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Hopewell JH Football

Amadio Throws 4 TD Passes; Hopewell Loses Season Opener 32-28

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Hopewell Junior High Football team kicked off their season against Cornell in a thriller that came down to the final minute. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Vikings fell just short, 32-28.

Hopewell opened strong, nearly connecting on multiple passes in the end zone but Cornell struck first, capitalizing on a turnover to go up, 6-0.

Cornell then added another defensive score to extend their lead to 12-0.

But the Vikings didn’t flinch- quarterback Nico Amadio connected with Roman Crisci before finding Vin Smetana for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 12-6 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Hopewell’s defense pounced on a Cornell fumble, which was recovered by Josiah Persi-Jones.

The Hopewell offensive line led by Cameron Klacic was able to give Amadio enough time for a 40-yard TD pass to Smetana, which tied the game 12-12.

Then Hopewell’s defense, led by a key tackle from Christian Kleckner, continued to fight, but Cornell answered with two more scores, including a big punt return to make it 26-12.

Hopewell got back in the game as Amadio hit Smetana for another touchdown and then Nico powered in the 2-point conversion to cut the deficit to 26-20.

Cornell scored again to go up 32-20 but Hopewell wasn’t finished as Amadio threw his 4th touchdown pass, this time to Crisci. Following another successful 2-point conversion attempt, Hopewell now trailed just 32-28.

Hopewell kicker Kaleb Gonzalez then attempted an on-side kick, but Cornell managed to secure the ball land ran out the clock to pick up the win.

Hopewell Junior High Football

HOPEWELL STATISTICS:
-RB Jake Durkin: 5 carries for 50 yards

-QB Nico Amadio: 13 of 18 for 227 yards passing, 78 yards rushing, 4 touchdowns

-WR Vin Smetana: 5 catches, 3 TD’s

-WR Roman Crisci: 3 catches, 1 TD

-WR Kaleb Gonzalez: 1 catch, 15 yards

Hopewell is next in action on Wednesday at home against Carlynton.

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Hopewell Boys HS BasketballHopewell Boys JH Basketball

Strong Morning for the Hopewell Boys JH Basketball Program

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP- The Hopewell Boys Junior High basketball program continued their summer league scheduled with a handful of games this morning at the Hopewell Junior High School.

The Vikings 8th grade team took on Blackhawk and Central Valley, while the 7th graders went up against Moon.

In their first game of the morning, the 8th graders easily defeated Blackhawk. Vikings Sports Now was their second game against Central Valley and here’s a recap of the Vikings win.

HOPEWELL VS. CENTRAL VALLEY (8TH GRADE BASKETBALL GAME):
*This was another game in which Hopewell wasn’t really challenged and it gave head coach Patrick Phillips the opportunity to experiment with plenty of different player lineups and got the players plenty of time on the court. While winning is fun, the real purpose and benefit of the Summer League is to get players live in-game action and to work on things they’re getting taught in practice.

These games are played with a running clock with two halves consisting of 16 minutes.

Early on, it was fairly obvious the talent on the court that Coach Phillips had with Ryder Kostrick, Christian Fisher, Kaleb Gonzalez and Vin Smetana.

1ST HALF:
*Central Valley scored the first basket of the game but after that it was all Hopewell as their size and physicality in the paint was too much. Gonzalez confidently drove to the hoop, missed his shot but Fisher gobbled up the rebound and put it back for 2. Tied at 2.

*Gonzalez showed his range as he knocked down a 3 from the corner, Hopewell 5-2.

*Smetana put his head down and drove the wing and dished off to Fisher, who converted another layup, Hopewell 7-2.

*Hopewell’s pressure defense at times was suffocating as it was on this sequence as Kostrick stole a pass at midcourt and found Gonzalez underneath for 2 more, Hopewell 9-2.

*Following a CV miss, Hopewell got their transition offense going and Enzo Leopardi finished with a 2 + a foul, Hopewell 14-2.

*CV got within 6 points, but Hopewell was able to extend the lead. Smetana found Fisher again, who missed his original shot but grabbed his own rebound, kept the ball high and put it back in for 2, Hopewell 16-8.

*More transition, this time Smetana found a streaking Kostrick, who converted for a layup, Hopewell 19-8.

*Instead of dishing off assists, Smetana kept the ball and had a strong drive from the left wing for a layup. By the way, today was Vin’s 14th birthday. Happy Birthday Vincent!  Hopewell led 23-12.

*Nice ball rotation resulted in Gonzalez getting the ball at the top of the key and after faking a drive, Kaleb pulled up from the foul line and knocked down a jumper, Hopewell 25-12.

*Right before halftime, Gonzalez comes up with a steal off the Hopewell press and took it in himself for two, Hopewell 27-12.

