Hopwood edges Charleroi in FCBL showdown
Hopwood scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning and held off Charleroi for an 8-6 victory on Tuesday in Fayette County Baseball League (FCBL) play at Veterans Memorial Field in Charleroi.
Hopwood improved to 3-3 while the Magicians dropped to 3-2-1.
Andino Vecchiolla, who would earn the pitching victory, walked to lead off the eighth prior to advancing to second on Santino Marra’s single.
Matthew Firestone’s sacrifice bunt moved Vecchiolla and Marra to second and third before Vecchiolla raced home for the winning run on Chad Petrush’s sacrifice flyout to center field.
Marra scored on Justin Berstensky’s base hit to second base for a two-run lead.
Vecchiolla finished the game in the bottom of the frame with two strikeouts and a flyout to center field for a 1-2-3 inning.
The left-hander yielded one earned run on one hit over two innings. He struck out two and walked one.
Charleroi scored two runs on two hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch for a 2-0 advantage in the first inning.
Tyler Sankovich singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the first frame before advancing to second on Colton Brightwell’s line drive to center.
Elias Lippincott walked to load the bases prior to Sankovich scoring when Remington Lessman worked a free pass. Brightwell crossed home plate when Chad Behrendt was hit-by-pitch with the bases full.
Hopwood starting pitcher Robbie Andrews was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout, infield flyout to second base and another strikeout.
The visitors took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third inning on the strength of a Chase Sankovich two-run home run over the right-field wall.
Brestensky singled, stole second, advanced to third on a balk and scored on Tate Musko’s base hit to right field to cut the deficit to 2-1. Musko raced to second on an error, and third on a groundout before Sankovich hit the first pitch he saw over the fence.
Hopwood added its fourth run in the top of the fifth when Musko tripled to left field and scored on Anthony Piasecki’s groundout to second base.
Tyler Sankovich tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth on a home run to right field that also scored Troy Miller, who had singled to center field to lead off the frame.
Hopwood regained the lead in the next inning when it scored two runs on two hits and three walks (one intentional) for a 6-4 advantage.
Ryan Covelens singled on a line drive to left field and Vecchiolla walked prior to Marra being intentionally put on base.
Covelens scored when Firestone drew a base-on-balls prior to Petrush driving in Vecchiolla on a base hit to center field.
The Magicians forced extra innings with a two-spot in the bottom of the seventh inning when Troy Miller scored on Brightwell’s sacrifice flyout to right field and Lessman walked with the bases loaded to force in Ashton Ray.
Brightwell doubled to center field to lead off the bottom of the third inning.