nbreisinger Not many senior classes have experienced the pinnacle of winning a WPIAL championship as freshmen while also witnessing the lows of missing out on the postseason altogether.
Hopewell baseball’s 2026 team boasts seven seniors, several of which played contributing roles in winning the 2023 district title.
Hopewell softball and youth baseball is sponsored by Lisa McCoy, your neighborhood State Farm agent.
The two seasons since – including a playoff miss a season ago for the first time in 11 years – have hardened and prepared the latest version of Vikings baseball.
A&S Federal Credit Union are proud sponsors of Hopewell Boys and Girls High School, Junior High and Youth Sports.
“I think it’s really valuable,” head coach Morgan Singletary said about returning a senior class with championship experience. “I think them having the experience, just the experience of playoffs and going deep into them and the emotions that go into that is going to be big if we can make it back because now, we have a lot of guys that haven’t experienced that atmosphere really.
“Two years ago, a lot of them played in our playoff game, but we were one and done that year. So, they have very limited experience, so having those guys be able to talk to them will probably be very helpful if we’re able to get back and get in the thick of it.”
Hopewell’s senior class is made up of Kingston Krotec, Charlie Smetana, Drew Donovan, James Gill, Payton Korker, Ben McDonald and Logan Triscilla.
In particular, Krotec, a starting pitcher, and Smetana, the starting catcher, were two of the key figures on that WPIAL-winning team and now look to help guide Hopewell back to those championship standards.
“I believe we could win a section title and then make a run deep in the playoffs,” Krotec said. “It all just depends on how gritty we play because I feel like if we play as a gritty team and run the bases and get that extra base that we need to and then we just need one hit to score him, I think we can go all the way.”
“I think we have a real shot at winning the WPIAL championship this year if we play together as a team and we have a lot of guys that hit the ball well this year,” Smetana added. “I think we should have a good shot at winning.”
Smetana recalls the title season and remembers what it took to put it all together.
“That first season we had a pretty rough regular season,” he said. “We just got into the playoffs in the last game, so we were the 14th seed, but something clicked at the end that we just became a team, and we didn’t play as individuals. We just played as a team, and I think that’s the key for this year. If we can play as a team, we’ll have a real shot.”
While three of the seniors have multiple years of experience under their belt, the remainder of the group started seeing serious playing time last year. Krotec says making that jump from the first to the second year will be significant for the returning group.
“Most of these kids in the senior class that was their first year actually getting actual reps in a game instead of just coming in to hit or just playing defense. It’s a big process,” Krotec said. “I noticed that my freshman year going to my sophomore year, you get a real big boost of confidence, and you know what you’re gonna see because you play these teams every year. We’ll see these arms multiple times throughout the year and we’ll be able to hit better and then our defense will be better, too.”
Krotec notices some similarities between the two seasons but points out one benefit to this year’s team.
“My freshman year was also a senior-heavy class, and then we just filled the holes with what we had,” Krotec said. “This year, it’s a heavy senior class so all of them will be playing and then you just fill the holes again, so I see that. Then you take over the leadership role, which we had my freshman year. You also have to have a main pitcher, which we have two and then we also have a bullpen. I feel like my freshman year we didn’t really have a bullpen, so this year, I feel like It’s more we can go deeper in with arms if we have to. I feel like we go deeper in the games with our arms.”
Krotec will look to be the second starter in the pitching rotation with Ben McDonald as the No. 1.
“He’s a lefty, I’m a righty, so they’ll see different sides back-to-back days,” Krotec said. “He’s a hard thrower. He gets a lot of strikeouts…He’ll probably go first probably as what we’re doing in the scrimmage, so he’ll probably start us off and then from that, I’ll take the second day and see what I have to do with that.”
The aforementioned bullpen will feature Korker, Triscilla and junior Jacob Knobloch, among others.
Triscilla, who also saw time on that championship team, was voted as the team captain for Hopewell this season.
“He’s not like really loud,” Krotec said. “He’s more of a positive guy, so if someone’s down, he’ll see that and talk him up and get them going. He’s just a fun guy to hang around. He never has problems with anyone. You just get along with him really well.”
Along with pitching, Triscilla will play outfield, while Gill will play infield and Donovan starts at shortstop.
The seniors believe the hitting, an area that struggled during last season’s 5-15 campaign, will be improved.
“I think the bats should be a lot better this year. I think a lot of people have improved,” Smetana, who led the team last year with a .321 batting average, 17 hits and 10 RBIs, said.
“I feel like our hits will be more like just finding the hole in the defense and getting singles and then maybe expand that into a double and then some people will have pop and get in the gap,” Krotec added. “I feel like most likely we’ll hit like single after single and just score off that.”
The regular season starts off for Hopewell this afternoon as they’ll host Ellwood City, with the first pitch scheduled for 4 PM.
