for breaking news visit www.qns.com AUGUST 11, 2016 • The CourieR SUN 43 sports OUR LADY OF HOPE WINS RGMVM LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP By ANTHO NY GIU DICE agiudice@qns.com/@A_GiudiceReport The Our Lady of Hope Hornets intermediate boys baseball team won the Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth (RGMVM) Little League 14U Junior Championship by beating the undefeated Forest Hills Blue baseball team 4-1 at Juniper Valley Park last week. On their way to the championship, Our Lady of Hope defeated the Forest Hills Red Team 3-1 and in the semifinal game, beat the Garity Post team by a score of 7-5. In the championship game, great pitching, stellar defense and smart base running brought the Hornets their third championship in the last five years. Flame-throwing righty Jack Roche led the team on the mound with his repertoire of pitches and notched 11 strikeouts in leading Hope to the victory. The scoring started in the second inning when Sam Navarra started off the inning with a solid single to the outfield. He quickly stole second and third, and was driven in by right fielder Gio Miceli. Second baseman Charles Stravalle keep the inning alive with a single. Being aggressive on the base paths, Stravalle stole second, third and home to give Hope a 2-0 lead. Defense has always been a staple for the Hornets, and the biggest game of the year proved why. In the second inning, a key play at the plate stopped a potential big inning by Forest Hills Blue in its tracks. First baseman Thomas Jankowski and catcher Gianluca Chiodi executed a perfect inning-ending play when Jankowski caught a runner on third trying to score and fired home to Chiodi who made a great tag, preventing a run from scoring. The next inning was much of the same from the Hornets. Dante Gargiulo started off the inning with a sharp single to the outfield and promptly stole both second and third. Chiodi laid down a perfect bunt for a run-scoring squeeze play. Forest Hills was threatening in the fifth inning. With a run already, in left fielder Daniel Pyryt came up with an important defensive play to prevent Forest Hills from scoring any further and preserving the Hornets’ lead. As the game neared its conclusion, Stravalle reached base again and showed his aggressiveness and instinct on the base paths and stole home providing the Hope with an insurance run, sealing the 4-1 victory.
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