Mike Vukovcan New Sewickley Township– Hopewell junior Charlie Smetana put in a ton of off-season work to improve his production at the plate.
Smetana’s work behind the plate has never been questioned which is the reason he’s been Hopewell’s starting catcher since his freshman season. The goal is to improve his bat and if that happens, combined with his defensive skills, Smetana becomes a legit D-1 baseball prospect.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
It’s obviously a small sample size but at Hopewell’s opening season scrimmage this afternoon against Riverside, Smetana was the best player on the field and was a big reason for the Vikings 4-3 victory. Smetana was 3-for-3 at the plate, including two deep doubles and he also threw out a runner at second base.
Head coach Morgan Singletary went with three pitchers in today’s scrimmage- senior David Medich, junior Ben McDonald and junior Drew Donovan. Medich went 2.1 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 ER, 2 Walks and 3 K’s. McDonald entered the game with 2 outs in the 3rd and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing 1 ER, 1 H, 1 Walk and 1 K. Donovan closed things out pitching 1.2 innings, allowing 1 ER, 2 H and 1 Walk.
Riverside opened the scoring in the bottom of the first on an RBI double and were threatening for more, but Medich shut things down. With runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and after falling behind 3-0 in the count, Medich came back with 3 straight strikes, including a swing and miss on a fastball to get out of the opening frame trailing just 1-0.
In the bottom of the second, after allowing a 1-out double, Medich ended the inning by getting a pop up to first base and closing the inning with another strikeout.
David Medich
Hopewell tied things up in the top of third with some help from Riverside. After reaching first on a fielder’s choice, James Armstrong stole second base. Then with 2 outs, Armstrong stole third base and when the throw from the catcher skipped past the 3rd baseman, Armstrong scooted home to tie the game at 1 apiece.
The next two innings, Hopewell flashed their leather with some nice plays in the field.
Drew Donovan
In the 3rd, with 2 outs and McDonald coming on to replace Medich, center fielder, Kingston Krotec initially lost the ball in the sun but recovered to make a diving catch. Then in the 4th, McDonald’s infielders helped him out. 1st baseman Brody McCullough made a great diving stop to rob Riverside of a hit. Next batter, Donovan made a great play at shortstop, fielding a ball deep in the hole and then firing a strike over to first base to get the runner.
Ben McDonald
Hopewell took the lead in the top of the 5th inning as Donovan led off the inning with a single. After one out, Armstrong singled to right field to put two on for freshman Colin Davis, who delivered with an RBI single to left center to score Donovan. Hopewell led 2-1.
After Riverside added a run in the bottom of the 5th to tie the game back up at 2, the Vikings responded with a pair in the 6th inning. With 1 out, Smetana hammered the ball to deep center and the ball nearly went out, but Smetana settled for a double.
This was his second deep double of the game, having recorded the first one in the first inning as he went opposite field to right. Next up, McDonald jumped on the first pitch and roped a double to left center which scored Smetana and Hopewell led 3-2.
With 2 outs and McDonald at 3rd base, McCullough hit a hard ground ball to short, which the shortstop threw past the first baseman, allowing McDonald to score. Hopewell led 4-2.
In the bottom of the 6th, Donovan entered the game with a runner on 1st and 1 out. The Riverside runner then attempted to steal second which was a bad move as Smetana threw a pea to second base to nail the runner. That play turned out to be huge because Riverside loaded the bases, but Donovan escaped without giving up a run thanks to a nice diving catch by 2nd baseman Colin Davis to end the inning. Hopewell still led 4-2.
Drew Donovan
In the final inning, Riverside tacked on a run but Donovan ended the game by getting a groundball to first.
Vikings win 4-3.
Hopewell will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home as they take on Peters Township in their last scrimmage before the season opener on Friday at Shenango.
