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Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Hopewell JH Baseball Loses to West Allegheny in Extra Innings

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Hopewell Township – With the Hopewell varsity baseball team playing on the road, the junior high program had an opportunity to play on the field at Hopewell High School.

This was an exciting moment for them and a preview for some of the 8th graders that might make the varsity roster next season.

Those in attendance were treated to a well played, exciting game that Hopewell lost to West Allegheny, 4-3, in extra innings (9 innings).

A tremendous performance today from Hopewell starter Liam Rankin, who pitched 5 innings, allowing only 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts.

This was Rankin’s first start of the season and the right-handed did a tremendous job getting ahead of counts with his fastball and effectively used his off-speed stuff, particularly, his curveball for strikeouts.

Ryder Kostrick relieved Rankin and was also effective, pitching 4 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 earned runs and striking out 5 batters.

At the plate, Hopewell batters collected 9 hits but could’ve been more if not for excellent defense by West Allegheny.

A number of Hopewell hitters including Vin Smetana, Connor Reed, Kostrick and Nico Yannessa, smoked balls only to have West Allegheny defenders make the plays. Credit West A.

Vikings Sports Now was at the game and was impressed by 7th grader Kruz Krotec who had a really solid game, collecting 3 hits and making a number of defensive plays in the field. Smetana also looked really locked in at the plate, collecting 2 hits and could’ve been more.

In the field, Kostrick and Yannessa made two nice running catches in the outfield.

Hopewell trailed by a run entering the 7th inning and with 2 outs, Kostrick came through with a clutch 2-out single to drive in Austin Gallagher to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

Hopewell will have a day off before a scheduled home game on Friday against Montour.

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Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Ryder Kostrick Tosses No-Hitter, Smetana HR Leads Hopewell Junior High Over Beaver, 5-0

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

BEAVER– Ryder Kostrick is one of the most talented young athletes in the Hopewell School District.

Along with being an outstanding basketball and cross-country runner, Kostrick excels on the baseball field as well.

This afternoon, the 8th grader got the start for the Hopewell Junior High baseball team and pitched a no-hitter leading the Vikings over Beaver, 5-0. Keep in mind, Kostrick did this against a team that had 9th graders on it.

Big-time performance by Kostrick as he went 5 innings, allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and striking out 7 batters. This game was only 5 innings because it was the first game of a double-header between the two teams.

Hopewell pitcher Ryder Kostrick

This game got off to quite the start as Hopewell leadoff hitter Vin Smetana swung at the first pitch and hit a HR to right field. Nice job Vin!!

“I was watching the pitcher warm-up, and I saw him throwing high in the zone, so I went to the plate thinking he was going to throw me a high fastball,” Smetana told Vikings Sports Now. “He did and I’m happy I could help my team by putting a good swing on it. Ryder was great on the mound tonight. Great team win.”

That run was all Kostrick needed as he cruised through the Beaver lineup.

In the bottom of the first, Kostrick set down Beaver 1-2-3 with a strikeout, pop up and ground out to Smetana at shortstop.

In the bottom of the second, another 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout, a groundout and a pop up to Smetana.

In the bottom of the third, Kostrick struck out two batters along with getting a ground ball to Wade Enders at third base.

Hopewell was able to add on in the top of the fourth. Kostrick led off with a single and after advancing to third with a stolen base, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Nico Yannessa, Hopewell led 2-0.

Hopewell added 3 more runs in the frame, courtesy of a couple Beaver errors along with an RBI single by 7th grader Kruz Krotec, which scored Liam Rankin, Hopewell led 5-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kostrick struck out the first two batters and closed things down by getting a groundball to Smetana at shortstop.

Ryder needed 3 outs in the 5th to pick up the no-hitter and a Hopewell win and he did exactly that!

“It feels really good to pitch the complete game no-hitter,” Kostrick told VSN. “But it wasn’t just me that made the no-hitter happen as everyone contributed and I got great defense behind me. Offensively, our team did good scoring 5 runs. I could’ve done better at the plate but overall, I’m very happy with what I did on the mound today.”

“Going into the game, I was a little bit nervous but as the game went on, my confidence just boosted through the roof and that’s a big reason for my performance. The confidence my teammates had in me also definitely helped me, especially when I was down 3-0 in the count a couple of times. I could hear them rooting for me and I was able to come back and record the outs. I set a couple goals for myself this season but throwing a no-hitter wasn’t one of them but I’m extremely happy that my teammates and I made it happen.”

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 5 BEAVER 0

Congrats to this Hopewell (Blue team) Junior High team as they’re now 2-0. Both of their wins have been shutouts.

