. The score remained tied at 2.

Beaver took the lead with a 2-out RBI single to center field so Hopewell had three more at-bats to try and tie the game.

In the Beaver top of the sixth inning, Smetana faced a small jam with a runner at 2nd with 1 out. However, Vin got out of it by getting a pop up to David Johnson at second base and then Johnson did a nice job fielding a ball at second to end the Beaver threat.

Hopewell got a runner to third base in the bottom of the sixth but couldn’t bring him home.

Honess went out to pitch the top of the 7th and was fantastic. Striking out the first batter and then after allowing a 2-out double, Honess ended the inning by recording a strikeout with a nasty curveball to freeze the batter.

In their last chance, Vukovcan led off the 7th inning with a walk and stole second. Next up, Budavich once again made solid contact but the Beaver center fielder tracked down the ball to prevent a run. Despite not recording a hit, Budavich had the best plate appearances tonight for Hopewell. Then with 2 outs, Johnson hit a ball that the second baseman fumbled and Johnson busted his butt down the first base line but the Beaver 2B recovered, got a hold of the ball and beat Johnson by half a step to end the game.

FINAL SCORE: BEAVER 3  HOPEWELL 2

Next up for Hopewell, a game on Friday night at home against Ambridge.

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Vukovcan and Kostrick Lead Hopewell Pony to 7-5 Win Over CV

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Raccoon Township- Coach Chip Hoffman’s Hopewell Pony League opened up their 2025 season tonight as they hosted Central Valley.

The old baseball saying ‘Good Pitching Beats Good Hitting’ and that was the case tonight as Luke Vukovcan and Ryder Kostrick were on their game.

Vukovcan got the start and went 4 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run (0 earned runs) and struck out 9 batters.

Kostrick come on in the fifth and pitched the next two innings, allowing only 1 hit, 0 runs, and striking out 4.

Right-handed Reed Budavich came on in the final inning and after a slow start, stayed strong to close things out to preserve the win.

Game Recap- 

*Top of First- This was the only inning that CV threatened to score against Vukovcan. After retiring the opening two batters of the game, the next three reached via a single and two walks. However, with the bases loaded, Vukovcan got out unscathed by recording one his his nine strikeouts.

*Bottom First- Some 2-out lightning got Hopewell on the board. After 2 out, Tyler Hoffman stroked a hard single to center field, which was followed by a hard single to center by Vukovcan. Next up, with runners at 1st and 3rd, Reed Budavich connect with a hard single to left center. Hoffman scored and so Vukovcan, who was running on the pitch and scored all the way from first. Hopewell led 2-0.

*Top of Second- A much more efficient inning as Vukovcan needed only 7 pitches. The first out came on a groundout to Budavich at first, followed by two strikeouts.

*Bottom of the Second- Hopewell increased their lead with 2 more runs. Ryder Kostrick led off with a sublet center and after stealing second, Ryder scored on consecutive wild pitches. David Johnson reached via a walk and would eventually score on a wild pitch. Hopewell led 4-0.

*Bottom of Third- Two more runs for Hopewell and both scored after two outs. After 1 out, Vin Smetana reached on a walk. Then with 2 outs, Vukovcan doubled to left center and Smetana advanced to third. Budavich followed that with a walk so with the bases loaded, Kostrick came thru with a hard single to left, scoring Smetana and Vukovcan. Hopewell led 6-1.

*Top of Fourth- Because of pitch count, this was Vukovcan’s last inning. After allowing a leadoff double, Luke went on to strike out the next three batters.

Hopewell’s Luke Vukovcan

*Top of Fifth- Kostrick came on and was dominant, striking out two batters with the final out coming on a pop up to Smetana at short.

*Bottom of Fifth- Hopewell added to their lead in the fifth. With 1 out, Smetana singled and advanced to third on a single by Hoffman. Then with runners on the corners, Vukovcan drove in Smetana with a deep fly ball to right. Hopewell led 7-1.

*Top of Sixth- Kostrick had another easy inning as he struck out two more batters. Kostrick threw 30 pitches in two innings, 19 of which were strikes.

Hopewell’s Ryder Kostrick

*Top of Seventh- Budavich came on to close and after walking a few batters, Reed came back to struck out the last two batters to end the game.

Final Score- Hopewell 7 Central Valley 5

Hopewell’s Team Hoffman is off until next Tuesday when they travel to Beaver Falls.

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