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Hopewell HS Baseball

Photo Gallery from Hopewell vs. West Allegheny Regular Season Finale

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Hopewell HS baseball team closed out their regular season by traveling to Washington Wild Things Park to take on West Allegheny in a non-section game.

Behind a masterful start by Payton Korker, solid defense and timely hitting, Hopewell defeated WA, 4-0. The Vikings finish the regular season with a record of 14-5, a remarkable turnaround from a year ago when they finished 5-14.

Hopewell will find out this afternoon their seeding and opponent this afternoon when the WPIAL releases the playoff brackets.

Having the opportunity to play at Wild Things Park is a neat opportunity for these kids, something started by HC Morgan Singletary years ago.

Vikings Sports Now photographer Ed Thompson was at last night’s game, and we put together this photo gallery.

Hopewell senior pitcher Payton Korker

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Korker Pitches Masterpiece as Hopewell Closes Regular Season with 4-0 Shutout of West Allegheny

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 4 minutes read

Hopewell coach Morgan Singletary has a luxury that not many teams in the entire WPIAL have and that’s true  quality depth at starting pitching.

The reality is that most teams in the WPIAL have an ace and after maybe another pitcher that can provide quality innings from time to time.

This 2026 Hopewell team has a lot more than that as they have two aces in senior Kingston Krotec and Ben McDonald. Fortunately for Hopewell it doesn’t end there.

Senior right-hander Payton Korker is someone that without a doubt would be the at the very least, the No. 2 pitcher in nearly all rotations and possibly the ace.

Because of Krotec and McDonald, Korker is Hopewell’s #3 pitcher and it’s a role that he’s been exceptional at this season and that continued tonight.

Korker got the start tonight for Hopewell as they closed out the regular season with a non-section game against West Allegheny at Washington Wild Things Park.

In a game that he’ll remember forever, ‘PK’ completely shut down West Allegheny in a 4-0 victory.

Korker went 6.2 innings, allowing just 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walk and struck out 9 batters. In a classy move, Singletary brought in senior James Gill with 2 outs to close things out, which he did.

“Tonight’s game felt amazing,” Korker tells Vikings Sports Now. “It meant so much to me to pitch this game. It has become a Hopewell tradition to go to the Wild Things stadium for Senior Night. Last year, David Medich pitched and pitched very, very well, so I just wanted to do the same. I went into the game wanting to make my mark, and I did just that. That is definitely an all-time game for me and a game I will never forget.”

The win improved Hopewell’s overall record to 14-5, their most wins since winning 14 games in their WPIAL championship season of 2023.

The other impressive aspect to this win was that it was over a very solid 5A program in West Allegheny, that finished in second place in their section. This season, Hopewell has non-section wins over Avonworth, Montour, Shaler, Shenango and now West Allegheny That’s something the WPIAL Baseball playoff committee should keep in mind when seeding Hopewell tomorrow.

HOPEWELL/WEST ALLEGHENY GAME RECAP-
Bottom of 1st: Korker strikes out the side (2 swinging, 1 looking)

Hopewell senior pitcher Payton Korker

Bottom of 2nd: 1 on and 1 out, the inning ends on an unassisted double play to shortstop Drew Donovan.

Bottom of 3rd: Korker records two more strikeouts and an inning ending groundball to Donovan.

Top of 4th: Charlie Smetana leads off with a single to center field, one of two hits tonight for Smetana. Logan Triscila followed with a single to right field. Javion Lindsey (who pinch ran for Smetana) and Triscila moved up on a wild pitch and Lindsey would score on an RBI single by Gill. Triscila, who advanced to third base on Gill’s hit, would then score on another wild pitch. Hopewell led 2-0.

Bottom of 4th: Another 1-2-3 inning for Korker as out #1 came on a strike out, out #2 on a flyout to James Armstrong in left field and the inning ended on a groundout to Donovan at short. Hopewell up 2-0.

Top of 5th: Armstrong started things with a walk. Kingston Krotec came to the plate and hit a line drive to center field, which got past the center fielder and all the way to the wall. Krotec was able to motor all the way around the bases for an inside the park home run, Hopewell now led 4-0.