Hopewell returns to action this Saturday when they travel to Blackhawk.

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Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Hopewell JH Baseball Opens with Dramatic 1-0 Win Over Central Valley

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

CENTER TOWNSHIP– Prior to the season, VSN spoke with Hopewell JH Baseball Coach B.J. Rankin who told us that he felt the strength of his team this season is the depth of quality pitchers.

At least for one game, Rankin was spot on as the Hopewell Junior High Baseball team opened the season this afternoon with a dramatic 1-0 win over Central Valley.

The pitching on both teams was tremendous but the key to the game was Hopewell’s defense along with the 1-run they scored in the 2nd inning.

Hopewell’s Vin Smetana

This game was only 5 innings because the two teams will be playing a double-header today. The first game was Hopewell’s Blue team, which is made up of mostly 8th graders. The second game will be with their Gold team, which consists of mostly 7th graders.

Because it was the first game of the season and because they have a game on Saturday, Rankin kept his pitchers on a pitch count and ended up using 4 pitchers (Ty Hoffman, Ryder Kostrick, Channing Yesionek and Liam Rankin).

Hopewell’s Ty Hoffman

Hopewell’s Tyler Hoffman

Hoffman got the start and was outstanding as he went 2 innings, allowing 0 hits, 2 walks and struck out 4 batters. Kostrick pitched a scoreless 3rd inning, allowing 1 hit and struck out one. Yesionek pitched the 4th inning, allowing 1 hit and struck out 2 batters. Rankin closed the game and recorded 1 strikeout.

HOPEWELL/CENTRAL VALLEY GAME RECAP:

Top of 1st: Hoffman struck out the first two batters of the game and caught a pop up back to the mound to record a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Top of 2nd: The leadoff hitter for CV reached via a walk to open the second but Hoffman stayed strong on induced a pop to 1st baseman Will Enders and then struck out the next two batters.

Bottom of 2nd: Hoffman got things going for Hopewell in the second as he hit a line drive double to right field. Yesionek then drew a walk and Hoffman eventually scored on a ground ball to short by Rankin. That was important because it was the only run of the game. Hopewell led 1-0.

Top of 3rd: Kostrick had no problems in the 3rd as he started the inning off with a strikeout and then recorded the next two outs on grounders to 2nd baseman Mason Santamaria.

Top of 4th: Rarely do you see two outs at the plate in a junior high game, but it happened today by Hopewell. A huge play, CV had a runner at 1st with 2 outs when the batter hit a deep fly ball to left field. The runner at first attempted to score but Hopewell executed a perfect relay play at the plate as Nico Yannessa made a strong throw to SS Vin Smetana who then fired a strike to catcher Will Enders, who put the tag on the runner. Big-time play!!

Top of 5th: That play was nice, but the next one was even better because it worked and ended the game. The leadoff hitter walked to open the last inning. After a fly ball to RF Brandon Cecchini and a strikeout, CV had a runner at 2nd with 2 outs. The next batter singled to left and Yannessa came up throwing and made a perfect throw to the plate as Hoffman caught the ball and put on the tag.

Game Over, Hopewell wins 1-0.

Great start to the season Vikings!! Next up is a game on Saturday afternoon against Ambridge.

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Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Hopewell JH Baseball Coach B.J. Rankin Previews Upcoming Season

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 5 minutes read

With the weather SLOWLY warming up and improving that can only mean one thing, baseball season is right around the corner.

In fact, the Hopewell HS and JV programs are scheduled to start play this coming Tuesday with the varsity having a scrimmage at Peters Township HS while the JV team will host Peters Township. Of course, whether those games will be able to be played will be dictated by Mother Nature and if the fields are playable.

Later on, this month, the Hopewell Junior High baseball program will also officially start play with B.J. Rankin returning as head coach for his second season.

Because of roster size, the junior high will field two teams a Blue and a Gold team. The Blue team, which Rankin will coach, will be taking on predominantly other 9th grade programs from across WPIAL, while the Gold team will be playing more middle school teams.

One thing to keep in mind is that these two teams will have a mix of both 7th and 8th grade players on it. The Blue team won’t just be filled with 8th grade players; 7th graders will have the opportunity to earn a spot on this team. That will all be determined by Rankin and his coaching staff following player evaluation.

As we being to ramp up our coverage of Hopewell baseball, Vikings Sports Now had the chance to speak with Coach Rankin about this year’s team and also about how he feels entering his 2nd season in charge of Hopewell’s junior high baseball program.

After years of being a part of Hopewell’s youth baseball program, Rankin accepted the offer from HS coach Morgan Singletary to be head coach of the junior high program.

