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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Pony League Gut Out Tie Against Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

DARLINGTON- Due to the high number of games this week and the strict rules with pitch count, Hopewell (Team Hoffman) was in a tough situation tonight as they took on Blackhawk.

Coach Hoffman didn’t have a number of arms available so he needed to figure out a plan.

Hoffman decided to call upon Mason Santamaria, who had only pitched once this season.

The decision paid off as Santamaria came through with a gutsy effort and allowed Hopewell to remain in the game.

That combined with a nice job by pitcher Ryder Kostrick and some big hitting by Tyler Hoffman, Hopewell came away with a 7-7 tie.

Santamaria went 4 innings, allowing 9 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Kostrick went the next 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit, 2 runs, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Hoffman had the big stick going 3-3 with 2 runs and 3 RBI.

Blackhawk jumped out to a 1-0 before Hopewell tied it up. Blackhawk scored 1 in the bottom of the 3rd before Hopewell scored 4 runs in the top of the 4th.

Hoffman ripped a 2-run triple to put Hopewell ahead 3-2. Next up, Reed Budavich came through with an RBI single to bring in Hoffman, Hopewell now led 4-2.

The inning was capped off by a clutch sacrifice fly by Wade Enders, which scored Budavich. Hopewell was short players and Enders was called up from Hopewell Youth Baseball to play in this game. Hopewell led 5-2.

Blackhawk scored 3 runs after 2 outs in the bottom of the inning but Hopewell once again was able to score.

In the top of the 5th, Hopewell loaded the bases with 0 outs and went back ahead 6-5 on a sacrifice fly by Kostrick to score Vin Smetana, who led off the inning with a single. Next up, Hoffman singled in Ryan Gaguzis with 2 outs. Hopewell led 7-5.

Unfortunately, Blackhawk scored 2 runs with 2 outs in the 6th inning to tie the game at 7.

Final Score: Hopewell 7  Blackhawk 7

 

 

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell vs. Hopewell Last Night in Pony League Action

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

RACOON TWP– The Western Pa. Pony League Organization has 16 teams this season ranging from Beaver, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Ambridge, Central Valley, New Brighton and Riverside. Many of these team enter multiple teams, which is the case with Hopewell.

Last night, the two Hopewell teams squared with Coach Hoffman’s squad taking on Coach Reed’s group at Racoon Municipal Park.

These two teams are evenly in terms of talent, although Team Hoffman’s team was missing a key contributor. That aside, it was a close game until late when Team Reed pulled away with big 5th and 6th innings to away with a 15-9 win.

Here’s a look at some of the standout performers from tonight.

TEAM REED:
-Jaxsen Covalt: 2 for 4 at the plate with 3 runs scored, 1 walk and 1 RBI. Covalt also entered the game in the 3rd inning and pitched 2 scoreless innings, striking out 3.

-Andrew Arzberger: 4 for 5 at the plate with 4 RBI. Andrew also pitched the last 2 innings, striking out 6 batters.

-Liam Rankin: Liam had a 2-run single as part of his teams 6 run 5th inning. Rankin also made a couple nice plays defensively at 3rd base.

-Some of the other Hopewell kids with RBIs last night for Team Reed were Nico Yannessa, Ethan Adams and Connor Reed.

TEAM HOFFMAN:
-Ryan Gaguzis: 2 for 2 at the plate, along with 2 walks. Gags also scored 3 runs and made an above average play in center field.

-Tyler Hoffman: 1 for 3 at the plate, along with a walk. Tyler scored 2 runs and also drove in 2 runs with a triple. Hoffman also played a solid game behind the plate.

-Luke Vukovcan: 2 for 4 at the plate. Luke drove in 3 runs and also scored 2 runs. Luke started for Team Hoffman and went 4.1 innings allowing 5 earned runs and struck out 6 batters.
-Noah Honess: Noah drove in 2 runs tonight for Hopewell.

*The biggest difference in tonight’s outcome was team defense. Team Hoffman’s squad committed an uncharacteristic 7 errors, compared to just 1 for Team Reed. It’s almost impossible to win making that many errors, especially when you’re going up against a quality opponent.

Next up for both teams- Team Reed will take on undefeated Beaver tonight. Best of luck guys. Team Hoffman has a day off before they’ll host Riverside on Thursday.

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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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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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