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Hopewell High School Football

Hopewell’s Julian Baldwin Suffers Season-Ending Injury

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Adversity is something that every person has to deal with at some point in their lives. It’s not a matter of if but when.

Unfortunately for Hopewell football player Julian Baldwin he’s been hit with some unfortunate news that he’s going to have work to overcome.

The upcoming senior suffered an injury that will cost him his entire senior football season. Baldwin DID NOT get injured in a team football event.

Doctors have given him an initial diagnosis of being sidelined anywhere from 4-6 months. This is devasting news for JB as he’s been working hard all offseason to improve his skills and get ready for his last season of high school football.

“If you know me, you know football is everything to me. This game is the thing I love, and it means more to me than anything, but due to unfortunate events on June 8th, I broke my tibia,” says Baldwin. “My head is held very high and I’m trying to stay as positive as I can, but I was given unfortunate news that I will be out 4-6 months, which would be my whole senior season. My family and I have talked things through, and we are figuring the future out.”

“I’m very thankful for all the people that have given me support throughout my journey and I could not thank you more. This is going to be a long hard journey back but I will get back. Go Vikes!”

This is also difficult news for the Hopewell team as Baldwin was the quarterback of the Vikings secondary and their primary signal caller. Coach Mottes will now call upon someone else to fill Baldwin’s void.

JB this is no doubt unfortunate but it’s only a small bump in your journey. Knowing your work ethic and determination, you’ll be back rehabbing, working out and on the field before you know it.

 

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hoffman and Honess Lead the Way to Exciting 8-6 Win Over Riverside

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 5 minutes read

RACOON TOWNSHIP-Having your entire roster sure has made a difference for the Coach Hoffman’s Hopewell Pony League team.

Due to a variety of things, Hopewell hasn’t been able to play with their entire roster since the start of the season when they started hot.

However, that’s changed a bit over the last week and as a result, Hopewell has gone 2-1-1 in their last 4 games, including tonight’s 8-6 win over Riverside.

Tonight was an exciting game in all aspects for the Vikings as they received strong pitching, clutch hitting and played possibly their best defensive game of the season

For the second game in a row, Hopewell got a clutch performance from their starting pitcher. Yesterday it was Mason Santamaria and today is Noah Honess.

Hopewell’s Noah Honess

Despite not getting a lot of innings this year, Honess took the mound and gave Hopewell an A+ effort. The right-hander went 5+ innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 runs (3 earned runs) and striking out 2 batters. Noah threw a career-high 93 pitches before tiring a bit in the 6th inning.

Ryan Gaguzis entered the game in the 6th inning to relieve Honess and did a tremendous job to close out the game.

At the plate, Hopewell banged out 13 hits and were led by Tyler Hoffman, who smoked the ball in all four of his at-bats. Today’s 4-4 performance comes a day after Hoffman went 3-3 yesterday against Blackhawk.

Defensively, Hopewell was outstanding as they turned a double play, received 2 clutch catches in the outfield, above average play at first base by Reed Budavich and catcher Luke Vukovcan threw out two runners attempting to steal.

The win was important was Hopewell’s playoff chances and it was one they had to earn because Riverside battled for 7 innings.

GAME RECAP:
Bottom of 1st: Riverside had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out, but Honess got a pop up to Vin Smetana at short and then a ground ball to Smetana which ended the inning.

Top of 2nd: Hoffman leads off with a single, stole second and scored on a line drive single to center by Budavich. Then with 2 outs, David Johnson hit a sharp single to right field, which scored Budavich. Hopewell led 2-0.

Bottom of 2nd: Honess struck out the first batter and fielded a come backer to the mound for the second out. A Riverside batter reached on a walk, but Vukovcan gunned him out as he attempted to steal second.

Top of 3rd: Vukovcan led off the inning and hit a deep ball to right center field that went to the wall. Luke was racing around the bases and tried for an inside the park home run but a perfect relay throw from right field to second to catch, got him just in time before he touched home plate.

Bottom of 3rd: Riverside scored a run and were threatening to score. With a runner at 2nd with 1 out, Honess got the next batter to ground to Smetana at short and the final out on a ground out to Johnson at second. Hopewell led 2-1.

