In what will be the final game of his high school career Thursday, Riverside’s Zach Hare will be on the mound trying to help his team win a PIAA title, a situation that Hare finds a bit surreal.
“It’s one heck of a feeling,” Hare said. “I still can’t believe it. I knew WPIALs would be really tough, and that was our biggest goal at the time. We didn’t want to think about states at that point, but now we’re here … we’re going to the state championship.”
As strange as that may seem to Hare, it has nothing on the dream-like run this senior right-hander has been on since the postseason began, a string of success his coach has repeatedly described as “supernatural.”
Hare might not need to be that good to lead Riverside to a sixth PIAA title Thursday, but at this point, the possibility of him throwing a no-hitter or even a perfect game doesn’t seem strange at all, not even in a game on such a grand stage.
Hare will try to continue his historic postseason, one that has seen him throw 31⅓ innings without giving up a run or hit, when WPIAL champion Riverside (20-2) plays District 4 champion Mount Carmel (20-4) in the PIAA Class 3A final at 1:30 p.m. at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Riverside is 5-0 all-time in PIAA championship games, and its five titles are more than any other WPIAL school. The last came in 2023 when Hare, Christian Lucarelli, Hunter Garvin and some of the other seniors on this Riverside team helped the Panthers become the first WPIAL team to win a PIAA title with an unbeaten record.
Hare didn’t play a major role on that ’23 team. He made only three appearances on the mound and had only 18 plate appearances on the season. But Hare, a Slippery Rock recruit, then had a breakout junior season before having a monster senior season. Hare is 9-0 with a 0.74 ERA and has struck out 127 in 66 innings this season to go along with a .417 batting average, four home runs and 26 RBIs.
But Hare’s dominance on the bump in the playoffs has been even more impressive. In five appearances, Hare is 4-0 and has not surrendered a hit or run in 31⅓ innings while striking out 55 and walking eight. He threw a perfect game against Quaker Valley in the WPIAL final and tossed a no-hitter against Mohawk in the PIAA quarterfinals.
“If I had a word for what he’s done, I’d say supernatural,” said Riverside coach Dan Oliastro, who is in his 57th season. “He’s been outstanding. Not only does he have good velocity, but he’s been able to put pitches where he wants to put them. His command has been really good. He doesn’t walk many people. He gives us a chance every time he pitches.”
According to MaxPreps, Hare’s postseason hitless streak is believed to be the longest in U.S. high school history.
Hare, who has allowed only 14 hits in 66 innings of work on the season, has been able to keep a level head despite the fanfare that has come along with his impressive run. Colleges have taken notice, too. Hare said that the University of Miami was among the schools who reached out recently to check in on him.
“It’s almost impossible to not think about,” said Hare, who is 20-1 in his career, “but at the same time it’s baseball. I know I’m going to give up a hit, so I put that in the back of my head. I don’t want the pressure that comes with that affect how I’m going to pitch. I’m grateful for something like that to happen, but I also know that all the teams we face are really good, so someone is going to get a hit eventually.”
Will Mount Carmel be the team to do it? And if so, can the Red Tornadoes take home the title, as well? Unlike Riverside, Mount Carmel doesn’t have a long, storied history in these playoffs. It won its first-ever PIAA playoff game just last season and is playing in its first final. But, just like Riverside, this is a team that has been fueled by strong pitching. Mount Carmel has given up seven total runs during its seven-game win streak. Senior right-hander and Monmouth recruit Drew Yagodzinski (7-1, 1.29) got the win by striking out 11 in seven innings in the semifinals, so the Red Tornadoes will likely go with junior righty Lukas Carpenter, who is 6-0 with a 1.48 ERA and has struck out 34 and walked eight in 33 innings. Offensively, Mount Carmel is averaging 7.1 runs per game on the season but has scored only 26 in its past eight games. The Red Tornadoes are led by Carpenter (.441) and senior Jon Morgante (.421, 20 RBIs). Sophomore Gabe Yuskoski and freshman Jason Klokis have both hit four home runs.
The Riverside offense has been led by a collection of talent that includes Hare, Garvin and sophomore Dylan Meyer. Garvin is hitting .448 with 24 RBIs and 24 runs scored, while Meyer is batting .409 with 22 RBIs. Meyer had two hits and two RBIs in a 4-1 semifinal win against South Park, one in which Lucarelli, a Duke recruit, gave up just one unearned run and two hits in six innings of work to pick up the win. Garvin will be available again after picking up the save. Lucarelli was the winning pitcher and Garvin drove in two runs when Riverside defeated Camp Hill, 4-0, for the title in 2023.
