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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Rolls in Playoff Opener Behind Vukovcan’s 16 K’s and Red-Hot Bats

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The 2025 376 Western PA Pony League playoffs opened up tonight as Coach Hoffman’s Hopewell team hosted Riverside at Raccoon Municipal Park.

These two teams matched up last week with Hopewell coming away with a tight 8-6 win.

Tonight, things weren’t close as Hopewell was dominant for 7 innings and came away with a 10-1 victory.

The two storylines tonight were the pitching of right-hander Luke Vukovcan and hitting from top to bottom in the Vikings lineup. Hopewell collected 12 hits and everyone in the lineup picked up a hit.

Vukovcan, Ryder Kostrick and Mason Santamaria led the way with 2 hits apiece. As far as the run producers, Kostrick and Ryan Gaguzis both had 2 RBI, while Vin Smetana, Santamaria and Vukovcan each picked up 1 RBI apiece.

Hopewell jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead after 2 innings and with the way Vukovcan was throwing, the game was essentially over.

Hopewell’s Luke Vukovcan

Coming off a performance against Central Valley where he allowed only 3 hits and struck out 15 batters in 5.2 innings, you’d think it would be impossible to better that.

However it happened as Vukovcan pitched a complete game, 1-hitter, allowing 1 unearned run and striking out a career-high 16 batters.

Vukovcan’s fastball was dominant as he was able to spot it both on the inside and outside corners.

Luke struck out the first 7 batters of the game before getting two ground ball outs to David Johnson at second base.

Vukovcan went on to strikeout two batters in the 4th, 5th innings before striking out the side in the 6th and striking out the last two batters of the game in the 7th.

For the game, Luke threw 89 pitches, 65 of which were strikes.

FINAL SCORE- Hopewell 10 Riverside 1

WINNING IS FUN! 

Hopewell doesn’t have much time to enjoy the win as they’ll have to travel to take on No. 1 seed Beaver tomorrow.

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hoffman and Honess Lead the Way to Exciting 8-6 Win Over Riverside

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 5 minutes read

RACOON TOWNSHIP-Having your entire roster sure has made a difference for the Coach Hoffman’s Hopewell Pony League team.

Due to a variety of things, Hopewell hasn’t been able to play with their entire roster since the start of the season when they started hot.

However, that’s changed a bit over the last week and as a result, Hopewell has gone 2-1-1 in their last 4 games, including tonight’s 8-6 win over Riverside.

Tonight was an exciting game in all aspects for the Vikings as they received strong pitching, clutch hitting and played possibly their best defensive game of the season

For the second game in a row, Hopewell got a clutch performance from their starting pitcher. Yesterday it was Mason Santamaria and today is Noah Honess.

Hopewell’s Noah Honess

Despite not getting a lot of innings this year, Honess took the mound and gave Hopewell an A+ effort. The right-hander went 5+ innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned runs) and striking out 2 batters. Noah threw a career-high 93 pitches before tiring a bit in the 6th inning.

Ryan Gaguzis entered the game in the 6th inning to relieve Honess and did a tremendous job to close out the game.

At the plate, Hopewell banged out 13 hits and were led by Tyler Hoffman, who smoked the ball in all four of his at-bats. Today’s 4-4 performance comes a day after Hoffman went 3-3 yesterday against Blackhawk.

Defensively, Hopewell was outstanding as they turned a double play, received 2 clutch catches in the outfield, above average play at first base by Reed Budavich and catcher Luke Vukovcan threw out two runners attempting to steal.

The win was important was Hopewell’s playoff chances and it was one they had to earn because Riverside battled for 7 innings.

GAME RECAP:
Bottom of 1st: Riverside had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out, but Honess got a pop up to Vin Smetana at short and then a ground ball to Smetana which ended the inning.

Top of 2nd: Hoffman leads off with a single, stole second and scored on a line drive single to center by Budavich. Then with 2 outs, David Johnson hit a sharp single to right field, which scored Budavich. Hopewell led 2-0.

Bottom of 2nd: Honess struck out the first batter and fielded a come backer to the mound for the second out. A Riverside batter reached on a walk, but Vukovcan gunned him out as he attempted to steal second.

Top of 3rd: Vukovcan led off the inning and hit a deep ball to right center field that went to the wall. Luke was racing around the bases and tried for an inside the park home run but a perfect relay throw from right field to second to catch, got him just in time before he touched home plate.

Bottom of 3rd: Riverside scored a run and were threatening to score. With a runner at 2nd with 1 out, Honess got the next batter to ground to Smetana at short and the final out on a ground out to Johnson at second. Hopewell led 2-1.

