Hopewell knocks out Nottingham in state tourney
HOPEWELL TWP. » Their nickname is the Bulldogs, but to Nottingham they looked like greyhounds.
The 4th-seeded Hopewell Valley Central High School baseball team played small ball at the plate and aggressive ball on the bases to top the 5thseededNorthstars, 9-2, in aNJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinal game Thursday.
Hopewell (25-2) advances to meet top-seeded Wall, a 1-0 walk-off winner over Steinert, in Tuesday’s semifinal. Before that, they have a rematch against Nottingham (20-5) in Saturday’sMercer CountyTournament championship game.
Leftfielder Cole Hare, who had a single, double and RBI, said there will be no letdown for the Bulldogs.
“We’re going to have all the energy in theworld,” Hare said. “Thiswould be the first timewe ever won it if we can pull it out, so I knowall the guys are really excited.”
They certainly looked excited against the Northstars, as the Bulldogs ran wild en route to six fourth-inning runs to break open a scoreless tie. Hopewell scored two runs from second base on bunts, and scored two runs on one bunt during the inning.
“We have some guyswho can run a little bit and they’re pretty good baserunners,” coach Ken Harrison said. “They can pick up things that we talk about, they can see some things that they’re free todo; freetorunon. We have some guys with some pretty good baseball IQs.”
Andy Blake, who had three hits and two runs, set it all up when he hit a leadoff single
and then steamed to third on Hare’s ground single to center that looked like it may just move Blake to second.
“He got a great read off the bat,” Hare said. “He told me when I got back in the dugout that he was getting excited on the base paths and took it firstto-third. He set the table for us with that aggressiveness.”
Did he ever. That forcedNottingham to bring the infield in and Drew Brodine capitalized by ripping one into left field for a 1-0lead. Mike Savas’ sacrifice attempt turned into a single whenhebeat it out, andturned into an RBI when Hare never stopped running from second and scored while Brodine took third.
“I sawthey were going to first as I was rounding third and I thought I would just go ahead and score,” Hare said, making it sound so simple.
Jason Greenzang was then hit by a pitch and stole second with one out. Kenny Tagliareni dropped a squeeze bunt and while Nottingham was getting the out at first, Savas scored and Greenzang tore around third to follow him home. Liam Cleary capped the uprising with an RBI single as HoVal had five hits of their 13 hits in the inning.
“It lifts the team when we hit like that,” said Brodine, who had two hits and two RBIs. “It inspires the other hitters to be confident up there. When one person hits, it just seems likewe just keep a rally going.”
Nottingham, which has mounted some huge comeback wins in the states the past several years, tried to get back in it in the fifth when Tommy McParland hit a two-run double tomake it 6-2. It was one of just two highlights for the Stars, asNickHoughton got his 100th career hit earlier in the game.
Hopewell took the momentum back in the bottom of the inning on Hare’s RBI double, Brodine’s RBI triple and Greenzang’s run-scoring single.
Tony St. John got themound wintomove to6-0, whileDylan Joyce pitched the final 2.1 innings. Harrison said he is unsure whether he will throw Blake against Houghton Saturday since he has a state game three days later.
But he is sure his team will keep running.
“Coach harps on doing the little things, making the small plays and turning theminto big plays,” Hare said. “We want to put pressure on the defense.”
They did just that, and Nottingham coach Jim Maher made no excuses.
“Theyweremuch better than us today in every aspect of the game,” Maher said. “Pitching, hitting, coaching, they were better than us.” Nottingham(20-5) 000 020 0— 2 8 2 HopewellVal(25-2) 000 630 x— 9 13 0 2B: McParland (N), Hare (HV); 3B: Brodine (HV); RBIs: McParland 2 (N), Cleary, Hare, Brodine 2, Savas, Greenzang, Tagliareni 2 (HV). WP— St. John (6-0); LP— Rojek (7-1).