Hopewell exacts revenge against Allentown
HOPEWELL » Even in a summer without much baseball, there is still a certain amount of pride.
That was very evident when the Hopewell and Allentown baseball teams got together Saturday at Bacon Field.
These clubs figured to have solid American Legion teams this summer before the coronavirus caused the Legion season to be canceled.
Playing an unaffiliated, nonleague summer schedule, Hopewell had been cruising along until running into Allentown last week. A’town came away with a pair of wins, leaving coach Mike Coryell’s troops a little upset.
The Hopewell players responded by pulling together to defeat Allentown, 11-1, on Saturday to avoid getting swept in the regular-season series between the teams.
Just as important, it gives Hopewell a boost ahead of one more showdown with Allentown at 8:30 a.m. Thursday when they meet in pool play of the Whitehouse Back The Blue Tournament at BrownIngram Memorial Field in Whitehouse Station.
“We were like 15-0, then they gave us two tough losses,” Hopewell first baseman Dylan Galgano said of A’town. “We wanted to come out today, beat them and show we’re not pushovers.”
Galgano, a Hopewell Valley High grad who will be heading to Gettysburg College in two weeks, showed the pride he has in his team’s mission when he belted a solo home run over the left-field fence to lead off the bottom of the second inning. He came back with an RBI single in a five-run fifth inning, which ended the game early because of the 10-run rule.
“They have really good pitching with a lot of tough left-handers,” Hopewell’s Jason Greenzang said. “We came out looking to get some revenge.”
Some might know Greenzang as a pitcher, yet the Hopewell Valley High grad who will head to Virginia Tech later this month has made himself into a fine right fielder and hitter, as he showed Saturday.
Batting third for Coryell’s squad, Greenzang helped the home team open a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Kenny Tagliareni and Cole Garrow reached base safely. After Garrow thumped a ball off the leftfield fence, Tagliareni crossed the plate when a pitch got away. Then
Greenzang plated Garrow with a sacrifice fly to right.
“I felt good today. I’ve been hitting a lot,” Greenzang said. “What I did is because of the guys in front of me. They do a good job of getting on base. They do the hard work, then I just have to hit them in.”
Greenzang made his job sound easier than it really is, yet showed how well he can hit with a two-run double to left-center field in the third inning, then a one-out double to center to start the rally in the fifth.
Greenzang’s first double ignited a three-run rally in the third after Allentown had closed the gap to 3-1. Greenzang scored on Ameer Hasan’s two-out single to right field, which increased Hopewell’s lead to 6-1.
“I thought we were going to be ready to go after them again, but we came out a little flat today,” A’town center fielder Connor Keenan said.
Keenan, a Jackson Liberty High grad who will be joining the Marine Corps in the near future, got the visitors on the board with a single to center field after Kevin Ritz hit a ground-rule double with two outs in the top of the second inning.
But Hopewell pitcher C.J. Szafranski only allowed one other hit the rest of the way, a two-out single to pinch hitter Jack Nitti in the top of the fifth. Szafranski tossed a complete-game, four-hitter with three of those hits coming in the second inning.
“We’ll have to tighten things up pitching-wise when we play them again, and we’ll have to have a better attitude,” Keenan said. “We can’t be hanging our heads when something doesn’t go our way.”
In other words, the Allentown players need to show a little more pride in what they are able to do when they meet up with Hopewell again early Thursday at the fourday tournament in the Flemington area. They will play some interesting tuneups along the way to test their readiness — at Whitehouse Sunday (1 p.m.), against Hightstown Monday (5 p.m.) at Mercer County Park and at the Hamilton Spartans Tuesday (12:30 p.m. at Bob DeMeo Field in Veterans Park).
Hopewell, meanwhile, plans to host Cherry Hill Sunday (11 a.m.) at Bacon Field, then rest up ahead of the impending tournament and their next showdown with A’town.
Allentown Hopewell 01000—141 21305—1190
2B: Ritz (A), Garrow, Greenzang 2 (H); HR: Galgano (H); RBIs: Keenan (A), Greenzang 3, Hasan, Galgano 2, D.Eng, Moyer (H).
WP — Szafranski; LP — DeSantis.