wpial baseball

Ellwood City, Riverside Baseball Teams Each Gain Opening Round Victories In WPIAL Playoffs

Both local baseball teams earned opening round victories in the WPIAL Class 3A Playoffs on Tuesday. LAKE DOMINATE, WOLVERINES SHUTOUT LIGIONER VALLEY Ellwood City defeated Ligonier Valley 3-0 on Tuesday at Pullman Park behind a strong pitching effort by senior Aaron Lake. Lake struck out six batters and allowed only three hits across his 6.1 innings. Nate Kennedy sat down the final two batters as Ellwood City advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals. The Wolverines were the first to get on the board in the first when Jake Biskup singled, scoring one run. A single by Matt Kelly extended the Ellwood…


Riverside Softball, Baseball Teams Each Qualify For WPIAL Playoffs That Begin Next Week

The Riverside girls softball team (8-5 Overall) has qualified for the Class 2A WPIAL Softball Playoffs, earning a #7 seed in the playoff picture. The Lady Panthers’ playoff journey will begin on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. when they travel to West Mifflin High School to play #10 Brentwood. “We don’t know much about our opening round opponent, but we know us,” says head coach Geri Cummings. “We will be ready to compete next Thursday.” The coach is appreciative that the WPIAL committee put all four Section 2A-1 teams in different wings of the bracket and it gives everyone a chance…


Ellwood City Baseball, Softball Each Pick Up Shutout Victories Over Quaker Valley

The Wolverines baseball team improved to an impressive 10-1 record with a 7-0 shutout victory over Quaker Valley Friday. Aaron Lake twirled a complete game one-hitter, striking out 14 Quakers while only issuing two walks. Offensively, Jordan Keller swatted a pair of doubles and knocked in three runs for Ellwood City who exploded for five runs in the six inning. Geoffery Bokor also collected two hits in the victory. Bokor and Jacob Biskup each scored twice while Gino Biondi collected a double from his leadoff position in the lineup. Next up for the Wolverines (10-1 Overall, 5-1 Section 3A-1) is…


Wolverines Rout Riverside 11-0, Stays Unbeaten

Aaron Lake drove in four runs on two hits to lead Ellwood City (5-0 Overall) past Riverside 11-0 in six innings on Monday afternoon at Sanders Field. Lake doubled in the first inning, scoring two runs and smacked a 2-run home run to left field in the sixth inning. Lake also dazzled on the mound, striking out 10 batters on the day surrendering only two hits and walking four. Ellwood City got on the board in the bottom of the first inning after the Lake 2-run double and Cameron Mills grounded out, scoring one run. The Wolverines added two more…


PERFECTION: Hare Tosses Perfect Game, Panthers Claim WPIAL Championship

The Riverside Panthers are WPIAL Champions once again behind historic pitching perfection. Senior Zach Hare tossed a perfect game Thursday evening to lead the Riverside Panthers to a 1-0 victory over Quaker Valley to claim its WPIAL Class 3A Championship. The 15-strikeout, no hit, no walk performance capped a legendary postseason run by the Slippery Rock University commit. Hare’s 2025 WPIAL playoffs stat sheet – four appearances, three wins, 24.1 innings pitched, ZERO hits, 42 strikeouts, and only five walks. His gem Thursday is reported to be the first perfect game in modern WPIAL Championship Game history. I’ve only been…


Riverside Ousts South Park In 12 Innings, Advances To WPIAL Championship

In a monumental pitching dual, the Riverside Panthers outlasted South Park in extra innings Friday evening to advance to the WPIAL Class 3A Championship Game for a third consecutive year. The Panthers earned a 1-0 walk-off victory compliments of a Jackson Barber single in the bottom of the 12th inning. In the 12th inning, Hunter Garvin and Zach Hare walked before a ground ball by Drake Fox forced an error and loaded the bases with no outs. South Park was able to settle down and get two outs before Barber singled to right field for the game winning RBI. For…


Riverside Cruises Past Burrell, Ellwood City Knocked Off By Mohawk

There will be no Riv-Ell WPIAL Championship game in 2025 as Ellwood City was knocked off by #11 seed Mohawk in the WPIAL Class 3A Quarterfinals on Tuesday. Top-seeded Riverside cruised to an 11-0 victory over Burrell advancing to the semifinals to face South Park on Wednesday at Plum High School at 4:00 p.m. RIVERSIDE 11 BURRELL 0 Hunter Garvin drove in five runs on two hits to lead Riverside past the Burrell Bucs 11-0 on Tuesday. Hunter Garvin hit a grand slam in the fifth inning, scoring four runs, and doubled in the fourth inning, scoring one. Zack Hare…


PLAYOFFS! All Four Local Teams Qualify For Baseball/Softball WPIAL Playoffs

CLASS 3A BASEBALL Top overall seed Riverside (13-2, 9-1 Section 1) will look to collect yet another WPIAL title behind winningest coach in WPIAL history, Dan Oliastro, with its opening round game Tuesday at Seneca Valley HS. The Panthers await the winner of #16 Shady Side Academy and #17 McGuffey who play Monday. The top seeded Panthers are led by a trio of outstanding pitchers, Zach Hare (5-0, 1.41 ERA, 61 strikeouts), Christian Lucarelli (4-1, 1.41, 54 strikeouts) and Hunter Garvin, and an offense that averaged over nine runs per game. Hare is also hitting .423 to go along with…


Ten Wolverines Collect Hits, Ellwood City Routs Sto-Rox

Ten Ellwood City Wolverines collected hits Monday afternoon, and 14 different players reached based as Ellwood City routed visiting Sto-Rox 23-1 at Sanders Field in Ewing Park. Jordan Keller smashed two homeruns, both in an 11-run Ellwood City fourth inning that induced the mercy rule. Ellwood City scored three runs in the first inning, four in the second inning and five in the third before erupting in the fourth inning. In the third inning, Jacob Biskup hit a solo home run to left field, Will Nardone singled, scoring two runs, and Gino Biondi singled, scoring two runs. The Wolverines scored…


Hare, Panthers Defeat Wolverines at SRU To Even Season Series

After a series of weather induced rescheduled affairs, the Riverside Panthers and Ellwood City Wolverines found themselves at Jack Critchfield Park on the grounds of Slippery Rock University Friday evening for a WPIAL section tilt. The Panthers came away with a 9-5 victory behind Zach Hare to even the season series with the Wolverines. Ellwood City shutout Riverside earlier in the week. On Friday, Zach Hare slugged two homeruns at the plate and tossed five innings on the rubber to lead the Panthers. Hare led off the scoring for the visiting Panthers as he homered to left field in the…