Top of 4th: Hopewell immediately were able to get that run back. Once again, Hoffman led off with a single to right field. Tyler advanced to second on a grounder to 3rd by Budavich. Following a single by Honess, Hopewell had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Hoffman was able to score on a dropped third strike as the catcher threw down to 1st base. Hopewell led 3-1.

Bottom of 4th: Riverside loaded the bases with 0 outs and Hopewell looked to be on the ropes, but the Vikings defense came up big. The Riverside batter hit a fly ball/line drive to center field. Ryder Kostrick made the catch and made it look easier than it was as he glided to the ball. The runner scored from 3rd, but Hopewell got an important out. Then with runners at 1st and 2nd, Honess threw a ball in dirt and it skipped away from Vukovcan at catcher. However, he recovered, located the ball and fired it down to 3rd base to nail the runner trying to advance. Then with a runner at 2nd and 2 out, the final out came courtesy a grounder to Budavich at 1st base. Hopewell led 3-2.

Top of 5th: With 1 out, Vukovcan was hit by a pitch and went on to steal second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Smetana then did his job and put the ball in play, grounding out to shortstop, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell wasn’t done as Gaguzis and Kostrick both singled and then Hoffman ripped a double to right field, which brought in Gaguzis and Kostrick. Hopewell led 6-2.

Bottom of 5th: Riverside got a leadoff walk but that was quickly erased as the next batter hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but Smetana fielded the ball, stepped on second and fired to first for the double play. I’ll date myself but Smetana looked like ‘The Wizard of Oz’, Ozzie Smith with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bottom of 6th: As mentioned earlier Riverside didn’t quit and recorded 5 straight hits to quickly tie the game at 6. Once again, Hopewell looked to be in trouble as Riverside still had runners at 1st and 2nd with 0 outs.

Hopewell’s Ryan Gaguzis

However, that’s when Gaguzis came up big and did his best pitching of the night. First out came on a fly ball to Kostrick and the runners didn’t advance. Next batter grounded to Johnson at 2nd base. Then with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Gaguzis ended the threat with an inning ending strikeout. Game tied at 6.

Top of 7th: Vukovcan drew a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch. Luke then stole second base and third base with 0 outs. With 1 out, Gaguzis drew a walk so with runners on the corners, Kostrick grounded to second base, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell led 7-6. Next up, Hoffman once again came up big with a line drive double to center, which brought in Gaguzis. Hopewell led 8-6.

Bottom of 7th: Gaguzis stayed on to pitch and got the job done. 1st out came on a grounder to Smetana, which was outstanding tonight at short. Second out came on a groundout to Hoffman at third. Then after a 2 out walk, the game ended on a grounder to Johnson at second, who flipped to Smetana at 2nd base.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 8 RIVERSIDE 6

WINNING IS FUN!!!

Hopewell (Team Hoffman) closes out the regular season next week with 3 games (Tuesday at Blackhawk, Wednesday at Central Valley and Thursday at Beaver).

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Pony League Gut Out Tie Against Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

DARLINGTON- Due to the high number of games this week and the strict rules with pitch count, Hopewell (Team Hoffman) was in a tough situation tonight as they took on Blackhawk.

Coach Hoffman didn’t have a number of arms available so he needed to figure out a plan.

Hoffman decided to call upon Mason Santamaria, who had only pitched once this season.

The decision paid off as Santamaria came through with a gutsy effort and allowed Hopewell to remain in the game.

That combined with a nice job by pitcher Ryder Kostrick and some big hitting by Tyler Hoffman, Hopewell came away with a 7-7 tie.

Santamaria went 4 innings, allowing 9 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Kostrick went the next 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit, 2 runs, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Hoffman had the big stick going 3-3 with 2 runs and 3 RBI.

Blackhawk jumped out to a 1-0 before Hopewell tied it up. Blackhawk scored 1 in the bottom of the 3rd before Hopewell scored 4 runs in the top of the 4th.

Hoffman ripped a 2-run triple to put Hopewell ahead 3-2. Next up, Reed Budavich came through with an RBI single to bring in Hoffman, Hopewell now led 4-2.

