By Rich Bevensee
Will Hoffman should have been a nervous wreck when he set foot on the pitcher’s mound for the championship game of the Ripken National Qualifier at Diamond Nation on Sunday afternoon.
The young right-hander with Flores Baseball Braves 12U Red was about to face an Ascent Athlete lineup which, moments earlier, ravaged the Marlton Chiefs with nine titanic home runs in the semifinals. It was the same Ascent group which roughed up Hoffman a week earlier in a tournament in Staten Island.
Hoffman was unshaken by either factor.
“I feel like my performance last week pushed me to do better this time,” Hoffman said. “The adrenaline got the best of me (last week). I was definitely mad because I knew I could have done better. I also knew if we played them again in this tournament, I was going to shut them down.”
What Hoffman did was muffle Ascent’s missile-laden offense by limiting that powerhouse lineup to just two runs on five hits in the Braves’ 10-2 victory in Flemington.
With the victory, the Braves earned one of the 16 automatic bids to the inaugural Ripken Nationals, June 29-July 4 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Braves’ Will Hoffman dissects pitching performance in the post-game with DN writer Rich Bevensee.
Last week in Staten Island, Ascent won this head-to-head matchup, 13-3. Hoffman surrendered five earned runs on five hits and one walk in four innings.
Talk about a dramatic turn of events – for Hoffman and the Braves. For the entire program, the Ripken title meant much more than just another addition to its trophy case.
“It’s really cool. Exciting,” Hoffman said. “As a team we were all really mad and wanted to get back at them. That’s what drove us this whole tournament, just wanting to win this whole thing.
“I know now that even after a struggle, I can go back in and do what I do and get the job done.”
Hoffman not only limited Ascent to a single, solo, home run by Jax Solomon in the fourth inning, he kept the Garnet Valley, Pa. bombers from building any rally of substance, stifling them to single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
“He has an electric arm,” Braves coach Bobby Cross said of Hoffman. “He can shut down any team. He doesn’t need to be 100 percent on. He is that good.”
Braves coach Bobby Cross delivers post-game analysis in wake of Ripken championship.
Earlier, Cross and the Braves had a front row seat to Ascent’s 18-3 semifinal domination of Marlton, a game in which seven players accounted for nine home runs.
Cross said he was not concerned with Hoffman’s state of mind after watching that show.
“Last weekend they got a chance to watch us,” Cross said. “This weekend we watched them and watched their swings. We watched what they liked to do in the box. I wasn’t worried. We had Will.”
Hoffman wasn’t worried either.
“I knew they could hit, but I just thought that if I worked the plate I could beat them,” said Hoffman, who struck out six and walked one over 71 pitches. His fastball reached a personal best of 75 mph.
“We knew that we were one of the better teams and that if we could do our thing, stay composed, stay in the game and never take the foot off the pedal, we’d win. I’m grateful for the opportunity to pitch in this tournament. It’s very satisfying.”