Bottom of 5th: A 1-2-3 fifth inning, courtesy a groundout to Donovan and two pop ups (Triscila and Colin Davis).

Bottom of 6th: Korker struck out the first two batters of the inning and after allowing a walk, PK ended the inning on a flyout to Krotec in right field.

Bottom of 7th: The first out in the last inning came on a groundout to Triscila at first base. After allowing a 1-out double, Korker struck out the next batter. HC Singletary came to the mound and brought in Gill and 4 pitches later, the game ended on a flyout to Ben McDonald in center field.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 4 WEST ALLEGHENY 0

“WINNING IS FUN”

Hopewell and the rest of the teams that qualified for the WPIAL playoffs will now wait until tomorrow afternoon to find out what seed that are and who they’ll face in the playoffs. The WPIAL is expected to release the playoff brackets tomorrow at 1 PM.

The top 3 seeds in 4A (teams that finished in first place) will receive 1st round byes. Taking in factors such as their overall record, quality of section and impressive non-section wins, Hopewell should be looking at either a #4 or #5 seed.

Regardless of what seed they’re given; Hopewell is entering the playoffs hot and Korker believes his team has a legitimate chance to bring the WPIAL championship back to Hopewell.

“Our team is feeling really confident right now,” said Korker. “Finishing 14-5 in the regular season shows how much hard work we have put in all season. Especially after going 5-14 last season. The mindset going into the playoffs is to stay focused and just play our game. We are taking it one game at a time, but the whole team has one goal in mind, a WPIAL championship.”

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Hopewell HS Softball

Hopewell Softball Finishes Regular Season with 23-1 Explosion Over Beaver Falls

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

The Hopewell HS Softball team will be entering the WPIAL playoffs on a high note following a 23-1 victory over Beaver Falls on Tuesday.

The Lady Vikings put the pedal down in the 1st inning by scoring 9 runs and never took their foot off the gas. Holding a 13-0 lead heading into the 4th inning, Hopewell went on to score 10 runs and ending the game in just 4 innings.

Before we recap the offensive explosion, let’s get a mention in for the starting pitcher Allison Ramaley, who went 4 innings, allowing just 1 hit, 0 earned runs and struck out 9 hitters.

Everyone in the Hopewell lineup picked up a hit as Claire Sarkis led the way going 4 for 5 with 4 runs and 2 RBI. After that, 3 Hopewell players had 3 hits apiece: Marina Pinchotti (3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBI, walk), Ramaley (3-4, 3 runs, 3 RBI) and Lillian Otto (3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBI).

Hazel McCowin went 2-4 with 1 run and 2 RBI, Addison Pavlisko went 2-for-3, with 3 runs and a team-high 4 RBI, Teagan Scully was 2 for 4 with 4 runs and 2 RBI and Gianna Rossi was 1-3 with 2 runs and Abigail Babinsack was 1-3 with 2 runs, 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

The Hopewell lineup banged out 21 hits and a season-high 9 extra base hits (Ramaley 2 doubles, Otto 2 doubles and a triple, Babinsack double, Pavlisko double, and Scully triple.

SCORING SUMMARY:
Top 1st: Ramaley RBI single scores Sarkis, Otto 2-run double scores Pinchotti and Ramaley, Pavlisko RBI single scores, Babinsack and Otto, Scully triple scores Rossi and Pavlisko, Pinchotti RBI ground out scores Sarkis, Hopewell led 9-0.

Top 3rd: Sarkis RBI single scores Pavlisko, Pinchotti RBI single scores Scully, Babinsack bases loaded walk scores Sarkis, McCowin RBI single scores Ramaley, Hopewell led 13-0.

Top 4th: Sarkis RBI single scores Scully, Ramaley RBI double scores Pinchotti, Babinsack RBI dobule scores Ramaley, Otto RBI triple scores Babinsack, McCowin RBI double scores Otto, Pavlisko RBI double scores McCowin and Rossi, Pinchotti RBI single scores Sarkis.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 23 BEAVER FALLS 1

WINNING IS FUN!!!