The inning was capped off by a clutch sacrifice fly by Wade Enders, which scored Budavich. Hopewell was short players and Enders was called up from Hopewell Youth Baseball to play in this game. Hopewell led 5-2.

Blackhawk scored 3 runs after 2 outs in the bottom of the inning but Hopewell once again was able to score.

In the top of the 5th, Hopewell loaded the bases with 0 outs and went back ahead 6-5 on a sacrifice fly by Kostrick to score Vin Smetana, who led off the inning with a single. Next up, Hoffman singled in Ryan Gaguzis with 2 outs. Hopewell led 7-5.

Unfortunately, Blackhawk scored 2 runs with 2 outs in the 6th inning to tie the game at 7.

Final Score: Hopewell 7  Blackhawk 7

 

 

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Hopewell High School Football

Good Night For Hopewell HS Football in 7-on-7 Games

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– The big sports night at Hopewell High School tonight started with a 7-on-7 football game between Hopewell, Aliquippa and New Castle.

In the first game, Hopewell took on Aliquippa, followed by New Castle vs. Aliquippa and finished up with Hopewell vs. New Castle.

The way it worked was the game consisted of two halves with a 25-minute running clock. Each took started at the opponents 40-yard line, with a 1st down at the 25 yard line and then again at the 10 yard line.

If they failed to do so, the other team took over once again at the 40-yard. The quarterbacks had 4 seconds to throw the ball, or it counted as an incomplete pass. A touchdown counted for 6 points, while an opposing interception counted as 2 points.

HOPEWELL VS. ALIQUIPPA:
-This game was dominated by the defenses as the opposing secondaries did a good job of taking away anything deep.

*On their 2nd drive, Hopewell got on the board first. Things got get up by a big gain from quarterback James Armstrong to Brody Rock. The drive was completed by a TD pass from Armstrong to sophomore wide receiver Avery Bokor. Hopewell led 6-0.

*Aliquippa tied the game at 6 but Hopewell had an answer. Armstrong connected with senior wide out Logan Triscila followed by a long TD from Armstrong to Rock. Hopewell led 12-6.

*Aliquippa tied the game at 12 but the Vikings responded with another TD. On 3rd down, Armstrong hit Rock for a first down. Then next play, Armstrong connected on an inside slant in the endzone to Cameron. Hopewell led 18-12.

*On their last drive, Aliquippa tied the game at 18 and the game looked like it would end in a 18-18 tie but that wasn’t the case. Stay tuned for the end result.

HOPEWELL VS. NEW CASTLE:
-It took a while for Hopewell’s offense to get going against Aliquippa but that wasn’t the case against New Castle. The Vikings had it in high gear from the start and looked really good in a 30-18 win. In fact, every time the Hopewell offense had the ball, they scored a touchdown.

*1st Drive: On 3rd down, Armstrong connected on a corner of the endzone TD to senior Kingston Krotec. Hopewell 6-0.

*2nd Drive: On the very first play, Armstrong connected with Rock on a 40-yard TD pass up the right sidelines. Rock is going to be an extremely different matchup for opposing teams trying to guard him this season because of his size and speed.  Hopewell 12-6.

*3rd Drive: On the 2nd play, Armstrong scanned the field and found sophomore running back Bruiser Wade in the back of the endzone. Hopewell 18-6.

*4th Drive: Once again, Armstrong found Rock deep up the right sidelines to a TD, Hopewell 24-12.

*5th Drive: Armstrong rolled out to his left and threw deep and connected with Rock in the back of the endzone. 30-18.

FINAL: HOPEWELL 30 NEW CASTLE 18

ALIQUIPPA VS. HOPEWELL:
-As I mentioned, this game appeared to end in an 18-18 tie however, Aliquippa didn’t want things ending in a tie and after the Hopewell/New Castle game, they wanted to resolve things to determine a winner. Each team started at the opposing teams 15-yard line and had 3 plays to score.

*Aliquippa got the ball first and scored to go ahead 24-18. Hopewell took over and on the very first play, Armstrong connected with Cameron for a TD. Game tied at 24.

*On Aliquippa’s next possession, former Aliquippa player came up with an interception, which gave Hopewell 2 points and a 26-24 win!