As I stated last year, this was a grand slam hire for a number of reasons: 1) Rankin’s knowledge of the game 2) his coaching style and ability to get his message across 3) the type of person Rankin is and the values he possesses and ability to interact and instruct his players.

Despite having coached for many years, last year was different for Rankin for many reasons and he believes he learned many things that will carry over to this year.

“I know the ropes and understand the program a little better,” Rankin told VSN. “Last year was a learning curve for me as I was trying to get these kids ready for high school and I got to learn a long with them. I’m more comfortable this year, which will help things. It also helps that I have roughly 16,17 kids back from last year who can help reinforce certain behaviors, standards and expectations with the younger group. Overall, I think things are going well.”

Hopewell’s Kruz Krotec

Hopewell had to play mostly against older competition last season, which will be the case again in 2026. Considering some of the quality programs they’ll be facing, it’ll be a challenge, but Rankin believes because of development, his players will be better equipped to compete.

At this level, I was curious if seeing player development was the biggest priority and not basing success solely on wins and losses.

“It’s about both. Across the board, for both our 7th and 8th graders, we want to see each kid develop and improve. The team that will predominantly be playing the other freshman teams, I want them to be confident, feel like they can compete and ultimately, we’re going to be trying to win games. Last year was challenging for the 7th graders, they didn’t back down, they weren’t afraid of the higher competition, sometimes two classes above them. I feel like this year, we’ll be more equipped for success against the older teams.”

Hopewell’s Vin Smetana

The other thing to keep in mind is that the varsity team will be graduating 7 players following the 2026 season. That means that opportunities will be available next season for the 8th graders, which is something Rankin is aware of.

“I believe that we have a very talented group at both grade levels and believe that we’ll have kids that will be equipped to contribute at the high school level either next year or the year after,” Rankin told VSN. “We’re going to give them every opportunity to get better and compete and that goes for the 7th graders as well. I really believe that between our two grade levels, 7th and 8th grade, it’s an extremely talented group. They’re also a very close-knit group as a lot of them have been playing sports together for a while.”

Looking ahead, something very encouraging for the Hopewell baseball program as a whole is the roster size at the junior high level. Regardless of any sport you’re talking about, the more players in the program gives coaches more options to choose from in order to field their teams.

Hopewell’s Ryder Kostrick

“The numbers that we have in our program right now is unique. I don’t believe we’ve had 24 players on a junior high team in a while. Our biggest goal is player improvement and development, and I believe that every one of our kids has improved individually from a year ago. That’s what you want to see as a coach, to see kids progress, to see them improve which gives them confidence. When you’re improving and confident, I believe that allows you to perform in a game.”

In this conversation with Coach Rankin, I didn’t ask him about individual players as it’s probably a bit too early for that. However, from his voluntary off-season workouts and from the opening of official practices, I was curious as to what he believes could be the strength of this year’s team.

“One of the biggest challenges for us last year was pitching,” said Rankin. “As it was last year, one of the biggest challenges for the 7th graders this year will be going from a 46-foot mound, sometimes 50-foot mound to a 60-foot mound. That’s a huge jump.”

Hopewell’s Tyler Hoffman

“We’ve been throwing from the pen for the last few weeks and we look good. I’m excited for that and I believe that’s what will give us the opportunity to compete. Being able to fill up the strike zone, making the other team put the ball in play and not giving away free bases. Fundamentally, that’s where it starts. But we’ve been doing a lot of batting practice, we’re making a lot of good contact, but pitching is going to be the key this year.”

VIKINGS SPORTS NOW’S HOPEWELL JUNIOR HIGH (7TH/8TH GRADE) PLAYERS TO WATCH:

8th Graders:

Tyler Hoffman

Ryder Kostrick

Vinny Smetana

Connor Reed

Nico Yannessa 

Channing Yesionek

Noah Honess

Liam Rankin

 

7th Graders:

Kruz Krotec 

Wade Enders

Henry Dunn

Austin Gallagher 

Rhett Rankin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Weather Could Make Things Tough for Hopewell Baseball and Softball Teams

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

This is the time of the year that’s tough if you’re a baseball or softball player in Western Pennsylvania.

Teams have been practicing for months in anticipation of playing games, but everyone could be in a hold pattern as Mother Nature will dictate whether or not these games will be played.

Unfortunately, with the weather we’ve experienced over the last 48 hours and what’s in the forecast, a lot of games are likely to be postponed. With the amount of rain that’s fallen and is predicted to be coming, the fields aren’t likely to be able to hold up and could be unplayable.