Top of 4th: Hopewell immediately were able to get that run back. Once again, Hoffman led off with a single to right field. Tyler advanced to second on a grounder to 3rd by Budavich. Following a single by Honess, Hopewell had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Hoffman was able to score on a dropped third strike as the catcher threw down to 1st base. Hopewell led 3-1.

Bottom of 4th: Riverside loaded the bases with 0 outs and Hopewell looked to be on the ropes, but the Vikings defense came up big. The Riverside batter hit a fly ball/line drive to center field. Ryder Kostrick made the catch and made it look easier than it was as he glided to the ball. The runner scored from 3rd, but Hopewell got an important out. Then with runners at 1st and 2nd, Honess threw a ball in dirt and it skipped away from Vukovcan at catcher. However, he recovered, located the ball and fired it down to 3rd base to nail the runner trying to advance. Then with a runner at 2nd and 2 out, the final out came courtesy a grounder to Budavich at 1st base. Hopewell led 3-2.

Top of 5th: With 1 out, Vukovcan was hit by a pitch and went on to steal second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Smetana then did his job and put the ball in play, grounding out to shortstop, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell wasn’t done as Gaguzis and Kostrick both singled and then Hoffman ripped a double to right field, which brought in Gaguzis and Kostrick. Hopewell led 6-2.

Bottom of 5th: Riverside got a leadoff walk but that was quickly erased as the next batter hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but Smetana fielded the ball, stepped on second and fired to first for the double play. I’ll date myself but Smetana looked like ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Ozzie Smith with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bottom of 6th: As mentioned earlier Riverside didn’t quit and recorded 5 straight hits to quickly tie the game at 6. Once again, Hopewell looked to be in trouble as Riverside still had runners at 1st and 2nd with 0 outs.

Hopewell’s Ryan Gaguzis

However, that’s when Gaguzis came up big and did his best pitching of the night. First out came on a fly ball to Kostrick and the runners didn’t advance. Next batter grounded to Johnson at 2nd base. Then with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Gaguzis ended the threat with an inning ending strikeout. Game tied at 6.

Top of 7th: Vukovcan drew a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch. Luke then stole second base and third base with 0 outs. With 1 out, Gaguzis drew a walk so with runners on the corners, Kostrick grounded to second base, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell led 7-6. Next up, Hoffman once again came up big with a line drive double to center, which brought in Gaguzis. Hopewell led 8-6.

Bottom of 7th: Gaguzis stayed on to pitch and got the job done. 1st out came on a grounder to Smetana, which was outstanding tonight at short. Second out came on a groundout to Hoffman at third. Then after a 2 out walk, the game ended on a grounder to Johnson at second, who flipped to Smetana at 2nd base.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 8 RIVERSIDE 6

WINNING IS FUN!!!

Hopewell (Team Hoffman) closes out the regular season next week with 3 games (Tuesday at Blackhawk, Wednesday at Central Valley and Thursday at Beaver).

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Pony League Squeaks Out 5-4 Win

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

BEAVER FALLS- For a variety of reasons, the Hopewell Pony League squad (Team Hoffman) have had a hard time playing consistent baseball.

As we enter the back half of the season, the Vikings need to string together some wins or they’ll be on the outside looking in of the Pony League playoffs.

Tonight, Hopewell traveled to Beaver Falls, in a game they needed to find a way to win.

Things didn’t look good as they trailed 4-1 late but were able to squeak out a 5-4 win. It certainly wasn’t pretty but a win is a win.

Hopewell actually took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning as Luke Vukovcan led off the game with a double and scored on an RBI single by Ryan Gaguzis.

Beaver Falls then scored the next 4 runs, 3 of which came in the 1st inning.

Vukovcan entered in the 2nd inning and pitched the next 2 innings, recording all six of his outs via strikeouts.

Gaguzis entered in the 4th inning and needed to keep Beaver Falls off the scoreboard and that’s exactly what Gags did.

In the 4th inning, Gaguzis got two ground ball outs, one to 2nd baseman David Johnson and the other to 3rd baseman Noah Honess.

Hopewell’s offense finally got going in the top of the 5th inning as they scored 3 runs to tie the game.

Anthony Ventresca led off with a walk, followed by back to back singles by Vukovcan and Mason Santamaria. With the bases loaded and 0 outs, Gaguzis grounded out which scored Ventresca. Hoffman then reached on an error, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell then tied the game at 4 on an RBI double by Ryder Kostrick.