FINAL: HOPEWELL 26 ALIQUIPPA 24

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Hopewell Boys HS Basketball

Impressive Effort from Hopewell HS Basketball vs. Seton LaSalle

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Hopewell Township- It was only a summer league game in June but there was bigtime intensity and competitiveness being displayed tonight at Hopewell High School as Hopewell hosted Seton LaSalle.

Tonight was interesting because Coach Biega and his staff had to make a number of adjustments due to their roster availability.

The game tonight got underway at 7 PM however a few starters for the Vikings weren’t available at the start because they were competing a couple hundred yards away at Tony Dorsett Stadium as the football program was taking on Aliquippa and New Castle in a 7-on-7 competition.

Once that was completed, James Armstrong, Tre Cameron, Brody Rock and Avery Bokor hurried over to the high school, changed into their basketball uniforms and joined their basketball teammates deep into the 2nd quarter. Hopewell ended up trailing by 14 points at halftime.

However, with their regulars available, the 2nd half was completely different as Hopewell dominated and ended up tying the game on a 3-pointer from Cameron with :03 seconds left in regulation.

The game went to a 3-minute overtime and Seton LaSalle came away with a 61-57 win.

Despite the loss, this was a valuable game for the Vikings staff was they got to see a number of young players receive major minutes in the 1st half.

Following the game, Vikings Sports Now was able to talk with Hopewell head coach Doug Biega about tonight’s game.

 

 

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Hopewell AthleticsHopewell Boys HS Basketball

Big Night of Sports Events at Hopewell High School

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The weather will be perfect so if you’re looking to get out tonight, there’s plenty happening tonight at Hopewell High School.

If you’re a sports fan, you’ll have a chance to watch football, basketball and baseball!

The Hopewell Colt League baseball team, the Hopewell High School basketball team will host summer league games, and the Hopewell HS football team will be hosting a 7-on-7 event.

Here are the details on what’s going on this evening:
*The Colt League team will take on South Side Beaver with the first pitch set for 6 PM. Hopewell currently has a record of 3-2.

*The Vikings HS boys basketball team has been competing in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s Summer League and tonight, the games are at Hopewell High School. Coach Biega’s team will take on Seton LaSalle with the tipoff scheduled for 7 PM.

*If you’re looking to watch some football, Coach Mottes and his team will be taking on Aliquippa, Farrell and New Castle in 7-on-7 football. Action begins at 5 PM.

If you have the time, come out and check out some of the action and support these athletes.

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Hopewell Pony League Squeaks Out 5-4 Win

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

BEAVER FALLS- For a variety of reasons, the Hopewell Pony League squad (Team Hoffman) have had a hard time playing consistent baseball.

As we enter the back half of the season, the Vikings need to string together some wins or they’ll be on the outside looking in of the Pony League playoffs.

Tonight, Hopewell traveled to Beaver Falls, in a game they needed to find a way to win.

Things didn’t look good as they trailed 4-1 late but were able to squeak out a 5-4 win. It certainly wasn’t pretty but a win is a win.

Hopewell actually took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning as Luke Vukovcan led off the game with a double and scored on an RBI single by Ryan Gaguzis.

Beaver Falls then scored the next 4 runs, 3 of which came in the 1st inning.

Vukovcan entered in the 2nd inning and pitched the next 2 innings, recording all six of his outs via strikeouts.

Gaguzis entered in the 4th inning and needed to keep Beaver Falls off the scoreboard and that’s exactly what Gags did.

In the 4th inning, Gaguzis got two ground ball outs, one to 2nd baseman David Johnson and the other to 3rd baseman Noah Honess.

Hopewell’s offense finally got going in the top of the 5th inning as they scored 3 runs to tie the game.

Anthony Ventresca led off with a walk, followed by back to back singles by Vukovcan and Mason Santamaria. With the bases loaded and 0 outs, Gaguzis grounded out which scored Ventresca. Hoffman then reached on an error, which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell then tied the game at 4 on an RBI double by Ryder Kostrick.

More good Gaguzis pitching and Hopewell defense in the 5th inning. The first out came courtesy a groundout to Honess, who played solid defense at third. After a strikeout, the inning ended on a pop up to Vukovcan at short.