Hopewell High School softball games were postponed on Thursday and Friday, as well as the Junior High Softball game and Middle School Baseball games on Friday.

As everyone realizes, we received a bunch more rain overnight which did a number on all of the fields in Hopewell.

Here’s a look at the condition of the field as of this afternoon and a look at the baseball and softball schedules for this upcoming week.


The question is will the fields be able to dry up in time in order to be playable?

Monday:
*Middle School Baseball at home vs. New Castle.

*High School Softball at Avonworth

*High School Baseball vs. North Catholic

*Junior High Softball at Central Valley

Tuesday:
*High School Baseball at North Catholic

*Junior High Softball at Montour

Wednesday:
*Middle School Baseball at home vs. Ambridge.

*High School Softball vs. Beaver Falls

Thursday: 
*High School Baseball vs. Montour

Friday:
*Middle School Baseball at South Side

*High School Softball at Mohawk

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Hopewell Junior High Baseball

Positives from Hopewell/West Allegheny Middle School Baseball Game

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

Sports is a learning experience and that’s definitely the case when you start competing at the junior high level.

Unlike in grade school sports where you’re playing kids your age and in nearby schools, junior high is completely different.

Not only do you start to play teams in bigger school districts, but in some cases, kids have to go up against kids that are older than they are.

That is certainly the case when playing baseball. The reason for that is that there is no real uniformity when it comes to baseball and different schools handle things in different ways. The main for that is simple- number of kids that play baseball.

In the bigger districts, there are enough kids to field a junior high team (7th and 8th graders), a 9th grade team or a JV team. However, that certainly is different from district to district.

When looking at Hopewell’s situation this year, the 7th grade numbers were extremely large, which led to the decision that the Junior High Team would be made up of just 7th graders, with the 8th graders playing with the 9th graders on the Freshman team.

Was this ideal, probably not, but it was done so that cuts didn’t have to be made, and more kids had the opportunity to be practice and play baseball.

The tough part about this is that on most games, the Hopewell teams would be going up against players older than they were from bigger districts such as North Allegheny, Seneca Valley, West Allegheny, Moon, Pine-Richland, Montour, etc.

This year is going to be a challenge for our coaches and athletes and while you always want to win and that’s the goal, it will be challenging to do so. That being said, the results be damn, the reality is that this year is going to be about personal development and learning to deal with adversity.

This will no doubt benefit them down the road.

With that being said, the Hopewell Middle School team traveled to West Allegheny yesterday and were on the losing end, 13-1. Regardless of the score and of the result, Vikings Sports Now will point out the positives that came from the game and won’t second guess coaches or make players look bad.

POSITIVE RESULTS FROM HOPEWELL/WEST ALLEGHENY GAME:
*Connor Reed and Channing Yesionek pitched and competed well. Give credit to West Allegheny who have a really good baseball program, their batters hit the gaps and ran the bases really well. That’s baseball. Reed threw 53 pitches and Yesionek threw 51 pitches, averaging 25 pitches per inning. Considering the opposition, that’s not bad. They will learn from this and both will get better.

*As I mentioned, everyone in West Allegheny’s lineup was capable of hitting the ball, so the Hopewell defenders were going to get tested.
-Ryder Kostrick made two above average catches in center field, one of which was a sprinting/diving one that he put his body on the line. Worthy of Top 10 Plays on Sports Center.

-As has been the case all season, Vin Smetana was solid at shortstop. He made two throws to first, but his highlight was the over the shoulder catch at the edge of the infield. Although Smetana made it look like it, it wasn’t an easy play.

-David Johnson made a great play at 2nd base for a putout.

-3rd baseman Noah Honess did an outstanding job of tracking down a pop foul in which he needed to run, what seemed like a mile to get. Noah also snagged a line drive over his head for an out, which would have been a double.

-Offensively, Hopewell put the ball in play 7 times and only struck out 3 times in their 15 at-bats. It should also be pointed out that the West Allegheny pitcher was throwing 70+ MPH. Unfortunately, when they made contact, most times it was right at the West Allegheny fielder. Smetana, Kostrick, Ty Hoffman and Reed all squared up balls, but the West A made the plays.

Although the results weren’t what they wanted, the Hopewell Middle School team represented themselves and the program well yesterday against a quality opponent.

These players will learn and will get better, there’s no doubt about that. Next up, a matchup tomorrow at home against Central Valley.

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Introducing You to New Hopewell 7th Grade Baseball Coach BJ Rankin

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 5 minutes read

Often times, the success of a sports program begins with the coaches within the program.

Coaching and instruction are crucial to player development. Over the offseason, the Hopewell Baseball program got better in a big-time way with a coaching addition.

