The #6 hitter in the league is also the Most Valuable Player of the league: Haymarket's Greg Hopkins.
Hopkins, a current junior at St. John's, was a critical part of the Senator's lineup. (And of their soul, if ATVL's observations during the finals were correct.) He pounded the ball to the tune of 345/413/495, with 34 runs, 69 hits, 14 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 33 RBI, 99 total bases, and a 16/30 BB/K ratio in 51 games and 200 at-bats. He added 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts as well. Greg led the league in hits, finished 4th in total bases, and 5th in batting average.
Of course, Greg is no less a hitter with an aluminum bat in his hands. As a freshman at St. John's, he hit 304/386/473, with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, and a 24/30 BB/K ratio in 184 at-bats. He really walloped the ball in his sophomore season, upping his numbers to 349/411/550, with 11 doubles, a triple, 7 home runs, and a 17/18 BB/K ratio in 169 at-bats.
Obviously chosen to participate in the All-Star game, Greg went 2-4 in Woodstock, and then went 0-2 in the Mid-Atlantic Classic against the Cal Ripken League.
Hopkins showed his hitting chops in the first playoff series against the first-ranked Staunton Braves, going 5-10 in the two games, both Haymarket wins, with 6 runs scored and 5 RBI.
ATVL was able to ask Greg a couple questions last week- here's the transcript:
"ATVL: You've obviously been an excellent hitter for St. John's your first two
years with aluminum. What was your approach to hitting with wood this
summer?
GH: My approach with wood this summer was to use the whole field. It's easy
to get away with being pull happy with aluminum. But my approach this
summer was to use the whole field, I tried to stay up the middle of the
field. I used [wood] last summer as well for the first time (other than in
the cages), so I had a better feel and more confidence with the wood
bat this past summer.
ATVL: How would you describe your experience over the summer?
GH: I wouldn't trade this past summer for a thing. Our team at Haymarket
was something else, we had a good feeling from the very beginning of
the summer. I made some great friends on that Haymarket team and had
fun playing baseball, and won a championship, what else could you ask
for? The coaches were awesome too, everyone was on the same page and
things clicked from day one.
ATVL: What's it mean to be named MVP of the league?
GH: Being named MVP is definitely something I'm proud of. I had a good
mindset going into this past summer, I went into it telling myself to
work hard and have fun. And that's what we did, we had fun the whole
summer. A lot of summer ball teams want to get home as soon as
possible, but it was different with this team. We were simply having
too much fun playing baseball. One of my best friends Mike Lang gets my
vote for MVP though, we wouldn't have even made the playoffs if it
wasn't for him. Also, Tom La Stella and Evan Noell were a huge part of
the successful summer, we worked hard on and off the field, no one
works harder at their game than those two. I wish them the best of luck
this year at Coastal!"
Congratulations on your excellent year, Greg!