Two years later, Riverside is back again, and Hare’s pitching dominance is arguably the biggest storyline of these championships. And if Hare and the team’s other seven seniors have their way, they’ll become PIAA champions once again Thursday.
“That would mean everything, especially to us seniors, knowing this is it, the last time we’ll play together on the same team,” Hare said. “To be able to say 10 or 20 years from now that we finished our high school careers winning WPIAL and state championships, that would be a dream come true.”
Class 5A
After winning its first PIAA title in 1980, Shaler had to wait 43 years to claim its second.
The wait for title No. 3 could be much more brief.
WPIAL champion Shaler (20-6) will try to win its second title in three years when it squares off against District 1 runner-up Upper Dublin (19-7) in the final 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Titans defeated Strath Haven, 9-8, in eight innings in the 2023 final before seeing their 2024 season end with a loss in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
“They’re all bought in,” Shaler coach Brian Junker said. “The ’23 team was bought in. Maybe not so much last year. But now they’re all bought in, speaking our language, working hard and putting it together at the right time.”
Shaler is 7-0 in the postseason, giving up a total of seven runs in that span. Senior right-hander Colby Weber has been one of the top pitchers in the state. Weber, an East Carolina recruit, tossed a one-hitter in the first round and a three-hitter in the semifinals to improve to 10-0 on the season.
“It’s been a perfect season for him,” Junker said of Weber.
But with Weber having pitched Monday, the Titans will turn to senior right-hander Dante Deleonibus, who got the win against Bethel Park in the quarterfinals after allowing three runs (one earned) and six hits while striking out eight and walking one in seven innings. Senior Kaleb Jockel knocked in a pair of runs that game and added another RBI in a 2-0 semifinal win against Lampeter-Strasburg. Seniors Joe Rispoli and Colby McGuire and junior Ben Yeckel have been a few of Shaler’s other top hitters.
Upper Dublin had just one PIAA win and had never moved past the quarterfinals prior to this season. But after losing to Radnor in the District 1 championship, the Cardinals collected a trio of wins to move into the final for the first time. Austin Dahl and Luke Caron combined on an eight-inning one-hitter in a 1-0 semifinal win against Elizabethtown. Caron is a freshman who threw only 17 pitches in that game and figures to be the starter Thursday. He tossed a two-hitter in a 4-1 win in the quarterfinals. Caron also drove in the game’s only run in the semifinal win.
Class 4A
Indiana has been the cardiac kids of this postseason, as the Indians have won marathon games that have lasted 9, 11, 12 and 17 innings.
“I feel like a seven-inning game would feel like a three-inning game now,” Indiana coach Dan Petroff said. “I might need a new heart when this is done.”
And maybe a spot in the trophy case to place the program’s first PIAA championship.
Led by an outstanding and deep pitching staff, WPIAL champion Indiana (25-1) will again take aim at winning a first state title when it battles District 4 champion Montoursville (20-4) in the final 1:30 p.m. Friday. It’s the second trip to the title game for Indiana, which made its first a season ago when it lost to Holy Ghost Prep, 6-5, in the championship.
Indiana edged previously unbeaten East Pennsboro, 6-5, in 17 innings in Tuesday’s semifinals. The game was the longest in PIAA postseason history. Indiana used four pitchers, with sophomore Brady Oakes throwing four scoreless innings of one-hit ball to pick up the win. The Indians’ arsenal of pitchers also includes seniors Greg Minnick, Ryan Okopal and Mark Collinger, and junior Sully VanHoose. Minnick is a Texas Tech recruit, and Okopal and Collinger are Mercyhurst recruits. Indiana pitchers have given up only 45 runs the entire season.
“It’s been absolutely crazy,” Petroff said. “They’ve been incredible. And we’re honestly 10 deep. We have five guys that haven’t pitched in these playoffs.”
Indiana will likely be without one of its top offensive players for the game. Junior third baseman Charlie Manzi was injured in the 13th inning of the semifinal win and did not return. Manzi hit a walk-off two-run home run in the 11th inning to bring Indiana its first WPIAL title two weeks ago.
