Mike Vukovcan BEAVER– It was only the second game of the season, but it’s not exaggerating to say that today’s game against Beaver was very, very important.
After losing yesterday’s season opener at Beaver, a loss today would have put Hopewell at 0-2 in the section, a section by the way which is very deep and talented.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
To make things more challenging, Hopewell was forced to play a second straight game at Beaver, instead of at home. This was the case due to the Hopewell High School Track and Field team also having a home meet this afternoon and the district felt this was a safety issue to host both events at the same time.
That being the case, senior Kingston Krotec took the mound for Hopewell knowing his team needed a big effort from him and that’s exactly what they received.
In one of the best performances of his career, Krotec pitched a complete game shutout leading Hopewell to a 7-0 win over Beaver.
Hopewell Senior Kingston Krotec
Take a look at this pitching line- 7 innings, 3 hits allowed, 0 runs, 0 walks and 12 strikeouts. Krotec threw only 83 pitches in those 7 innings, 62 of which were strikes.
This was his second career complete game shutout, the first one coming his freshman season in the PIAA playoffs against Northern Lebanon.
In difficult times, teams need their best players to perform and lead and that’s exactly what Hopewell received this afternoon.
“I felt great even starting in warmups and then after the first innings when I got their top hitters out, I knew it was gonna be a good day,” said Krotec. “The fastball was working and you can tell they were late and then I mixed in splitters and curveballs to get them thinking. But they were nowhere close to hitting my fastball, so I worked with that.”
“Kingston was great, said Hopewell HC Morgan Singletary. “All of his pitches were working and hitting their spots. He brought energy today and really raised the level of the whole team.”
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
“All 3 pitches were working today,” said Hopewell senior catcher Charlie Smetana. “He looked great and warmups you could tell he was on. He had great command of his pitches and was painting the outside of the plate. Another big key was the curveball was sharp today with a lot of swing and misses.”
Not to be forgotten in this afternoon’s win was the production from Hopewell’s batters today. A day after managing 4 hits, the Vikings banged out 9 hits this afternoon and collected 4 walks. In fact, they matched their hit total of yesterday after the first 4 batters today as Krotec, James Armstrong, Charlie Smetana and Drew Donovan led off the game with 4 consecutive hits.
Hopewell Box Score:
*Krotec 2-3, 2 runs, walk
*Armstrong: 2-4, run
*Smetana: 2-3, 2 RBI, run*
*Drew Donovan: 1-3, run, walk
*James Gill: 1-3, walk
*Ben McDonald: 1-1, IW, RBI, run
*A day after striking out 9 times, the Hopewell lineup only struck out twice today
“At the plate, this might have been one of the most complete games I have seen in a while,” said Singletary. “We had a ton of hard-hit balls and quality at-bats, but what I was most impressed with is that we didn’t give them a clean inning. Even after getting two outs, we had batters find ways to get on and keep the momentum in our favor.”
HOPEWELL/BEAVER GAME RECAP:
Top 1st: Krotec first two outs came via the strikeout and the inning ended on a ground out to Jake Knobloch at third base.
Bottom 1st: Krotec led off the inning with a line drive single to left field. Armstrong came to the plate and drove a deep fly ball over the center fielder for a double, Krotec advanced to third. Smetana followed that up with an RBI single to RF, which scored Krotec and Armstrong also scored on an error by the RF. Donovan then dropped down a bunt single, followed by a walk to Gill, which loaded the bases with 0 outs. Logan Triscila then did his job by bringing in the runner from 3rd on a grounder to second. On the play, Donovan advanced to third which was important because he would score on sacrifice fly to RF by McDonald. Hopewell led 4-0 after the first inning.
Top 2nd: Those 4 runs were all Krotec needed as he breezed thru the next 6 innings. In the second, the Beaver leadoff hitter flew out to Payton Korker in RF, followed by a strikeout and then another ground ball out to Knobloch at third.
Top 3rd: Krotec struck out all 3 Beaver hitters in the third inning.
Top 4th: Another 1-2-3 inning as Krotec struck out the leadoff batter, followed by two ground ball outs to Donovan at shortstop. Hopewell 4-0.
Top 5th: For the second time this game, Krotec struck out the side.
Bottom 5th: With 1 out, Gill reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a ground out by Triscila. With the runner at 2nd and 2 out, Beaver decided to intentionally walk McDonald. Next up, Knobloch put the ball in play and was able to reach on an error by the 3rd baseman, which scored both Gill and McDonald. Hopewell led 6-0.
Top 6th: Krotec breezed through the 6th inning getting a fly ball to Korker in RF, a strikeout and a pop fly to Triscila at 1st base.
Bottom 6th: Krotec led off with a walk, stole second base and advanced to 3rd on a groundout by Armstrong. For the second time today, moving the runner over paid off as Smetana drove in Krotec on a sac fly to right field, Hopewell 7-0.
Top 7th: Despite the big lead, no need for Singletary to go to the bullpen because of how efficient Krotec was with his pitch count. In the final inning, he led off with a strikeout, followed by a flyout to McDonald in center field and the final out on a grounder to Collin Davis at second base.
FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 7 BEAVER 0
After a day off on Thursday, Hopewell returns to the field on Friday as they travel to Chartiers Valley in a non-section game. But all that matters is recording that first win of the 2026 season which prevented this team from starting in a huge hole.
“I knew we couldn’t start 0-2 in the section and yesterday was a fluke so when I have the ball, I feel confident I can get us in a position to win and start off with a section win,” said Krotec. “This was a good win that gives us energy and hopefully some momentum.”
“Today was a playoff game,” said Smetana. “It might sound crazy to say with it only being our second game of the season. It was a huge game for us and hopefully will mean a lot as we look to qualify for the playoffs. The entire team brought the energy today and I feel really good about how this season will go.”
“After losing the first game of a section series, it put a lot of pressure on us in the second game to split,” said Singletary. “Going 0-2 wouldn’t have been the end of the season but it isn’t something you want to happen. This win was big, but we will need to put a few wins together to really get to a place we feel this team can be. It was a good win and a game we can build on.”
