Both Ellwood City and Riverside baseball teams picked up opening round victories on Thursday to advance in the WPIAL Class 3A Playoffs.
The Lady Panthers softball team also picked up an opening round victory in the WPIAL Class 2A Playoffs on Thursday.
CLASS 3A BASEBALL
Riverside survived a scare in its comeback 4-3 victory over #16 seed Shady Side Academy at Seneca Valley.
Zach Hare relieved starter Christian Lucarelli in the second and offered 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief and retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.
After falling behind early, Riverside tied the score at three in the 5th inning with the efforts of run-scoring singles by John Bowser and Hunter Garvin. Logan Young then provided the winning RBI, knocking in a run after delivering on a suicide squeeze in the sixth.
Riverside (14-2 Overall) advances to play #8 seed Burrell on Tuesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. at North Allegheny High School.
For Ellwood City, Aaron Lake gave up just one hit and struck out six batters in five scoreless innings while also adding a double and 3 RBIs offensively to power #3 seed Ellwood City to a 9-1 victory over #14 Seton LaSalle at North Allegheny on Thursday.
The Wolverines erupted for six running in a pivotal 5th inning to push its advantage to 7-0 before the Rebels could strike offensively. Nate Kennedy spelled Lake and offered two innings of relief to help secure the victory.
Lake finished with two hits while Jordan Keller and Kennedy each collected two walks for Ellwood City. The Wolverine batters combined to collect eight walks in the contest.
Seton LaSalle, who won WPIAL Class 2A titles the previous two seasons, committed five errors in defeat.
Ellwood City (15-5 Overall) advances to next face section foe Mohawk (11-8 Overall) on Tuesday, May 20th at 4:00 p.m. at Neshannock HS. #11 seed Mohawk picked up an upset victory over #6 seed Deer Lakes. [VIEW FULL CLASS 3A BRACKET]
.@lakea_3 drives in three runs and throws five innings of shutout 1hit baseball in @EC_Wolverines first round win over Seton LaSalle. His 2-run single broke it open in the bottom of the fifth. @Jacob_biskup on base four times for EC. https://t.co/Da41eKDBRf pic.twitter.com/K5AXmdF9IM
— Lawrence County SportsNet (@LCSportsNet) May 16, 2025
CLASS 2A SOFTBALL
Riverside softball coasted to a 14-4 mercy-rule victory over #6 seed Waynesburg Thursday.
The Lady Panthers raced out to an early 12-0 advantage and were led offensively by Charlie Bissell and Saeryn Hoover who each collected three hits. Hoover, Danny Rosenberger, Adde Burry, and E Stockman all swatted doubles in the victory. Rosenberger and Camryn Friello both collected three RBIs for the Panthers.
Joci Cummings tossed five innings, striking out three batters and allowed four earned runs to pick up the victory on the rubber for Riverside.
Riverside will now play #3 Laurel in the quarterfinals on Monday, May 19th at 5:00 p.m. at Fox Chapel HS. [VIEW CLASS 2A BRACKET]
#3 seed Ellwood City was idle this week, awaiting opening round games before its opening game on Monday, May 19th at 5:00 p.m. at Montour High School. The Wolverines will face #6 seed McGuffey who picked up a 5-1 opening round victory over Ligonier Valley.
i sure he appreciates being called christina lucarelli…
Hi Dan, thanks for the comment and pointing out the typo – our mistake. We have corrected his name. Thanks for your interest ~EllwoodCity.org Staff