Following a 17-3 win over Blackhawk to start the day, the Hopewell 11-year-old All-Stars were back on the field immediately afterwards for a matchup against the Beaver Bobcats.
While the final score wasn’t as large, the result was the same as Hopewell defeated Beaver, 11-5. With this win, the Vikings open up play with a 2-0 record and with the size of victories, they should be a high seed tomorrow when bracket play begins.
Beaver actually led this game 4-1 going to the bottom of the 3rd inning but that’s when the Hopewell offense exploded for 6 runs, followed by 3 more runs in the bottom of the 4th inning.
The headline of this game was two Hopewell players blasting over the fence home runs. The first one was hit by Michael Ambrose and it was the turning point in the game and put Hopewell on top. The second one was hit by Zac Seech and word is that the ball he hit is still traveling in the air somewhere. IT WAS A BOMB!!
Hopewell’s Zac Seech
GAME RECAP:
Bottom of 1st: Beaver jumped out to a 3-0 lead but Hopewell chipped away in the bottom of the first. With 1 out, Seech came through with a line drive single to left and then with 2 outs, Reagan Haring drove in Seech with an RBI single. Hopewell has been outstanding in this tournament with their 2-out hitting. Beaver 3-1.
Top of 2nd: Connor Eiler pitched the second and had an easy inning as he got two groundball outs, one to Lavia at 2nd and the other to Seech at SS. The other out came via a strikeout.
Bottom of 3rd: Beaver added a run in the top of the inning but the Hopewell offense came to life and put up a six spot in the bottom of the frame. The first run came in as Hunter Prenatt scored as he stole home plate. Gannon McNally stepped to the plate and he’s been outstanding in both games. In this at-bat, McNally hit a line drive single to left, scoring Seech, Hopewell trailed just 4-3.
With 2 outs, McNally stole second and scored on an RBI single to center by Eiler, the game was tied at 4 apiece. After Owen McGovern walked, Michael Ambrose gave Hopewell the lead as the drove a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence.
Hopewell’s Michael Ambrose
This was the second HR this season for Ambrose. It’s been an outstanding start for Ambrose in this final tournament as in the first two games, Michael went 5 for 6 with 4 runs scored and 5 RBIs. Hopewell led 7-4.
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Bottom of 4th: Beaver tacked on a run in the top of the inning but Hopewell scored 2 of their own, highlighted by monster blast to CF by Seech, Hopewell led 10-5.
Top of 5th: Another big moment of the game came in the 5th inning as Beaver loaded the bases with 2 outs. The Hopewell coaches made the move to bring in Seech to try and get them out of this jam and he did exactly that. On his very first pitch, Seech got a comebacker to the mound and he threw home for the force out, Hopewell led 10-5.
Bottom of 5th: The final out of the game came home as Ambrose continued his torrid day with an RBI single to center to score McNally, Hopewell led 11-5.
FINAL: HOPEWELL 11 BEAVER 5
Bracket play begins tomorrow and as soon as we learn Hopewell’s schedule, VSN will pass it along.
