Mike Vukovcan HAMPTON TWP– Today wasn’t a must win for the Hopewell HS baseball team BUT it was a very, very important game.
Despite just ending a 7-game winning streak, Hopewell isn’t ensured of a playoff spot because of how balanced the teams in the section are.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
Following yesterday’s loss, Hopewell found themselves in 3rd place in the section and desperately needing a win today against Hampton, considering how difficult their remaining schedule is.
Luckily for Hopewell, they had their ace, Kingston Krotec on the mound this afternoon and once again he delivered in a big game.
The senior right-hander pitched a complete game 3-0 shutout over Hampton. Krotec went 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.
Bottom line is that Krotec has been the best pitcher in the section this season. That’s just not my opinion, here are numbers to back it up.
Krotec has pitched 4 section games this season. Check out the results.
Record: 4-0
Innings Pitched: 26
Complete Games: 4
Earned Runs: 0
Strikeouts: 29
4 Section Games and Krotec hasn’t allowed a single earned run, that’s crazy!
“I really don’t feel pressure due to the confidence I’ve developed throughout the season,” Krotec tells VSN. “Actually, I feed off the pressure because it brings me intensity and a sense of cockiness to beat our opponents. I wouldn’t say I look forward to these games because I would rather get the series sweep than having to split.”
Two other seniors stepped up in a big-time manner this afternoon, which is what you would expect.
Catcher Charlie Smetana went 2-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI’s, driving in the first two runs of the game. Smetana also delivered behind the plate as he threw out two Hampton base runners attempting to steal a base.
Hopewell catcher Charlie Smetana
“Today’s game was like a playoff game,” said Smetana. “It meant a lot for seeding. Kingston stepped up to the task. I think we played great defense and got timely hits as well. All of his pitches are working right now, and he has a command of all three pitches.”
Krotec and Smetana weren’t the only seniors that delivered. Outfielder Ben McDonald continued to display his tremendous power as he clubbed another home run, his fourth of the season and 3rd in the last 4 games. Also, senior SS Drew Donovan was flawless in the field, making 5 defensive plays.
Krotec only struck out 4 batters which meant he needed his defense to deliver and they did that.
Bottom of 1st: Senior SS Drew Donovan made 2 defensive plays.
Bottom of 2nd: Junior 3B Jake Knoblach made 2 defensive plays on ground balls.
Bottom of 3rd: Smetana threw out a base runner and senior RF Payton Korker made a catch in RF.
Bottom of 4th: Donovan made another play at SS and Smetana threw out another runner.
Bottom of 5th: Sophomore Collin Davis caught a pop fly and Donovan made two more plays at shortstop.
Bottom of 6th: Sophomore James Armstrong and Korker caught fly balls in the inning.
Bottom of 7th: Krotec struck out 2 batters and Davis fielded a groundball to end the game.
Hopewell SS Drew Donovan
With the win, Hopewell moved back into a tie for second place with Blackhawk, which lost today to Ambridge.
Here are the updated standings, with 2 weeks of section play remaining:
Beaver: 6-2
Hopewell: 5-3
Blackhawk: 5-3
Hampton: 5-5
Ambridge: 5-5
Central Valley: 2-6
North Catholic: 2-6
Next week, Hopewell has an important two-game series against Central Valley. The top four teams in the section qualify for the playoffs so nothing is guaranteed for the Vikings, which makes today’s win very important.
“Today’s game was important for us in the section considering,” said Krotec. “One thing we know is that no game is a guaranteed win and every team will compete hard. We know that we need to continue to rack up as many wins as we can in the next two weeks.”
