Hopewell 13’s win SNJ championship

BABE RUTH 13-YEAR-OLDS

By: Tim Falls
   The Hopewell Valley 13-year-old Babe Ruth All Star team has won the state tournament before.
   That may be why they reacted to winning the Southern New Jersey Final with the same quiet composure the team has displayed throughout the tournament and in the previous tournaments Hopewell played in earlier in the season.
   It could also be because the players know they are not yet done.
   Hopewell, as the South Jersey State Champion, advanced to the Middle Atlantic Regional Tournament, which begins tomorrow (Friday) in Medford.
   Unlike the previous tournaments, which were a double elimination format, the regional tournament features pool play where teams compete to advance and face elimination in a semifinal game for a spot in the final.
   Hopewell opens the tournament at 7 p.m. tomorrow against the Metro New York champions. Hopewell then plays the Eastern New York team at 1 p.m. on Saturday and then has a doubleheader on Sunday with a game against the Delaware champions at 10 a.m. and a game against the Northern New Jersey champions at 4 p.m. The 10-team tournament also features the Southern New Jersey runners-up, Cherry Hill, and the host team, Medford, which finished third in the Southern New Jersey Tournament, as well as teams from Pennsylvania and Maryland.
   If Hopewell advances out of pool play as one of the top two teams in its pool, the 13-year-olds would play in a regional semifinal on Monday for a spot in the final Tuesday night. The regional winner advances to the Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series, starting Aug. 17 in Loudoun County, Virginia.
   "Their goal was to win the state championship," said Hopewell manager Jim Patnick. "They’ve been in these situations before, winning tournaments. They understand they’re going to move on. Even after the wins in the tournament finals, they have a quiet composure. They line up and shake hands knowing they’re going to be moving on."
   This group of Hopewell baseball players have gone far in their previous tournaments as younger players. This 13-year-old team won the state tournament as 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds and finished highly in the regional tournament each of those years. Last year, as 12-year-olds, Hopewell hosted the regional tournament, but did not advance out of pool play.
   When this Hopewell team first reached the regional tournament as 9-year-olds, they finished third. Hopewell improved the following year, finishing second in the regional tournament as 10-year-olds. Hopewell then finished third as an 11-year-old team.
   This season, Hopewell clinched a spot in the regional tournament as one of four teams from New Jersey with a win in the SNJ semifinal.
   That did not mean Hopewell could relax.
   Hopewell defeated Cherry Hill, 9-4, to win the SNJ final Thursday night.
   "It was a very exciting game," said Patnick. "The field was harder than it had been all week. Any ball that hit the dirt took a hop that wasn’t even close to where you’d expect it to be. The field was so hard their third baseman started playing on the outfield grass."
   Those hops helped Cherry Hill take a short-lived three-run lead in the top of the first inning.
   "Nobody got down," said Patnick. "We came out with the same enthusiasm and quiet composure we’ve had all along. We hit the ball harder than Cherry Hill did and scored three runs to tie the game."
   Hopewell took the lead with a run in the bottom of the second and protected that lead as both teams scored a run in the third. After that it was all Hopewell.
   Jason Patnick pitched the first three innings and then Nick Gies closed out the game giving up only three hits without allowing a run.
   "They threatened twice and we got out of the inning with a double play both times," said Patnick. "Our defense continues to play well and that’s what’s so important."
   While Hopewell’s pitching has been strong, a 13-year-old arm can only do so much and it’s the teams with the better defense that prevail. Hopewell’s defense has held back the opposition throughout the tournament, even with those unexpected hops.
   "Your pitchers aren’t going to strike out a lot of players," said Patnick, "Your defense needs to be good. Especially on this field. Our kids played the ball, they didn’t let the ball play them."
   Patnick struck out one in three innings of work and only gave up one earned run and five hits, while Gies struck out two.
   Brooks Backinoff, Keith Devlin and Mike Hartel doubled in the win, while Backinoff drove in two runs. Evan Miller, Drew Crivelli, Hartel and Dylan Yuska all had an RBI. Crivelli scored twice and had two stolen bases and Patnick scored twice, while John Croak, Miller, Hartel, Tim Andrews and Alex Rhoads all scored once. Don Giordano pinch hit for Hopewell.