HALFTIME: HOPEWELL 28 CENTRAL VALLEY 12

2ND HALF:
*Gonzalez opens the scoring by taking in a long rebound and dribbling the length of the court for a layup, Hopewell 30-18.

*Later, Brandon Cecchini uses his quickness to drive to the basketball for a contest layup, Hopewell 35-18.

*Kostrick uses his quickness to get into the lane and drops it off to Fisher, who finishes, Hopewell 37-22.

*Gonzalez with another strong take and he spots Fisher in the opposite block, who converts, Hopewell 39-22.

*More Fisher as this time David Johnson dribbles in and gets it to the big man. Hopewell 41-23

*Finally, Fisher with a clean block on defense, which allows Hopewell to get out running. Smetana runs the court and with another assist, this time to Gonzalez, Hopewell 43-23.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 43 CENTRAL VALLEY 23

HOPEWELL 7TH GRADE VS. MOON:

*In a hard-fought battle against Moon, Hopewell showed grit and growth, even in defeat. While they ultimately came up short on the scoreboard, the game highlighted the Vikings continued progress, especially on the offensive end.

From the opening tip, Moon tested Hopewell with their pace and in-game execution, as a result, Hopewell struggled at times to get stops defensively. Despite the challenged, Hopewell never backed down. They stuck together, moved the ball well, and found better rhythm on offense as the game went on.

Players shared the ball unselfishly, made smart decisions, and trusted one another, resulting in one of their strongest offensive performances to date. While the outcome wasn’t what they wanted, the effort, teamwork and improvement were evident.

Hopewell is learning, growing and getting better every game and today’s game against Moon was no exception.

After the 8th grade game, Vikings Sports Now had a chance to talk with Hopewell Junior High Head Coach Patrick Phillips about the summer league in general and what’s he’s seeing from his players.

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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

Vukovcan/Honess Combine to No-Hit South Side

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Hookstown– After having two games earlier this week postponed because of rain, the Hopewell Pony League team (Team Hoffman) returned to action tonight against South Side and it was a thing of perfection.

In their most complete game of the season, Hopewell blanked South Side 7-0, which was headlined by a combined no-hitter from Luke Vukovcan and Noah Honess.

Vukovcan pitched 4.2 innings and was dominant, recording 11 of his 14 outs via strikeout. The only thing that didn’t allow him to go further was pitch count as Luke threw a career-high 92 pitches.

Honess relieved Vukovcan and was outstanding , keeping South Side off balance with a nasty curveball. Noah went 2.1 innings, allowing 1 walk and striking out 2 batters.

Game Highlights-  

*Top 1st: South Side got a runner to third base with 1 out but Vukovcan went on to strike out the next two batters.

*Bottom of 1st: With 1 out, Reed Budavich singled to center field and eventually scored on an RBI double to right-center by Vukovcan. Hopewell led 1-0.

*Top of 2nd and 3rd: Vukovcan struck out 5 of the 6 South Side hitters.

*Bottom of 3rd: Vin Smetana led off with a single, which was followed by Budavich reaching on an error. After Vukovcan loaded the bases with a 1-out walk, Honess brought in Smetana with a ground out to second. Hopewell led 2-0.  Next up, David Johnson recorded an infield single, which brought in Budavich. On the play, Vukovcan scored on some South Side miscommunication between infielders, Hopewell led 4-0.

*Top of 4th, Vukovcan walked two batters but with 1 out, he got help from his defense as 1st baseman, Mason Santamaria fielded a sharp ground ball for the second out. With runners at 2nd and 3rd, the inning ended on a strikeout.

Hopewell’s Noah Honess

*Top of 5th, Honess replaced Vukovcan and inherited 2 runners with 2 outs. After walking his first batter to load the bases, Honess got the next batter to ground out to Smetana at shortstop. Hopewell leads 5-0.

*Bottom of 5th, Honess leads off inning with a single, which was followed by Johnson getting hit by a pitch and a hard single to left by Santamaria to load the bases with 0 outs. Then after 2 outs, Smetana reached on a fly ball error to right field, which scored Honess and Johnson. Hopewell led 7-0.

*Top of 6th, the first out came on a fly ball to Budavich in center.  Then with 1 on, Honess recorded a strikeout and on the pitch, catcher Tyler Hoffman threw out the runner trying to steal second.

*Top of 7th, Coach Hoffman let Honess finish it out and Noah kept the no-hitter intact. First out came on a grounder to Santamaria at third. Out No. 2 came via a grounder back to Honess at the mound. Then the game ended as Honess recorded a strikeout.

Final: Hopewell 7 South Side 0

Hopewell/Team Hoffman improves to 3-2 and returns to action on Tuesday against 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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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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