Hare Medal: Riverside pitcher throws perfect game vs. Quaker Valley in WPIAL 3A championship game

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | 6:54 PM

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Zach Hare was chasing a WPIAL title, while also knowing that folks were marveling at his no-hit streak.

The Riverside senior hadn’t allowed a hit in almost two weeks, a dominant stretch of pitching that upped the pressure Hare was feeling as he warmed up Wednesday for the finals. But his day couldn’t have gone any more perfectly.

“My heart was beating through my chest,” said Hare, who pitched a perfect game with 15 strikeouts, extending his unprecedented postseason run as top-seeded Riverside defeated No. 7 Quaker Valley, 1-0, in the WPIAL Class 3A final at EQT Park in Washington.

“There was a lot of talk about being on a no-hitter streak,” said the Slippery Rock-bound right-hander. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ There was a lot of pressure on me. I tried to use that adrenaline to my advantage.”

In the moments after the win, even longtime Riverside coach Dan Oliastro asked: “How many innings is it now?”

Twenty-four and one-third.

“That’s amazing,” Oliastro said. “And this one with no walks.”

Hare improved to 7-0 with a 0.83 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 59 innings. His dominance in the finals included an immaculate sixth inning, where he threw only nine pitches and struck out three batters.

He needed only 82 pitches in all — 62 strikes — to complete his perfect game.

“It’s almost supernatural,” Oliastro said.

The WPIAL title was the seventh overall and second in three seasons for Riverside (17-2), all under Oliastro, the team’s coach for 57 years. The victory made him the first coach with seven WPIAL baseball titles.

“That’s unbelievable,” Hare said. “We discussed that (record) as a team. He’s been doing this for years, so I knew that was going to mean a whole lot to him.”

Check out the highlights of tonight's PERFECT GAME to close out the #WPIAL Baseball Championships as Riverside claims it's 7th championship in program history.#HSSN pic.twitter.com/zx1rnJCumn

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 29, 2025

Riverside almost won Oliastro his seventh title a year ago. But the Panthers lost in the finals in 14 innings, a heartbreaking loss to Avonworth that Oliastro credited for inspiring this year’s success.

Hare agreed entirely.

“We know what getting gold is like in the WPIAL championship and the state championship,” said Hare, who won both titles as a sophomore. “We also knew what losing in the WPIAL championship felt like. This was our last one (as seniors). It was all or nothing.”

But this year’s final looked like it also was headed to extra innings until a two-out RBI single by Riverside’s Jackson Barber broke the scoreless tie in the sixth inning. His single to short scored Christian Lucarelli for the game’s only run. The Panthers had two hits and a walk in that inning off Quaker Valley reliever Ryan Finamore.

Riverside had only five hits in all.

Quakers starter Nolan Wagoner pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Finamore allowed one run on two hits in 1⅓ innings.

“I thought we played great baseball, but we had a little bit of a blip in that sixth inning, and it cost us a run,” Quaker Valley coach Rich Garbee said. “We weren’t getting to Zach anyway, so that was disappointing. … He was magnificent today.”

Barber, a junior who bats eighth, had a walk-off hit in the semifinals when Riverside won 1-0 in 12 innings.

Both teams advance to the state playoffs starting Monday, when Lucarelli could return to the mound for Riverside. The Duke recruit was shut down from pitching after the first round because of what Oliastro said was a sore arm.

The Panthers went from having two aces to one. Hare pitched in all four of Riverside’s playoff games, which became possible only when the semifinal was delayed two days by rain.

His no-hit streak began with 5⅓ innings at the end of his first-round relief outing. His last hit allowed was a double in the second inning against Shady Side Academy on May 15.

Hare then pitched a five-inning no-hitter in the quarterfinals to beat Burrell, threw seven no-hit innings in the semifinals against South Park and capped his WPIAL dominance with seven perfect innings in the finals.

His 15 strikeouts also tied for the most in recent WPIAL championship history.

Union’s Jake Vitale struck out 15 while throwing a no-hitter in 2021. Hare’s no-hitter was the sixth in the WPIAL finals since the games moved to Washington in 2003, but none of the others was a perfect game.

“I have no words for it,” Hare said. “I’m just beyond grateful to be in this situation, in the WPIAL championship, especially our senior year. To think that I had the opportunity to throw a perfect game, that’s the biggest blessing I could ever ask for.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Riverside