Robbinsville starting pitcher Tyler Bunnell throws to the plate against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley starting pitcher Blake Echternacht delivers to the plate against Robbinsville during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville’s Gavin Hopkins, right, celebrates with teammate Noah Schwartz, left, after Hopkins scored a run against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley first baseman Luke Hemmer stretches to try and catch a wide throw against Robbinsville during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley’s Jaykob Shin follows through on a swing against Robbinsville during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville’s Ryan Emigholz leads off second base against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville’s Gavin Hopkins hits a single against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville right fielder Matt Boss, back, and second baseman Eddie Keating, front, nearly collide as they go after a pop up against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley starting pitcher Blake Echternacht throws to plate against Robbinsville during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville starting pitcher Tyler Bunnell follows through on a pitch against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley’s Chase Garrow, left, gestures after he hit a double as Robbinsville second baseman Eddie Keating, right, walks past during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Robbinsville coach Mike Kinsella listens to ground rules against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Hopewell Valley coach Chris Skolka exchanges lineup cards against Robbinsville during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Show Caption1 of 13Robbinsville starting pitcher Tyler Bunnell throws to the plate against Hopewell Valley during a CVC Opening Day baseball game on Wednesday afternoon in Hopewell Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Expand HOPEWELL TWP. — The 2025 Colonial Valley Conference baseball season began with a bit of history Wednesday when the teams from Robbinsville High and Hopewell Valley High opened the new Colonial Division with an eight-inning, three-hour, 7-7 tie before daylight ran out on them. Not that spring ties are unheard of, but for these two baseball rivals, who for years had battled in the Valley Division, beginning their move up with a gritty deadlocked battle was quite a surprise. It was a very new experience for just about everyone involved. And for the host Bulldogs, who had a 6-2 lead after two innings, the outcome definitely was not what they or the Ravens were expecting. “I’ve never had that happen, at least in high school,” R’ville junior shortstop Johnny Fowler said of the tie. The same was true for his Hopewell counterparts, as well as longtime assistant coach John Capuano and the team’s new head coach Chris Skolka, who began his CVC career at West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Even when the visitors opened the game with two runs in the top of the first, the Bulldogs did not worry, matching that score in the bottom of the frame with the big hit coming from junior shortstop/third baseman Chase Garrow, who doubled down the left-field line off Ravens’ starting pitcher Tyler Bunnell. “I knew I needed to get my pitch no matter who was throwing,” said the 6-foot-5 Garrow, who was one of six players in the game with two hits despite wind chills that made the temperature feel like it was dipping into the 30s. “It’s about confidence. I mean I don’t want to go up to the plate cocky, so I try to go up there super confident.” Batting out of the No. 3 hole in Hopewell Valley’s lineup, Garrow accomplished that while also stealing three bases and scoring two runs. Meanwhile, Fowler and his teammates were just as confident in their resilience. “Even when we were down four runs, we never lost our fight,” Fowler said. “That’s what I’m most proud of. We have got to clean up a lot defensively, and when we’re trying to move runners, we cannot strike out looking.” Both sides had their good and bad moments. The best for the Bulldogs was a four-run bottom of the second inning in which they sent 10 men to the plate and chased Bunnell from the game. Things changed, however, when relievers Josh Yoo and Noah Schwartz split the next six innings. Head coach Mike Kinsella’s Ravens fought back with two more runs off Hopewell starting pitcher Blake Echternacht (on a two-out single by Hayden Perusich) in the third, then an unearned run in the fourth to close the gap to 6-5. After being relieved by Owen Lengle on the mound, Echternacht, who moved to shortstop, helped the home team increase its lead to 7-5 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. But a two-out RBI single by Fowler in the sixth bounced away in the outfield for one of the Bulldogs’ five errors to plate Gavin Hopkins and Schwartz to knot the score. Schwartz stranded Ryan Ottobre at third base in the bottom of the sixth, then neither he nor Lengle would crack in the final two innings, forcing the game to end in a tie. “Our defense could have been better,” Garrow said. “I think if we’d made a couple less mistakes, we would have won this game.” When it comes to Northeast baseball in March, that is usually the difference between a win, a loss or a tie. Robbinsville (0-0-1)      202      102    00    —    7     8  3 HopewellVal(0-0-1)       240      010    00    —    7  10  5 2B: Fowler (R), Garrow (HV); 3B: Norton, Shin (HV); RBIs: Schwartz, Fowler 2, Perusich 2 (R), Echternacht, Hemmer (HV). ...read more read less