Leopards rebound with win over Charleroi

By JOSE NEGRON
For the MV Independent
Less than 24 hours after seeing a seven-hit effort result in a shutout loss to South Park, Belle Vernon Area encountered better results Saturday.
The Leopards again had seven hits while scoring five early runs and swiping nine bases in a 9-3 nonsection win over Charleroi at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex.
“We were aggressive on the bases and that is going to be big for us especially since we have so many young guys. We have to produce runs,” BVA head coach Daryl Hixenbaugh said. “We put the bat on the ball and that is coming along. I told everybody that we have to be patient. This team is going to come together.”
BVA’s top three hitters set the tone at the plate.
Andrew Sokol, Josh Hoffman and Garrett Greco combined to go 5 for 9 with three walks, three runs scored and an RBI. Sokol went 3 for 3 with a walk while Hoffman added a pair of hits, two runs scored and a team-high three stolen bases for the Leopards (2-2).
“I was struggling a little bit at the beginning of the year and just cleared my head and thought that I need to get back to who I am; I need to let the ball travel and I need to hit line drives,” Hoffman said.

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