This young Hopewell team finished the season with an overall record of 6-8 and will wait to find out who their 1st round opponent will be in the WPIAL playoffs.

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Hopewell Finishes Section Play in 2nd Place with 11-1 Win over Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

The Hopewell Vikings baseball program entered this season with a simple goal- qualify for the 2026 WPIAL playoffs.

After missing out the last 2 seasons, both the players and coaches in the program knew that they had both the talent and senior leaderships to accomplish that goal.

Five months of dedicated conditioning, work and performing on the field has resulted in Hopewell finishing in second place in the ultra-competitive Class 4A/Section 1.

In the last section game of the season, Hopewell defeated Blackhawk convincingly, 11-1 (6 innings). With the win Morgan Singletary’s team has a record of 13-5 and 8-4 in the section. They have one last game as they take on West Allegheny on Thursday at Washington Wild Things Park (7 PM).

With the 13 wins, Hopewell has their highest win total since 2023 and could surpass that considering they still have at least 2 games remaining. The 8 section wins was their most since 2022.

HOPEWELL BASEBALL’S RECORD LAST SIX SEASONS
2026: 13-5, 8-4
2025: 5-14, 4-8
2024: 9-10, 4-6
2023: 14-12, 4-6 (WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIP)
2022: 16-8, 9-1
2021: 18-6, 9-1 (WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIP)

Hopewell will find out their playoff matchup when the WPIAL releases the playoff bracket on Friday afternoon.

Looking back at yesterday’s game, a number of players contributed to the win but as has been the case all season, Hopewell’s starting pitcher was the story of the game.

Senior left-hander Ben McDonald took the mound and in his last regular season game, he was outstanding. McDonald went 6 innings, allowing just 5 hits, 1 earned run and striking out 5 batters. McDonald continued to display his power at the plate as he belted his team-leading 5th HR of the season.

Vikings Offensive Highlights:
–Charlie Smetana– 2 for 3 with a run, RBI and a walk.

–Logan Triscila– 1-3 with 3 runs scored, walk, HBP and RBI.

–James Gill– 2 RBI, run

–Ben McDonald– 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR

–Jake Knobloch– 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, walk

HOPEWELL/BLACKHAWK GAME RECAP:
Bottom of 1st: McDonald strikes out the side

Bottom of 2nd: Stress free inning that ended with McDonald picking off the Blackhawk runner at 1st base,   0-0

Bottom of 3rd: Another easy inning that included two ground ball outs to sophomore 2nd baseman Colin Davis and ending with a strikeout.

Top of 4th: Hopewell gets on the scoreboard first. Triscila starts the inning with a sharp single to left field and comes around to score on a clutch 2-out single to left field by Knobloch.  Hopewell led 1-0.

Top of 5th: Blackhawk tied the game in the bottom of the 4th, but the Vikings immediately responded. Kingston Krotec has hit to start the inning, followed by a walk to Drew Donovan. Then with 2 on and 0 out, Smetana singled to center, which brought in Krotec and an error allowed Donovan to advance to third base. Triscila then stepped to the plate and reached on another error, which brought in Donovan and Smetana advanced to 3rd.

That was important because, Smetana then scored on a Blackhawk wild pitch, Hopewell led 4-1. Later in the inning, a Blackhawk balk brought plated Triscila and the final run of the 5-run frame came home on another RBI single by Knobloch.  Hopewell led 6-1.

Bottom of 5th: Blackhawk threatened to get back in it as the first two batters in the inning reached but McDonald settled in and got 3 fly outs to each member of his outfield- Krotec in left, Armstrong in center and Knobloch in right field.

Top of 6th: With the bases loaded and 1 out, Gill hit a line drive single to left to score Javion Lindsey (pinch-runner) and Triscila. After Krotec scored on a passed ball, McDonald capped off the afternoon with a bomb to center field to score Gill. Hopewell led 11-1.