With the game tied going to the final inning, Ventresca led off and reached out on error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Vukovcan then collected his 3rd hit of the game but Ventresca was thrown out at 3rd. However, Vukovcan advanced to second on the throw to third.

Hopewell then took advantage of wild Beaver Falls pitching as Vukovcan advanced to third on a wild pitch and also scored on one. Hopewell led 5-4.

Gaguzis stayed on to close thjngs and he got the job done by striking out the first two batters and the game ended on a groundout to Johnson at second.

FINAL: Hopewell 5 Beaver Falls 4

Hopewell will return to action tomorrow when they travel to Blackhawk.

 

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Hopewell Youth Baseball

Complete Team Effort as Hopewell Coach Pitch Opens Playoffs with Win Over Freedom

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

FREEDOM– The Hopewell Vikings Coach Pitch (Team Daley) opened up the playoffs tonight with a 1st round matchup on the road against Freedom.

It’s a very competitive and deep Coaches Pitch League so it won’t be easy for any team to win, including the multiple teams from Hopewell.

This was a very competitive game but in the end the difference was the offensive depth in Hopewell’s lineup along with outstanding defense displayed by the Vikings. The end result was Hopewell coming away with a 12-8 victory. Great job kids!!

HOPEWELL DEFENSE:
*Let’s get into the defense first and we have to start by talking about Brady Daley, who was a brick wall playing pitcher. Anything that Freedom hit up the middle, Daley fielded and fired over to first baseman Harper Lavia, who snagged all the throws. Speaking of Harper Lavia, she made two nice defensive plays in the 1st inning on sharp ground balls to first base.

*More Hopewell defense as in the bottom of the 2nd, shortstop Hudson Lavia and second baseman Adley Faust teamed up for two fielder’s choice plays which killed Freedom momentum.

*In the bottom of the 3rd, nice teamwork shutdown some aggressive Freedom baserunning. The Freedom leadoff hitter laced a ball to centerfield and tried to be aggressive by going for a double. However, Will Vukovcan fielded the ball, fired into Hudson Lavia at shortstop, who raced to the bag to tag the runner. Later that inning, with a runner at 3rd and 2 outs, Daley fielded a grounder and threw to Harper to end the inning.

*In the bottom of the 4th, Daley fielded two grounders back to the mound.

*In the bottom of the 5th, Daley fielded all three grounders and accurately threw to Harper Lavia at 1st. With this performance, Daley received a game ball.

Hopewell’s Will Vukovcan and Brady Daley

HOPEWELL OFFENSE:
-The Vikings banged out 17 hits tonight as four players collected 3 hits apiece: Harper Lavia, Bradey Daley, Will Vukovcan and Cam Baker. A thumbs up to Will Stewart who also registered 2 hits.

-In terms of RBIs, Vukovcan led the way with 4, followed by Max Kokan with 3, Hudson Lavia with 2, Cam Baker with 2 and Daley with 1.

-Hopewell scored 4 runs each in the 1st, 3rd and 5th innings, each time the top of the order batted.

-1st Inning: Daley got things started by singling in Faust. After a Hudson Lavia RBI fielder’s choice, Baker singled in Lavia and Kokan brought in Vukovcan with an RBI groundout. Hopewell led 4-0 after 1st inning.

-3rd Inning: Freedom tied the game 4 but Hopewell answered with 4 more runs. Hudson Lavia brought in his sister, Harper with a line drive single to center. Next up, Vukovcan hit a deep double to right field to score Daley and Lavia. Will then scored on another RBI fielders choice by Kokan. Hopewell led 8-4.

-5th Inning: Hopewell put the game away in this inning by putting up another 4 spot. The first two scored on another deep double to right by Vukovcan scoring Harper Lavia and Daley. Vukovcan finished the game with 3 hits, 4 RBI and got one of the game balls. Baker continued his hot hitting with a single to center scoring Hudson. For the 3rd time today, Kokan drove in a run by putting the ball in play which scored Vukovcan. Hopewell led 12-4.

