Mother nature called for hot and humid as the Hoptown Hoppers hosted their first and the Ohio Valley League’s third All-Star game. Skills competitions combined with an East vs. West 8-inning game made for an eventful night at Colonel Field.
First were the skills competition, starting with the fielding challenge. The Hoppers had Max Remy as a representative, but Justin Chauvin of the Muhlenberg Stallions took the title.
In the pitching challenge, Tyler Graham represented the Hoppers and finished runner-up in a playoff to Allen Howe, also of Muhlenberg.
Blake Jackson, who is tied for the OVL lead in home runs, represented the Hoppers in the HR derby. He finished with two total runs in four rounds as Sid Kumar took the crown.
While the Hoppers fell short of victory in the pre-game festivities, they enjoyed themselves in what was next to come.
The East team was made up of Dubois County, Henderson, Muhlenberg and Owensboro.
The West team was made up of Fulton, Hoptown, Madisonville and Paducah.
The Hoppers presented multiple pitchers as well position players.
Starting on the mound for the West was Hopper ace Brian Coffey. Coffey is currently tied for the OVL lead in wins and also has a save under his belt.
Behind Coffey were infielders Blake Jackson (3B) and Cole Cummings (SS). Jackson leads the league in RBI, is tied for the lead in HR and is second in hits. Cummings is tied for fourth in singles and is fifth in doubles.
In the outfield, the Hoppers were represented by starting right fielder MJ Rookard. Rookard is batting .328 on the season with 18 RBI.
But that wasn’t all for Hoptown, as they had reserve catcher Matt Keane on roster as well. They also had the following arms at their disposal: Christian Edwards, Hassan Westbrook, Kendall Marshall, Sam Traver and Shane Burns.
Coffey set the tone early, preventing any hits in his two innings pitched. The East kept in volume, however, preventing any West runs in that span.
In the third, however, things got messy for the West.
Coffey was replaced by Isaiah Glidden to start the inning and the bases were quickly loaded to result in a grand slam by Nolan Ramsey.
With the West offense remaining quiet, Austin Mabry took over in relief for Glidden and pitched a much-needed scoreless inning.
However, it didn’t last long.
The West offense was stagnant through four innings and the East smelt blood.
Brennan Hatten replaced Mabry in the fifth and was popped off for a five-spot that extended the East’s lead, 9-0.
With the crowd sensing defeat, West and Hoptown Hopper head coach Brock Moss refused to give up.
Moss rallied his troops during the break and lit a fire that answered the East’s five run inning with five of their own.
The West drew two walks and singled to load the bases. Then, Cummings grounded into a fielder’s choice to score the first run of the game. He was followed by Nathan Chevalier and Jackson who singled and doubled, respectively, to score the second, third and fourth runs of the inning.
MJ Rookard then singled to score Jackson for the fifth run of the inning.
The West pitching staff followed suit by throwing a scoreless inning and allowing their offense to get back to the plate.
Needless to say, there were plenty of fireworks on deck.
A walk and a single put two on with no outs in the bottom of the sixth. Then a single, followed by a double, scored three consecutive runs to cut the East lead to just one.
The West followed suit by singling for the tying run.
It wasn’t just two at-bats later that they doubled for two more runs to take an 11-9 lead. Another single before the end of the inning drove in two more for a 13 unanswered runs in two innings.
One more inning was nothing to Hoptown, as they pitched another scoreless top while scoring three runs in the bottom to extend their lead, 17-9.
The East got two back in the eighth before Westbrook retired the final batter.
The game was scheduled to go nine innings before pitching complications caused the game to be called short.
Graham Hackbarth of Madisonville was named the OVL All-Star game MVP. He finished with a line of 3-4 for two singles, a double, two RBI and as many scored.
Cummings finished 1-3 with a single, RBI and run scored.
Jackson went 2-3 with a single, double, two RBI and a run scored.
Keane (0-1, an RBI, a run and a walk) and Rookard (2-3 with two singles and an RBI) were the other two Hoppers to see at-bats.
The Hoppers next game will be in Owensboro Tuesday night at 7 P.M.