Hopewell Valley softball
By: Jim Green
The Hopewell Valley Central High School softball team moved one step closer to clinching a berth in the state tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 10-9 Tuesday with a 3-2 extra-innings win at Delaware Valley on a game-winning home run by Becca Rhebergen in the top of the ninth. HoVal now needs to win one of its next two games against Princeton today (Thursday) and North Hunterdon on Friday in order to have the necessary .500 record by Friday’s cutoff for the state tournament.
"I was just trying to help the team," Rhebergen said. "I wanted to get a base hit to get something going. I hit the ball really well."
Hopewell fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but battled back to tie the game with one in the sixth on a home run by Ashley Wilson and one in the ninth on a steal of home by Courtney Sorg.
In the ninth, Rhebergen gave her team the win by smacking a ball to right center and racing around the bases.
"I’m starting to get my swing back," Rhebergen said.
The Lady Bulldogs were coming off a 4-0 loss to defending Mercer County Tournament champion Ewing that dropped them to 9-9. Hopewell managed just four singles and committed four errors in the loss. The Blue Devils chipped away with one run in the first, two in the fifth and one in the sixth against Sorg.
"We didn’t come out strong," Rhebergen said. "Our intensity wasn’t there. That was the biggest thing we’ve been missing."
On Saturday, Hopewell snapped a two-game skid with a big 3-0 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North behind the fine pitching of Sorg, who picked up her fifth shutout of the year, tying her for the Colonial Valley Conference lead with Hamilton star Melissa Hodge. Rosie Rarich had an RBI in support of Sorg, who surrendered just four hits to Knights.
Hodge posted her fifth shutout against the Lady Bulldogs on May 4, surrendering just two hits and out-dueling the up-and-coming Sorg.
"She’s always a tough pitcher," Rhebergen said.
The Lady Bulldogs will play host to Princeton in a Mercer County Tournament consolation game at 4 p.m. today (Thursday). They then have back-to-back regular-season games at home, against North Hunterdon on Friday and Lenape on Saturday. They travel to West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Monday and Steinert on Wednesday before finishing the regular season at Lawrence on May 20.
If the Lady Bulldogs clinch their tournament spot by beating Princeton which they defeated 10-0 earlier this month they should settle down.
"I think we’ll relax," Rhebergen said. "We’ll be more confident, and we’ll start preparing for the tournament."