FINAL INNING:
-Hopewell went to the final inning leading 12-8 and needed 3 outs to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. The first two Freedom batters struck out and then the game ended as Faust fielded a grounder at 2nd base and fired over to Harper Lavia at 1st.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 12 FREEDOM 8

Winning is Fun!! Congrats Team Daley and good luck in the next round.

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Hopewell Pony League Baseball

Dramatic Comeback Win for Hopewell Pony League

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

Things didn’t look good early for Hopewell (Team Reed) as they got themselves in a big hole last night against Riverside in Pony League action.

But as the saying goes, that’s why they play 9 innings, in Pony League it’s 7 innings but you get the point.

Trailing 8-2 after 2 innings, Hopewell battled back to pull out a 12-11 comeback win.

Trailing 8-2 in the 3rd inning, the Vikings got themselves back in the game with a 4-run frame. The impressive part was that this 4 run inning started with 2 outs.

Andrew Arzberger, who was 3-for-5 for the game, tripled to right field and scored on a passed ball. Logan Sweesy and Ethan Adams then singled and both scored on a double to left by Nico Yannessa. Mason Hahn followed that up with a single to drive in Yannessa. Riverside now led only 8-6.

Following a scoreless bottom of the 3rd by Connor Reed, Hopewell tied the game at 8 following a 2-run double by Arzberger.

Reed went on to pitch both a scoreless 4th and 5th innings, striking out 4 batters. This was a huge factor in this game as it allowed Hopewell’s bats to chip away at the deficit and eventually take the lead, which they did in the top of the 6th inning.

Reed started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. After moving to second on a ground out, Connor stole 3rd base and scored on a passed ball. Hopewell added another run to make it 10-8.

To their credit, Riverside responded by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th to take a 11-10 lead.

Hopewell had one last chance to tie the game and they did exactly that.

Hahn got things started by drawing a leadoff walk. Hahn advanced to second on a passed ball and then stole 3rd. Jaxsen Covalt then walked and stole second, which put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs.

Reed stepped up and hit a sacrifice fly to center, which scored Hahn, the game was tied at 11-11. Richard Kurtz then stepped to the plate and lined a single to center, scoring Covalt and giving Hopewell a 12-11 lead.

Arzberger went to the mound in the bottom of the 7th looking for 3 outs and he hit them in style. Andrew struck out 3 consecutive batters and needed only 9 pitches to do so.

Final Score: Hopewell 12 Riverside 11.

Team Reed improves their record to 6-3-1. Congrats Vikings!

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Hopewell’s Charlie Smetana Competing in Prestigious Prep Baseball 2025 Pennsylvania State Games

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

While the high school baseball season is technically over with, the reality is that baseball for kids that play it competitively is never over.

Whether it’s off-season workouts, or Pony and Colt League or a Travel League, baseball is pretty much a year around sport.

That’s certainly the case if you have aspirations of playing it beyond high school, which is the case with Hopewell senior Charlie Smetana.

Since playing Youth Baseball, Smetana’s goal has always been to play college baseball and he’s hoping this offseason is when he gets that opportunity from schools.

Following the Vikings season, Smetana started up play with the BV program and is also playing with a travel organization in Ohio. With these two programs, they’ll be plenty of opportunities to be viewed by college scouts.

Another such chance will be with a prestigious opportunity that Smetana was awarded with recently by receiving an invitation to play in the Prep Baseball 2025 Pennsylvania State games. This began yesterday in Palmyra, Pennsylvania and will through Thursday night.

This is a massive opportunity to play with over 600 of the best amateur baseball players in the state and more importantly, to be seen by college scouts from all levels of baseball. Since 2020 when the Prep Pennsylvania State games began, over 1,500+ players who competed in this have committed to college baseball programs.

This is not something that you can just sign up for, you must receive an invitation from the organization, which Smetana did.

Charlie Smetana

Hopewell’s Charlie Smetana

Once he arrives today, Smetana and other players will           , which will be followed tomorrow and Thursday by competing in games against the best players in the state.

Players that participate in the PA State Games will receive a full PBR profile update including a highlight, subscription-based video, stats, Vizual Edge, advanced metrics and more to help with their recruitment.

Vikings Sports Now wishes Smetana all the best over the next few days and can’t wait to report on that first scholarship offer that comes in.

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