UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Zach Hare’s dream of a perfect game Thursday ended in the first inning, his hopes of a no-hitter were dashed in the third, and his shutout bid vanished in the sixth.
But there’s no denying it was still a perfect PIAA Class 3A championship for Hare, who was more than good enough to lead Riverside to its second title in three years and sixth all time.
Hare’s postseason hitless streak, which is believed to be a national record, came to an end somewhat early, but this senior right-hander capped his marvelous postseason by giving up just two unearned runs and two hits to lead WPIAL champion Riverside to a 4-2 win against District 4 champion Mount Carmel at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
“It wasn’t even an expectation,” Hare said of the possibility of no-hitting Mount Carmel. “They’re in the state championship for a reason. They’re an amazing baseball team. They came 1 through 9. Their job is to go up there and hit the ball, so I was just grateful for the long streak that I did have. I’m still trying to comprehend that kind of streak. But them going out there and hitting it, I was happy. It didn’t matter. Good pitch, good hit. You move on from it.”
The six PIAA titles Riverside (21-2) has won are three more than any other WPIAL school. And they have all come under the guidance of Dan Oliastro, 81, who put a sweet capper on his 57th season. Oliastro’s sixth title came 20 years after he earned his first. And to think, Riverside’s pitcher that day outdid what Hare did Thursday. In a game played at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona, Curtis Brown threw the first no-hitter in PIAA championship history.
“We don’t ever want to come here and lose. We’re 6 for 6,” Oliastro said.
Pitching in Happy Valley continued Hare’s happy postseason, which saw him toss 31⅓ consecutive hitless innings entering Thursday. Hare had become the first player to throw a perfect game in the WPIAL championship and tossed a no-hitter in the PIAA quarterfinals, but his run of perfection ended quickly Thursday when he walked Brayden Brinkash, the very first hitter of the game. The hitless streak then came to an end with two outs in the third, and it was Brinkash who did the damage, delivering a single to left field to end Hare’s streak at 34 innings.
“It was weird,” Riverside first baseman Christian Lucarelli said with a chuckle when asked what it was like seeing Hare allow a hit. “I went right up to him and said, ‘I know you don’t care about giving up a hit. Next guy.’ And he got right back into it. He was dominant throughout the whole thing. That was the biggest game of his life, and he came through really big.”
Mount Carmel (20-5) made it rather interesting, though. Riverside led, 2-0, when Hare found himself in some trouble with one out in the top of the sixth. Jon Morgante singled and moved to second on an errant pick-off throw. Drew Yagodzinskie, a Monmouth recruit, then walked to put runners on first and third. Lukas Carpenter followed by hitting a ball to Lucarelli, who tried to beat the runner at home, but his throw was wide, allowing Morgante to score. Gabe Yuskowski then hit a sacrifice fly to center, and all of a sudden it was a tie score.
“I got the ball in my glove, went to go grab it, and it just got stuck in my hand. I palm-balled it to home plate,” said Lucarelli, a senior and Duke recruit. “The only reason I threw it was I saw him not even a quarter of the way down the line. If I would have made a good throw, he would have been out. It would have saved a run. It would have saved Zach pitches. I just had to get past that.”
Lucarelli did just that, drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Drake Fox then reached on a bunt single and Dylan Meyer on an error to load the bases. Jackson Barber followed with a bunt, which was picked up by Mount Carmel reliever Noah Shimko, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound Maine football recruit. Shimko appeared to have time to get the force at home, but didn’t make a quick enough decision and ended up just holding onto the ball, allowing Lucarelli to score. Logan Young followed with an RBI groundout to make it 4-2.
Hare struck out Walker McGinley to begin the seventh for his 11th strikeout. Hare’s final pitch of that at-bat was his last of the game, as he hit the pitch limit. For the game, Hare walked three in addition to giving up the two unearned runs and two hits. Oliastro then brought in senior Hunter Garvin, who struck out the final two Mount Carmel hitters to pick up the save. Garvin also closed out Riverside’s 4-0 championship win against Camp Hill in 2023.
Hare, a Slippery Rock recruit, showed a lot of emotion in the game. He was issued a warning for chirping at the Mount Carmel dugout in the early going and pumped his fist after strikeouts on several occasions. He was at times serenaded by “Overrated” chants from the opposing fans.
“I love the energy,” Hare said. “They were especially very loud, so I was just trying to use it as fuel to keep pitching and working hard out there for my teammates.”
In all, Hare’s remarkable postseason run saw him post a 5-0 record while giving up two hits and 11 walks to go along with 66 strikeouts in 37⅔ innings. Hare finished the season with a 10-0 record and closed his career at 21-1.
Hare said that the heat bothered him a bit Thursday, as did nerves and the fact that the game began more than an hour later than expected due to the previous game running long.
“It was really hot out,” he said. “The game got pushed back an hour, which messed up my warm-up a little, but that’s not an excuse at all. Pitching out there at Penn State in the state championship, it was in my stomach a lot. I was just trying to work through it.”
Riverside managed only five hits in the game, with John Bowser and Meyer picking up two of the biggest ones. Bowser showed off his power by hitting an RBI double in the third and Meyer added a run-scoring double in the fourth to up the Riverside lead to 2-0, one that stood until Mount Carmel’s rally in the sixth.
The title was a special one for Riverside’s senior class. Many of the players in that group also played large roles on the 2023 championship team that became the first in WPIAL history to win a PIAA title with a perfect record. Lucarelli spun a gem in that state championship triumph.
“I’m at a loss for words,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it with a better group of guys. These are guys I grew up with my whole life. We grew up together. It’s like family to us. To win this, it’s unbelievable.”
Much like Hare’s magical postseason.
It marked the end of the high school careers of Hare, Lucarelli, Garvin and others, but was the game the final of Oliastro’s illustrious career?
“I’ll have to call my agent,” Oliastro quipped. “We’ll see. I evaluate every season after the season. I take some time with my wife, my two dogs and some of my grandkids. People don’t realize how much of a grind this is.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.