Bottom of 6th: Since they were up by 10 runs after 5 innings, McDonald needed a scoreless inning to end the game, and he got the job done. McDonald started things off with a strikeout, followed by a fly out to Krotec and the final out on grounder to Donovan.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 11 BLACKHAWK 1

WINNING IS FUN!!!

 

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Hopewell HS Baseball

Watch: Video Highlights of Hopewell’s Win Over Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

HC Morgan Singletary and his Hopewell Vikings baseball program picked up a big win on Monday as they defeated Blackhawk, 3-2, on Senior Day.

The win moved Hopewell into a second-place tie with Blackhawk, with both teams holding a section record of 7-4.

By picking up the win, Hopewell still has a chance at sharing the section title with Beaver and it makes this afternoon’s game essentially a battle for second place.

In order for Hopewell to earn a share of the section championship, they’ll need to win today and need North Catholic to beat Beaver.

Looking back at Monday’s win, the game was tied at 2 in the bottom of the 6th inning, when Hopewell grabbed the lead with Jayvion Lindsey scoring on a 2-out passed ball.

Senior right-hander Kingston Krotec was on the mound for Hopewell and pitched a complete game to pick up the win.

This game was the Tribune Review’s Game of the Week, in which they broadcasted live. Here were the highlights from the game.

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Hopewell Youth Baseball

Hopewell 8U Baseball Continue Their Winning Ways!

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Congrats to the Hopewell’s Salute 2 Service 8u team as they continued their winnings ways with a 9-3 win last night over South Side.

Coach Brandon Mack’s team stayed hot at the plate as they collected 17 hits.

Eli Rodgers, Enzo Markowitz, Jake Brunton and Cohen Biller each led the way with 3 hits apiece, Lorenzo Ferrozzuti had 2 hits.

RBI collectors for Hopewell were Rodgers and Brunton with 2, Shameus Riley, Ferrozuti and Gunnar Mack with 1 each.


The Hopewell Salute 2 Service defenders did an outstandings job limiting South Side to just 3 runs.

The Vikings did a tremendous job in the field as Hopewell didn’t commit a single error. Maverick Linza had the most chances in the field with six opportunities.

Hopewell Salute 2 Service will return to action on Wednesday as they’ll host Ambridge 2.

Nice job players and coaches!  Winning is Fun!

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Hopewell HS Baseball

On Senior Day, Hopewell Baseball Pulls Out Important 3-2 Win Over Blackhawk

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP– The Hopewell Vikings hosted the Blackhawk Cougars this afternoon in a game that was meaningful in many different ways.

Let’s start with, it was Senior Day, which meant that seven members of the Vikings program were playing their last game at Joe Coella Field.

Tip of the cap to Hopewell seniors Kingston Krotec, Charlie Smetana, Logan Triscila, Ben McDonald, James Gill, Payton Korker and Drew Donovan. Those gentlemen have meant a ton to the Vikings program both on the field and the culture they’ve created for the younger players.

The game had more meaning than just the emotional aspect of Senior Day because this was a very important game in the standings.

Hopewell entered today trailing first place Blackhawk and Beaver by just one game in the standings. Although they’ve already clinched a playoff berth, playoff seeding was on the line as they could still finish anywhere from first to fourth place.

Right-hander Kingston Krotec got the start and as he’s done all season in section competition, Krotec came up with a clutch performance as Hopewell pulled out a late-inning 3-2 win.

For the sixth time in six section starts, Krotec went the distance, pitching 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. In all six section starts, Krotec gave up 2 earned runs or less.

The game was tied at 2 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, when Hopewell scored an unearned run to take the lead.

Offensively, Gill led the way for Hopewell with 2 hits, while McDonald, Donovan, Krotec and James Armstrong picked up a hit apiece.

HOPEWELL/BLACKHAWK GAME RECAP-
*Top of 1st: With a runner at first and 1 out, the Vikings defense turned a twin killing as the Cougars hitter grounded back to Krotec, who turned a 1-6-3 DP

*Bottom of 1st: Hopewell got on the scoreboard first as Armstrong and Krotec led off the game with singles and Armstrong scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Smetana, Hopewell led 1-0.

