May 11, 2026 2 min read

Sixth-seeded Hopewell scored the game’s first four runs and went on to a 5-3 victory over 11th-seeded Ringgold in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A baseball playoffs Monday evening at Joe Maize Field in Peterswood Park.

Ben McDonald homered and two Hopewell pitchers combined on a seven-hitter. The Vikings (15-5) advance to the quarterfinals Monday against third-seeded Valley.

Ringgold has its season end with a 9-10 record.

Hopwell had a 13-hit attack that helped the Vikings forge a 4-0 lead in the third inning.

Ringgold closed to within 4-1 in the fifth on an RBI double by Derek Dunlevy.

Hopewell answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by McDonald, and Ringgold scored two times in the sixth to make it a two-run game. Connor David had an RBI groundout for the Rams and Ashton Mincin delivered a run-scoring single.

Winning pitcher Kingston Krotec went 6.2 innings and Payton Korker got the final out for a save.

Mincin had two hits, including a double, for Ringgold and Kennedy Nash smacked a triple.

Hampton 7, Belle Vernon 1: Hampton, the No. 12 seed, pulled off an upset in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A baseball playoffs, knocking off fifth-seeded Belle Vernon 7-1 at Gateway High School.

Hampton improves to 13-8 and moves on to the quarterfinals against No. 13 Derry, which also pulled off a first-round upset, edging Beaver, 2-1.

Belle Vernon’s season concludes with a 14-6 record.

No game details were available by press time.