Three Victories In WPIAL Opening Round Action

All three local teams competing Tuesday in the opening round of their respective WPIAL playoffs earned victories.

RIVERSIDE 4 KEYSTONE OAKS 1

Hunter Garvin and Zack Hare combined for a no-hitter as top seeded Riverside earned a 4-1 victory over Keystone Oaks on Tuesday.

Hare struck out nine batters on the afternoon but Keystone Oaks scored the games first run in the fourth inning without the aid of a hit.

The Panthers offense was finally able to respond with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Garvin singled, Hare doubled, Darren McDade hit a sacrifice fly, and Sam Barber singled, each scoring a run for Riverside.

Hare finished with two hits offensively while Bowser tripled for the Panthers. Garvin earned the victory in relief of Hare on the mound. Garvin struck out four batters over his three perfect innings.

Riverside advances to play #9 South Park at Neshannock High School on Tuesday, May 20th at 4:30 p.m. in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals.

11-seeded Neshannock from Section 1 earned an opening round victory over #6 Waynesburg while #2 seed Mohawk was upset by 15-seeded East Allegheny in its opening round match-up. Double-digit seed Shenango from Section 2 also earned a first round upset, defeating #5 Valley 5-3 on Tuesday.

ELLWOOD CITY 4 BURRELL 2

The 10-seed Lady Wolverines ousted Burrell 4-2 on Tuesday in WPIAL Class 3A softball opening round.

After surrendering the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning, Ellwood City took the lead in the fourth after Amber McQuistion singled in a run and Kaylee Palombi brought home a second with a fielder’s choice.

In the sixth inning, Palombi rattled a two-run single to extend the Wolverines lead to 4-1.

McQuistion and Rylee Prestopine each collected two hits to lead the offense and McQuistion earned the win on the rubber for the Wolverines. McQuistion surrendered only one earned run, a solo home run, over seven innings of work. She struck out two and walked one.

Ellwood City advances to play #2 Ligioner Valley on Thursday, May 16th at Plum High School at 4:00 p.m. Ligonier Valley (14-5 Overall) pitcher Cheyenne Piper fired a perfect game Tuesday in the Rams 8-0 victory over Keystone Oaks in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

Tickets for Thursdays game are available online through www.gofan.co. Tickets will be available at the gate and will be $7.00 for everyone. Gates will open Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Avonworth and Yough will play in a second quarterfinals game following the Wolverines, scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.

RIVERSIDE 9 APOLLO-RIDGE 8

Riverside rallies to take a 9-8 victory over Apollo Ridge in the WPIAL Class 2A softball opening round.

After trailing by a run entering the sixth inning, the Lady Panthers scored four runs and held on for an exciting 9-8 victory over Apollo Ridge Tuesday.

Riverside plated three runs in the fourth inning as Camryn Friello singled and Joci Cummings doubled, each scoring one run. Two more runs in the fifth put the Panthers ahead 5-2 before Apollo Ridge countered with four runs to take a 6-5 lead entering the sixth inning.

After an error helped Riverside knot the game at six in the sixth inning, the Panthers scored three runs in the top of the seventh. Friello plated a run with another single and Addison Drake followed with a fielder’s choice scoring two more runs.

Friello collected four hits and scored three runs to lead the Riverside offense. Rosenberger, Crawford, and Williams each collected two hits as part of the Panthers 12-hit barrage. Crawford, Cummings, and Williams each doubled.

The Lady Panthers will face overall top seed Neshannock (19-0 Overall) on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at Mohawk High School in the quarterfinals.