Mike Vukovcan BEAVER– After having their first two non-section games of the season postponed because of weather, the Hopewell HS Baseball team traveled to Beaver for their 2026 season opener.
There were plenty of positives to take from the game but unfortunately for Hopewell, one inning when Beaver scored all 3 of their runs after 2 outs was the difference in a 3-2 loss.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
Senior left-hander Ben McDonald got the start for Hopewell and went 4 innings, allowing 4 hits (3 of which came in the 2nd inning), 3 earned runs and struck out 8 batters.
Senior Payton Korker relieved McDonald in the 5th inning and was fantastic going 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and struck out 4 batters.
Offensively, Hopewell recorded 4 hits and drew 5 walks but were unable to come up with timely hits with runners in scoring position.
McDonald led the way with 2 hits, including an RBI triple in the 2nd inning, which gave Hopewell a 1-0 lead. Sophomore James Armstrong reached base 3 times (3 walks) and scored a run via a Beaver balk. Seniors Logan Triscila and Charlie Smetana recorded Hopewell’s other 2 hits.
The biggest positive coming out of the game was Hopewell’s pitching neutralizing a potent Beaver lineup and holding them to just 4 hits and recording 12 strikeouts in just 6 innings.
When Beaver did put the ball in play, Hopewell was solid defensively with Drew Donovan making a nice play at shortstop as did Korker in right field.
These two teams will play game two of this series tomorrow, with the game once again being played at Beaver due to the Hopewell Track Team having a home meet at the same time.
Senior Kingston Krotec is expected to get the start tomorrow for Hopewell.
