Medich and Krotec Lead Hopewell to a 5-0 Shutout of Blackhawk

In 2023, the Hopewell Vikings rode the right arm of right-handed pitcher Landon Fox all the way to a WPIAL Championship.

While it’s still relatively early, it sure looks like the 2024 Hopewell team has a similar weapon in David Medich.

This afternoon, the junior right-hander was once again dominant as he dominated and blanked the Blackhawk Cougars for 6 innings. Offensively, it was sophomore Kingston Krotec who led the way with both his bat and his legs as the Hopewell defeated Blackhawk, 5-0, to split their 2-game series.

With the win, Hopewell improved their overall record to 6-3 and 3-1 in the section.

One thing about Hopewell head coach Morgan Singletary is that he isn’t afraid to change up his lineup and either go with a hot bat or go with a hunch.

A prime example of that is a change he made recently in moving Krotec to the leadoff spot of his lineup.

Since the start of section play against Beaver, Krotec is hitting .500 (6 of 12) with 4 runs, 2 walks and 2 RBIs from the top spot of the lineup.

This afternoon, Krotec collected a career-high 3 hits as he came up clutch giving Medich the cushion that he needed.

In the Top of the 1st, Krotec started the game with a single and came around to score on a bases loaded walk by Zach Gigliotti to give Hopewell a 1-0 lead.

Similar results in the Hopewell 3rd inning as Krotec singled, stole 2nd and 3rd base and would score on a Blackhawk wild pitch. Hopewell now led 2-0.

That was all Medich needed as a struck out the side in the 1st inning and then struck out two Blackhawk hitters in the 3rd inning. After 3 innings, Medich was at 49 pitches, 33 of which were strikes.

The Vikings added a third run in the top of the 5th inning. Lucas Walton led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Triscila. Walton then stole third base and would then score on a single by Krotec. Hopewell led 3-0.

Medich had a quick 1-2-3 fifth inning as he struck out 2 more Blackhawk hitters.

Hopewell scored two more runs in the 6th inning, but the way Medich was pitching, those runs weren’t needed.

In the 6th inning, which would be his last inning of the game, Blackhawk had runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out but Medich wanted to keep the Cougars scoreless, and he did just that as he struck out the last two batters.

For the day, No. 16 pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and struck out 11 batters. For the day, Medich threw 99 pitches, 65 of which were strikes.

For the final inning, Singletary called up sophomore left-hander Ben McDonald, who got the job done as a struck out 2 batters and threw only 14 pitches.

Hopewell has a day off before starting an important two-game series against Montour on Monday. First pitch from Hopewell High School will be at 4 PM.