*Top of 2nd: Blackhawk tied the game at 1 and were threatening to get more but Krotec ended the inning with a strikeout with 2 runners on.

*Top 4th: Blackhawk scored a run in the third inning to go up 2-1 and their leadoff hitter started the 4th inning with a double. After a sacrifice bunt, Blackhawk had a runner at 3rd with 1 out, but Krotec was tough as he recorded a strikeout and an inning ending groundball to second baseman Collin Davis.

*Bottom of 4th: Hopewell tied in the game in the bottom of the frame. Donovan led off with a single and advanced to second on an error. Following a Gill single with 2 outs, Ben McDonald came through with a clutch RBI single to center.

*Top of 5th: Once again, Blackhawk got a runner in scoring position with less than 2 outs but once again, Krotec didn’t blink as he induced a groundball to Donovan at short and a line drive to Korker at third base.

*Top of 6th: Blackhawk’s leadoff hitter reached via a single but was quickly erased as Hopewell turned another double play, Davis to Donovan to Triscila.  Game stayed tied at 2.

*Bottom of 6th: Hopewell was able to break the tie in this inning, but it wasn’t easy. Gill led off the inning with a line drive single to center, followed by a walk to McDonald. Then with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, pinch-runner Javion Lindsey came in to score on a passed ball. Hopewell led 3-2!

*Top of 7th: Krotec, who was very efficient with his pitch count, came back out for the final inning, needing just 3 outs. If anyone thought that Krotec wasn’t going to deliver, they didn’t see him pitch all season. He wasn’t going to blow this lead and this opportunity.

The Blackhawk hitter swung at the first pitch and grounded out to Davis at second- 1 out. 3 pitches later, out #2 came on a fly ball to Jake Knobloch in right field. The game ended as the Blackhawk batter swung at the second pitch and flew out to Armstrong in left field.

FINAL SCORE: HOPEWELL 3 BLACKHAWK 2

WINNING IS FUN!!

Hopewell’s work isn’t done as tomorrow’s last section game is another big one. Hopewell and Blackhawk are now tied for second place and trail first place Beaver by one game.

If Hopewell wins, they will clinch at least second place. If they lose, they will finish in 3rd place. However, if Hopewell wins and Beaver loses to North Catholic, the Vikings will finish the season tied for 1st place.

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Hopewell High School Football

Big Ten Program Extends Offer to Hopewell Quarterback James Armstrong

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

Last week, Vikings Sports Now speculated that it was only a matter of time before Big 10 programs began to get involved in the recruitment of James Armstrong and today it happened.

This afternoon that happened as coaches from Maryland reached out to the Hopewell HS football department to let them know that they were extending an offer to Armstrong.

With this news, Maryland becomes the second Big 10 school to offer this 2028 4-star talent.

Armstrong’s Power 4 Offers:
Pitt
Penn State
West Virginia
Georgia
Florida State
Duke
North Carolina
Colorado
Ole Miss
Syracuse
Virginia
Auburn
Arkansas
Maryland

Looking ahead, Armstrong will be attending an Under Armour prospects camp next week in Columbus, Ohio.

Currently, it’s baseball season for Armstrong as the Hopewell Vikings baseball team has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and hope to make a long run.

Hopewell’s James Armstrong

After that, HC Matt Mottes and the Vikings football program will begin spring workouts on May 19th.

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Around Hopewell

Congrats to Hopewell’s ‘Kids of Steel’ in the Pittsburgh Kids Marathon!

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 4 minutes read

A week after hosting the 2026 NFL Draft, the city of Pittsburgh was once again filled with people over the weekend as it was race weekend in the “Burgh.

On Sunday, it was the Pittsburgh Marathon and a day earlier, it was the kids turn as they ran in the Chick-Fil-A Pittsburgh Kids Marathon.

We bring this up because 172 students in the Hopewell elementary schools took part, which was exciting to see.


These students and teachers have been practicing after school once a week since January for this event and named this group of kids, “Kids of Steel”.

