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