Hopewell HS head coach Morgan Singletary had an opening at the junior high team. After talking with some candidates and although it took some time, Hopewell has got the guy they wanted- BJ Rankin.

Having been involved with the Hopewell Youth program for years, I’m very familiar with Rankin and this is a grand slam hire for a number of reasons: 1) his knowledge of the game 2) his coaching style and ability to get his message across 3) the type of person Rankin is and the values he possesses and ability to interact and instruct his players.

For those not familiar with him, Rankin is from graduated from Upper St. Clair High School. After HS, Rankin then went to college at Malone University in Ohio, where he played both football and baseball. In baseball, Rankin was shortstop and a starting pitcher while in football, he played safety.

Currently, BJ and his wife Gwen live in Hopewell with their three children: Liam, Rhett and Charlotte.

Since moving to Hopewell, Rankin has been heavily involved in Hopewell Youth Baseball along with coaching in travel baseball.

Vikings Sports Now had the chance to spend some time with Rankin and talked baseball and started with getting into his new position.

“Initially, I didn’t want to do it,” said Rankin. “I have reservations around having a kid on the team and I know how that can be and optically how that looks like. But in the end, my motivation around saying yes and wanting to do it was centered around the kids on the team and whether or not they’d have a team to play for and if they didn’t, how that could set them back.”

“So, in talking about it, thinking about it, praying about it, it was something ultimately it was about what was best for the kids and the program as a whole and wanting to see those kids progress, improve and get acclimated to the program.”

Baseball is baseball regardless of the age of player you’re coaching but there no doubt is going to be a difference for Rankin in coaching the younger kids in the youth baseball organization and at the junior high level.

” The biggest is just being able to understand the expectations within the program and of the head coach,” said Rankin. “But what I want to do is to prepare them as best I can for when they get to high school. That’s why Coach Singletary wants the 7th and 8th graders participating with the high school program, so they get acclimated, understand the expectations and really what working hard means from a high school level.”

“On the youth level, it’s not as serious and at a youth level it should be about fun, being around your friends while gaining skills and learning to play the game with intelligence and with skill. The biggest change for me is going from youth to the junior high level is me understanding from Coach Singletary what’s expected from the kids and reinforcing that.”

Anyone that knows Rankin realizes how much he loves to coach, loves baseball and loves to compete. Being at the junior high level and trying to get these kids ready to perform at high school, is something he’s looking forward to.

“I love to compete. Every time baseball starts, it makes me want to get back on the field and compete and play. I just want to give back to these kids and try to share some areas of the game that I was successful at, as well as areas in which I wasn’t as strong in but really reinforce the time and hard work that you have to put in as you approach a season, when you’re in the season and out of season.”

” When you commit to a sport or commit to anything in life, you have to really buy in and give everything that you have. Because in my opinion, it’s not worth doing if you’re not 100% in. As apprehensive as I was about accepting this position, now that I have, I’m 100% in.”

Not only will there be a change in the coaching staff, but the Hopewell players will have to deal with a big change in competition.

Due to roster sizes and other factors, the Hopewell program is changing their team structure. Starting this year, the 8th and 9th grade players will play together on a team called ‘The Freshman Team’. They will mostly go up against other school’s 9th graders, which will challenge Hopewell’s 8th graders.

Conversely, Hopewell’s 7th graders will be challenged by taking on other districts 7th and 8th graders, most times the 8th grade players.

Will this make things challenging? Of course, but that’s not something that Rankin is worried about.

“I think we have a talented junior high team and I’m excited to see how these kids are going to progress and how they’re going to compete and respond to adversity,” said Rankin. “We’re going to be playing kids that are mostly older than us, more physically developed than us and it’s definitely doing to be a challenge. But what way to make yourself better and that’s what I’m excited for, to see how they respond to that and see how they’re ready to compete.”

Because of his long-time history with a majority of these 7th graders, Rankin is familiar with these players and they know him. But in case they’ve forgotten, Rankin has a few core values and expectations for his players:

-Practice time is important, don’t just go through the motions.

-Wants players that love to practice and that will push their teammates and hold them accountable.

-Treat their teammates, coaches and the game with respect.

“Baseball is a brutal game, and it can definitely get the best out of a lot of players.,” said Rankin. “Players need to realize that baseball is a game of failure but it’s how you respond to adversity, how you respond to failure, how you learn from it but more importantly, how you move on and get better.”

“I love coaching, I love being able to give what I’m able to give. Ultimately, I love Hopewell baseball and want to continue to see them be successful and be champions.”

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