This ended up being a 1-mile run/walk for these students as this began on the North Shore on General Robinson Street by PNC Park and after going across the Andy Warhol Bridge, they finished up near Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh.

Vikings Sports Now had the pleasure of talking with the coordinators of this program, who are teachers within the district- Amanda Erwin, Katie Snyder and Sarah Rizzutto.

“Hopewell Elementary restarted the program last year after not having it for many years”, said Amanda Erwin, Hopewell 2nd grade teacher and one of the coaches of Kids of Steel. “I was at a monthly PTA meeting, and some parents were asking why we didn’t do it anymore. Truly, we didn’t have an answer other than no one had taken it over when the last teacher left. Miss Katie Snyder, kindergarten teacher, runs the half marathon each year and said, “Let’s do it!” and here we are!”

“Last year we had around 150 students and this year we had 172 register from our school! We really wanted to give the kids something to work towards and look forward to with their friends. A lot of kids are involved in sports outside of school, but there are some who never get to experience practices, games, or events with friends. We wanted to give all students the opportunity to join a healthy activity that was wasn’t expensive or a huge time commitment for their families. Selfishly, my daughter started kindergarten last year and I wanted her to experience the Kids of Steel program and marathon because it is an amazing opportunity.”

“Our previous PE teacher got the ball rolling years ago and I think we all fell in love with the idea of it through her love of running and supporting the students,'” Katie Snyder/Kindergarten tells VSN. “After Covid, we agreed to bring it back. We were expecting 30-40 kids and were amazed with 170 students our first year!

“The Kids of Steel program at Hopewell Elementary had 172 participants,” said Sarah Rizzutto/3rd grade teacher. “We could not have done this without the support of teacher and parent volunteers. Each practice we were able to have a few stations that included games involving some type of movement activity and also have stations that were focused on running our school course that was mapped out by one of our coaches to build endurance for the KOS race.

This is wonderful event and a tip of the cap to Erwin, Snyder,  Rizzutto and others in the district for taking the lead and making this happen for these students.

“The joy of the students feeling a sense of accomplishment and working hard toward a goal is the reason we would love to make it an every year program if we continue to get the community support,” said Snyder.

“Our students showed up again in January ready to run and showed their Viking Spirit on race day!  We have learned a lot over the last two years of running the program and are making changes that benefit everyone, especially the students! Our goal is to make it bigger and better each year moving forward. This program is truly family centered and gives the entire family something to look forward to in May.”

“Aside from Miss. Snyder, Miss Rizzutto (3rd grade teacher), and myself, we had some phenomenal PTA parents support us as well,” said Erwin. “Without the help of teacher volunteers, Kait Daley, Angela Markowitz, Katie Phillips, Kasey Hoth, Christy Morely, Jaime Snyder, Ali Klesser, Bethany Pistorius, and her children/students of HASD, James & Grace Pistorius, we really would not have been able to successfully run this program with 172 students.”

“Every week, the students participated in practice that consisted of stretching, walking to warm up, and then they would split into four groups depending on grade level to complete stations. The practices were a ton of fun and really amped up the excitement for the marathon! We will 100% continue the Kids of Steel program moving into next year with hopes of even more participants! We are so proud of the students and their hard work!”

All 3 of Hopewell’s elementary schools took part in the marathon. Anne Beitler and Leah Meehan were the coaches at Margaret Ross Elementary.

Two nice things was that Margaret Roos got a $500 Transportation grant from Kids of Steel which allowed them to bus kids and families to the event.

Also, P3R group who runs Kids of Steel awarded our MR coaches with Rookie of the Year out of all the new groups participating.

The Independence elementary team was coached by PTA parent Casey Biser.


Over the weekend, Vikings Sports Now posted a message on Facebook asking for parents to send pictures of their kids that took part in this event.

Here were just some of the participants from Hopewell that were in Pittsburgh for the Pgh Kids Marathon. If you’d like to get your child’s picture included in this post, it’s not too late, just text me a picture and the name of your child and I’d be glad to add them.


