Around Hopewell
🥎💙💛 HOPEWELL 10U ALL-STARS FINISH SUMMER ON TOP — CHAMPIONS OF THE BEAVER COUNTY BASH
🥎💙💛 HOPEWELL 10U ALL-STARS FINISH SUMMER ON TOP — CHAMPIONS OF THE BEAVER COUNTY BASH
By The Hometown Sports Network
BEAVER COUNTY — Hopewell’s 10U All-Stars saved their best for last.
After a challenging opening tournament, a runner-up finish at the Ambridge Watermelon Smash and a series of dramatic wins throughout the summer, the Hopewell Vikings closed their season in championship fashion Friday night, defeating New Brighton, 1-0, to capture the Beaver County Bash championship.
And fittingly, the title came down to one final swing.
With the game scoreless through five innings, Reagan Morrissey delivered the championship-winning RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, sending Hopewell home as tournament champions.
Behind her was one of the most dominant pitching performances of the summer.
Cece Mutkus threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out 16 batters over six innings. Mutkus recorded 16 of Hopewell’s 18 defensive outs via strikeout, while the Vikings played error-free defense and stole six bases.
It was the perfect ending to a summer defined by pitching, defense, speed and the ability to come through when the pressure was highest.
A SUMMER THAT KEPT GETTING BETTER
The championship wasn’t simply the result of one great weekend.
It was the culmination of a summer in which Hopewell continued to improve with every tournament.
The Vikings opened the summer at Findlay’s Fight for First, a difficult weekend that provided plenty of adversity and valuable lessons.
Rather than allowing the tough start to define them, Hopewell responded.
At the Ambridge Watermelon Smash, the Vikings went undefeated in pool play, earned the No. 1 seed out of eight teams and battled their way through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to reach the championship game.
Hopewell ultimately finished as the tournament runner-up after falling to Beaver, 2-0, in a seven-inning championship game.
That experience set the stage for the final tournament of the summer.
TWO WALK-OFFS. ONE OPPONENT. ONE CHAMPIONSHIP.
Hopewell’s Beaver County Bash run was filled with dramatic moments.
The Vikings opened pool play with a dominant 12-1 victory over BF Rec, collecting 11 hits, drawing 12 walks and stealing 13 bases without committing an error.
Emma Enders earned the pitching victory and was named Game MVP after throwing three innings while allowing no runs.
Next came a 15-2 victory over Freedom.
Norah Irwin went 3-for-3 with a double and five RBIs to earn Game MVP honors, while Kendal Kaminski added two scoreless, hitless innings with six strikeouts.
Then came New Brighton.
The two teams battled through a back-and-forth pool-play game before New Brighton took a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth.
Hopewell answered.
Giuliana Piccirilli tied the game with an RBI single before Willow Kantrowitz delivered a walk-off single down the left-field line.
Kendal Kaminski turned in a huge performance in the circle, striking out 11 over 4.2 innings.
The victory gave Hopewell a 3-0 pool-play record and the No. 1 seed.
But New Brighton wasn’t finished.
Rain disrupted the scheduled bracket play, ultimately setting up a championship rematch between Hopewell and New Brighton.
This time, there would be no comeback needed.
There would be no big inning.
Just six innings of outstanding softball.
MUTKUS DOMINATES. MORRISSEY DELIVERS.
The championship game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth.
Mutkus kept New Brighton off the scoreboard throughout the game, allowing just two hits while striking out 16.
Hopewell’s defense backed her up with a flawless performance.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Morrissey stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of the season.
Her RBI single brought home the championship-winning run and gave Hopewell a 1-0 walk-off victory.
The Vikings were champions.
The final score may have been 1-0, but Hopewell’s championship formula was anything but simple.
Pitching.
Defense.
Speed.
And the confidence to make the big play when it mattered most.
A TEAM FULL OF DIFFERENT HEROES
One of the biggest stories of Hopewell’s summer was the number of players who stepped forward at different moments.
Mutkus was dominant throughout the summer and finished the season with 83 strikeouts in 36.1 innings, along with a 1.486 ERA.
Kaminski provided another major presence in the circle, recording 49 strikeouts in 25.2 innings.
Enders added 38 strikeouts over 20 innings, giving Hopewell a three-pitcher staff that combined for 170 strikeouts.
Offensively, Nora Covalt led the team with a .552 batting average, 16 hits, 17 runs and 18 stolen bases.
Norah Irwin led the team with 15 RBIs.
Morrissey stole 13 bases in just 12 games and ultimately delivered the biggest hit of the entire summer.
Kantrowitz produced multiple clutch moments, including the walk-off against New Brighton and a two-run inside-the-park home run during the Watermelon Smash quarterfinal.
Kamryn Roy opened the Watermelon Smash with a two-hit, four-RBI performance that included a three-run double.
And throughout the summer, players such as Gracey Dunning, May Taylor, Ellie Mae Mingrino, Brenna Covalt and Giuliana Piccirilli provided important contributions on both sides of the ball.
The numbers tell the story of a team that could attack opponents in multiple ways.
Across 17 games, Hopewell hit .325 as a team, recorded 100 hits, drove in 98 runs, scored 104 runs and drew 114 walks.
The Vikings also stole 110 bases in 113 attempts — a 97.35% success rate.
THE 2026 HOPEWELL 10U ALL-STARS
The championship roster featured:
- Cece Mutkus
- Ellie Mae Mingrino
- Nora Covalt
- May Taylor
- Reagan Morrissey
- Emma Enders
- Giuliana Piccirilli
- Willow Kantrowitz
- Kamryn Roy
- Brenna Covalt
- Gracey Dunning
- Norah Irwin
- Kendal Kaminski
- Annie Krawczynski
The team was led by head coach Dennis Kaminski, along with coaches Kelsey Mutkus, Mitch Shutak, Bud Covalt and John Irwin.
FROM ADVERSITY TO CHAMPIONS
Perhaps the best way to describe Hopewell’s summer is simple: they kept getting better.
The season didn’t begin with a championship.
It began with adversity.
Then came a run to the Watermelon Smash championship.
And finally, the Vikings finished their summer exactly where every team hopes to be — holding the championship trophy.
Two of Hopewell’s biggest moments came against the same opponent.
A walk-off victory over New Brighton in pool play.
Then another walk-off victory over New Brighton for the championship.
Different players.
Different circumstances.
Same belief.
And when the final opportunity arrived Friday night, Morrissey delivered the swing while Mutkus and the Hopewell defense made sure one run was enough.
Hopewell 1, New Brighton 0.
Beaver County Bash Champions.
A fitting finish for a 10U All-Star team that proved throughout the summer that championship teams aren’t always built by how they start — they’re built by how they respond.
Congratulations to the Hopewell Vikings 10U All-Stars on an outstanding 2026 season and a championship finish! 🥎🏆💙💛
Statistics and game information compiled from the team-provided GameChanger recaps, season notes and final cumulative statistics included in the Hopewell 10U All-Stars 2026 Writer/Media Packet.