Montoursville, which has won two PIAA titles, advanced to the final for the first time since losing to Riverside in the 2006 Class 2A championship. The Warriors have also gotten excellent pitching, surrendering four runs in three PIAA games and 66 on the season. Junior Logan Kirby is 8-0 with a 1.78 ERA and senior Jimmy Mussina is 6-1 with a 0.87 ERA. Mussina’s uncle, Mike, helped Montoursville win its first PIAA title in 1986 before going on to have a decorated career pitching in the major leagues. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Mike is now an assistant coach for the Warriors. Senior Mike Reeder (.472, 29 runs) and sophomore Noah Kirby (.365, 34 RBIs) have been two of the team’s top hitters.
Class 2A
Prior to this season, Freedom had never won a WPIAL championship or a PIAA playoff game. Now the Bulldogs suddenly find themselves with a WPIAL title and three PIAA wins, and are a win away from a first-ever PIAA championship.
Freedom (18-7) will take on District 1 champion Faith Christian in the final at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Faith Christian (21-2) finished as unbeaten PIAA Class 1A champions a season ago when they defeated Eden Christian, 4-1, in the title game.
Freedom had qualified for the PIAA playoffs only twice prior to this season, losing in the first round in 2006 and 2017. But after beating Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 1-0, to win its first WPIAL title and doing it as the No. 8 seed, Freedom has ripped off PIAA wins against Bishop McCort, Redbank Valley and Mercyhurst Prep by a combined five runs. The Bulldogs have been fueled by the pitching of senior righty Boden Hilliard, who is 8-2 with 1.90 ERA. Hilliard fired a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 2-0 semifinal win. No. 2 pitcher Zach Kuntz, a junior, is 3-3 with a 3.67 ERA. Offensively, senior Tommy Ward is hitting a team-best .451 while Kuntz has driven in 26 runs and sophomore Mason O’Donnell 25.
Faith Christian might not be unbeaten like they were a season ago, but these Lions are once again a ferocious bunch. They have outscored opponents, 257-37, and have limited foes to two or fewer runs in 18 of their 21 wins. Seniors Reid Miller and Chase Gieser give the Lions an outstanding 1-2 punch on the mound. Miller is 9-1 with a 0.46 ERA and has struck out 107 in 60⅓ innings, while Gieser is 6-1 with a 2.01 ERA and has 62 punchouts in 38⅓ innings. Both will play at Division II Coker University. Miller threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts and also knocked in a pair of runs in a 2-0 semifinal win against Mount Union.
Class 1A
Eden Christian has been oh-so-close to winning some big titles in recent seasons, finishing as the WPIAL runner-up twice (2022, 2024) and the PIAA runner-up twice (2021, 2024). Now headed back to play for a state title for the third time in five years, the Warriors hope the fifth time’s a charm, which would give them their first-ever title.
Eden Christian (19-5), the WPIAL’s third-place finisher, will play District 5 champion Southern Fulton (24-1) in the final at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The Warriors lost to Halifax, 9-1, in the 2021 PIAA final and to unbeaten Faith Christian, 4-1, in last year’s final.
Few teams in the WPIAL rival what Eden Christian has done offensively this season. The Warriors average 10.2 runs per game and scored 28 their previous two games, producing 16 in quarterfinals and 12 in the semifinals. They are led by juniors Brady Hull (.565, 42 RBIs), Noah Emswiler (.478, 32 RBIs) and Brett Feldman (.432, 44 runs). Hull had five RBIs in the quarterfinals and three hits in the semifinals. Emswiler is a Lipscomb recruit and the Warriors’ top pitcher. He tossed a three-hitter in a first-round win against DuBois Central Catholic.
Scoring runs on Southern Fulton won’t be easy. The Indians have allowed only 42 runs on the season and five of their last seven wins have come via shutout. Junior right-hander Owen Oakman is 10-0 with a 0.14 ERA. In 50⅓ innings, Oakman has given up one earned run, 26 hits and three walks while striking out 61. Oakman threw a 1-hitter in the quarterfinals while Paul Hendershot and Colt Mann combined to throw a no-hitter in the semifinals. Jett Burger is the team’s top hitter. Burger is batting .493 with 31 RBIs. The Indians are making their second appearance in the championship game. They lost to Vincentian, 5-3, in the 2018 Class 1A final.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.