More good Gaguzis pitching and Hopewell defense in the 5th inning. The first out came courtesy a groundout to Honess, who played solid defense at third. After a strikeout, the inning ended on a pop up to Vukovcan at short.

With the game tied going to the final inning, Ventresca led off and reached out on error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Vukovcan then collected his 3rd hit of the game but Ventresca was thrown out at 3rd. However, Vukovcan advanced to second on the throw to third.

Hopewell then took advantage of wild Beaver Falls pitching as Vukovcan advanced to third on a wild pitch and also scored on one. Hopewell led 5-4.

Gaguzis stayed on to close thjngs and he got the job done by striking out the first two batters and the game ended on a groundout to Johnson at second.

FINAL: Hopewell 5 Beaver Falls 4

Hopewell will return to action tomorrow when they travel to Blackhawk.

 

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Pony (Team Hoffman) Battles to Earn 9-7 Win Over Ambridge

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

Raccoon Township- Winning is rarely easy and that was certainly the case tonight for Coach Hoffman’s Hopewell Pony League Team.

Tonight, the Vikings took on the Ambridge Bridgers at the Raccoon Township Municipal Park. It was a game of ups and downs as Hopewell fell behind early, then took the lead, saw Ambridge come back to tie before retaking the lead for good in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Bottom line is that in the end, Hopewell came away with a 9-7 to improve their record to 2-1.

Ambridge scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st and were looking to add more by starting pitcher Ryder Kostrick kept things together. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Kostrick struck out the next two batters to limit the damage.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the 1st inning, Hopewell answered with 3 runs of their own. Vin Smetana and Ryan Gaguzis led off the inning with walks. Then with 1 out and runners at 2nd and 3rd, Luke Vukovcan hit a ball deep in the hole at shortstop, the SS then threw the ball past the Ambridge 1B, allowing both Vin and Ryan to score. The game was tied at 2-2.

After Vukovcan stole second, Reed Budavich hit a hard single to center scoring Luke, Hopewell took a 3-2 lead.

Kostrick had a very easy 1-2-3 second inning, striking out 1 batter and getting the other two on ground outs.

Hopewell added to their lead in the bottom of the second. With 2 out, Anthony Ventresca drew an important walk and advanced to second on a passed ball.

Up came Smetana and after getting down 0-2 in the count, Vin fouled off 4 pitches before hitting an opposite field single to right field, scoring Ventresca. Smetana advanced to second on the throw to the plate which was important as he then scored on a single to left by Gaguzis. Hopewell now led 5-2.

Ambridge scored a run in the 3rd to get within 5-3 but Hopewell answered with a run of their own. Vukovcan hit a double to the gap in left center and would eventually score on a wild pitch. Hopewell led 6-3.

Hopewell’s Ryan Gaguzis

Gaguzis replaced Kostrick in the top of the 4th inning and made quick work of Ambridge. ‘Gags’ struck out the side and needed just 11 pitches.

Gaguzis started the 5th inning with another strike out but then Ambridge got a few base runners and scored a run to make it 6-4.

Hopewell’s Reed Budavich

Reed Budavich entered the game with runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and struck out the first batter for the second out. Ambridge then plated another run to make it 6-5 and had a good chance to tie the game.

With a runner at 3rd and 2 outs, Budavich threw a ball past Vukovcan at catcher. The runner at 3rd base broke for the plate, Vukovcan was able to quickly find the ball and flipped it to Budavich at home, who tagged the runner. Hopewell led 6-5 going to the bottom of 5th.

Hopewell was able to get that run back in the 5th. Vukovcan led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. After stealing second, Vukovcan scored on a hard hit single to right field by Kostrick. Hopewell led 7-5.

Ambridge tied the game in the Top of the 6th but the Vikings once again had an answer.

Noah Honess got things started with an infield single, which was followed by another walk to Ventresca. Then after Ambridge turned a double play, Gaguzis drew an important walk.

With runners at 1st and 2nd, Hoffman ripped a single to right center field scoring Ventresca. Gaguzis advanced to 3rd on the throw home. That was important was Ryan scored on a wild pitch. Hopewell now led 9-7

Vukovcan came on to close and he did just that. The first Ambridge batter hit a ball in front of the plate and Hoffman came out from catcher and fired down to first.

Then Vukovcan retired the next hitter on a called third strike.

The game then ended with another strikeout, this time via a swing and a miss.

Final Score: Hopewell 9 Ambridge 7

Hopewell Team Hoffman has 3 games next week (at Central Valley, at Riverside and vs. South Side).

 

 

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