Malia Markowitz, Mila Hardy, Calliope Hoth, Sloan Erwin, Collins Iorio, Gia Markowitz, Nora Hardy


Penelope Hoth and Adalynn Rogers


Penelope Hoth, Jay Iorio, Calliope Hoth, Sloan Erwin, Collins Iorio


Lauren Merrihew, 1st Grade Margret Ross

 
Dominic Martini who is in kindergarten at Margret Ross.


Collins Iorio, Calliope Hoth, Amanda Erwin (Hopewell teacher/one of organizers of Kids of Steel Program), Mindy Cleary (1st grade teacher), Colby Erwin, Carolyn Iorio.


Amanda Erwin and Katie Snyder, two of the Hopewell Elementary Kids of Steel coaches.


Maggie Powell and Lizzie Holcombe, 3rd Graders


Prince Shell and Maze Latimore


Max Holsinger


Landon Marocco


Hopewell Elementary K-4 Teachers/Kids of Steel Coaches

Katie Snyder, Kindergarten
Sarah Rizzutto, 3rd Grade
Amanda Erwin, 2nd Grade

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Hopewell HS Baseball

What’s at Stake for Hopewell HS Baseball Team This Week?

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

The Hopewell HS baseball today started preparing for the 2026 season back in December and five months later, we’ve reached the last week of the regular season.

Fortunately, it’s not the last week of the season as HC Morgan Singletary and his team have qualified for the 2026 WPIAL playoffs.

This group of players and coaches were determined to bounce back after a couple of down seasons and to have this group of seniors experience one more run in the playoffs.

Mission Accomplished!

Hopewell enters this last week with a record of 11-5 and 6-4 in section play. As you can see, this has been Hopewell’s best section results in 4 years and with at least 4 games left, they’ll have a chance to improve their overall win total.

HOPEWELL BASEBALL’S RECORD LAST SIX SEASONS
2026: 11-5, 6-4
2025: 5-14, 4-8
2024: 9-10, 4-6
2023: 14-12, 4-6 (WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIP)
2022: 16-8, 9-1
2021: 18-6, 9-1 (WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIP)

WHERE THINGS STAND HEADING INTO LAST WEEK:
While we know that Hopewell has qualified for the playoffs, there’s still plenty of unknowns and things to determine in this last week.

The Vikings are currently in 3rd place in Section 1 of Class 4A but still can finish anywhere from tied to first to fourth place.

CURRENT CLASS 4A/SECTION 1 STANDINGS:
*Blackhawk: 7-3
*Beaver: 7-3
*Hopewell: 6-4
Ambridge: 6-6
Hampton: 5-5
Central Valley: 3-7
North Catholic: 2-8

*Qualified for playoffs

WHAT’S AT STAKE THIS WEEK?
As mentioned, plenty of unknowns heading into this final 2 section games.

This week, Hopewell will take on Blackhawk, Beaver will go up against North Catholic and Hampton will battle Central Valley. Ambridge has played all 12 of their section games, so their section record is set at 6-6.

**Hopewell can still finish in first place or tied for first place. In order for that to happen, they would need to win both games against Blackhawk, which would take them to 8-4 and drop Blackhawk to 7-5. Plus, they would need help from North Catholic. If Hopewell wins two games this week and Beaver splits with NC, Hopewell would finish in a tie for first. If Hopewell wins both games and North Catholic sweeps Beaver, Hopewell would be sole section champions.

Hopewell’s Payton Korker

**Because of tiebreakers, I’m not positive of the scenario for Hopewell finishing in 3rd place.

**Worst case scenario is Hopewell losing their last 2 games and finishing 6-6 in the section. If that happens, they’d finish in a tie for 4th place with Ambridge.

**Another scenario that I’m not 100% certain about is the order of finish if Hopewell, Ambridge and Hampton all finish with records of 6-6.

The easiest way to make those questions irrelevant is to at least split the series with Blackhawk.

Things get underway tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch set for 4 PM at Hopewell High School. This will be this group of seniors last home game so if you have the opportunity, stop over and root them on.

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