Mike Vukovcan As is the case in sports when you scrimmage, unlike the regular season, winning and losing isn’t the most important thing.
Scrimmages are about coaches using various players in different roles and getting as many players playing time as possible. Also, starters are taken out of the game, something that you obviously wouldn’t do when games count.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
That being said, Hopewell traveled to take on the Riverside Panthers in their final scrimmage before the start of the regular season.
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
When the first pitch was thrown, the winds were blowing and the game-time temperature was at 39 degrees. It was a bit nippy!
At the conclusion of the scrimmage, there were plenty of things for HC Morgan Singletary and his staff to be encouraged about as well as realize some things that need to be cleaned up.
In the end, Riverside came away with a 5-3 win. The Hopewell pitchers kept Riverside off the scoreboard for 5 of the 7 innings but allowed two runs in the 1st and 3 in the 5th.
FIVE POSITIVES TAKES FROM RIVERSIDE SCRIMMAGE:
1) KINGSTON KROTEC:Â No question the most encouraging thing to come out of the game was the way starter Kingston Krotec looked. The senior right-hander’s final stat line was 3 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs (1 earned run), 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
Those numbers are very misleading in terms of the way he looked and pitched. Aside from the first hit of the game, 3 of the 4 other hits were bloopers just out of the reach of the Hopewell infielders. Nothing was hit hard aside from the leadoff double.
Also, Krotec didn’t get much help defensively in the 1st inning which led to at least one and possibly both Riverside runs. Kingston was throwing hard and was throwing strikes. In his 3 innings, he threw just 54 pitches, 36 of which were strikes.
Krotec will start the season as Hopewell’s No. 2 pitcher and if he can give that type of performance on a regular basis, Hopewell will be in a position to win.
2) POWER BATS:Â For the second straight scrimmage, a Hopewell player blasted a HR. Against Peters Township, it was senior Charlie Smetana that went deep and yesterday it was senior outfielder Ben McDonald. In the 5th inning, McDonald got Hopewell on the scoreboard by hitting a homerun to straight away center field. McDonald certainly has that potential so it’s nice to see if happen and give him confidence before the real games begin.
Right after McDonald’s blast, SS Drew Donovan nearly did the same as he also took one to centerfield that bounced off the bottom of the fence. Then in the 7th inning, senior 3B James Gill looked to have connected on a shot to left field but it came down on the warning track, a foot in front of the fence.
This power is something Hopewell didn’t display much in 2025, so if this can become a trend, once again, they’ll be in a position to win.
3) SMETANA’S MIDDLE PRESENCE: Winning teams, most times, have a hitter in the middle of the order that are capable of providing consistent extra base-hits and being a run producer for their team. Through the first two games, Smetana looks to be that guy.
After collecting two extra base hits (double and a HR) against Peters Township, Smetana had another hard-hit ball that drove in a run and also drew a walk after being down 0-2 in the count. It’s early but Chuck looks like a very different hitter than he did a year ago.
4) ANOTHER ARM: McDonald and Krotec will be a top the Vikings rotation, but any team needs more than two pitchers to have real success. Hopewell has plenty of real possibilities for Coach Singletary to consider and one of those players stepped up yesterday. Junior right-hander Jake Knoblach pitched the last 2 innings and was fantastic. Knobloch went 2 innings, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and striking out 2 batters. Jake worked very fast and very efficient, needing only 16 pitches in those two frames.
5) MIDDLE DEFENSE: Hopewell will likely be involved in plenty of close games this season, which means their team defense needs to be at its best. They can’t afford to be giving opposing teams 4/5 outs in an inning. Aside from the 1st inning, the Vikings defense was solid, especially the middle infield. The defensive combination of Donovan at shortstop and Collin Davis at second base will be a strength this season. Yesterday, the combination turned a nice double-play and nearly turned a second when Payton Korker took over at second. Donovan is an above average defensive player and having that presence along with Davis at second will be a huge benefit for the Vikings pitchers this season.
The scrimmages are finished and the real games begin next week. On Monday, Hopewell will host Ellwood City, with first pitch scheduled for 4 PM (weather permitting).
