PIAA Class 3A baseball championship game preview: Riverside vs. Mount Carmel

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 9:36 PM

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The PIAA has been deciding a champion in Class 3A baseball for nearly a half-century.

The first 3A baseball state champion was Hatboro-Horsham from District 1 in 1977.

The second winner in 1978 was Penn Hills from the WPIAL.

There have been 14 Class 3A state champs from the WPIAL and six from suburban Philadelphia’s District 1.

Riverside has been the most successful team in the state playoffs from District 7 as it tries to win a sixth PIAA title.

Here is a look at the second of six PIAA baseball championship games at Penn State that will take place Thursday afternoon.

Class 3A

Riverside (20-2) vs. Mount Carmel (20-4)

1:30 p.m. Thursday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State

Coaches: Dan Oliastro, Riverside; David Langton, Mount Carmel

Broadcast: Video on PCN-TV

Path to Penn State: Riverside defeated District 6 runner-up Huntingdon, 9-0, in the first round; WPIAL No. 4 Mohawk, 6-0, in the quarterfinals; WPIAL No. 3 South Park, 4-1, in the semifinals. … Mount Carmel knocked off District 2 champion Dunmore, 5-0, in the first round; District 3 runner-up Bermudian Springs, 3-1, in the quarterfinals; District 3 champion Berks Catholic, 4-3, in the semifinals.

District postseason: Riverside eliminated Shady Side Academy, 4-3 in the first round; Burrell, 11-0, in the quarterfinals; South Park, 1-0, in 12 innings in the semifinals; Quaker Valley, 1-0, in the WPIAL championship game. … Mount Carmel ousted Wellsboro, 6-3 in the quarterfinals; Troy, 4-0, in the semifinals; Hughesville, 1-0, in the District 4 championship game

Players to watch

Riverside: There has never been a run like the one Riverside senior pitcher Zach Hare has been on this postseason. The Slippery Rock commit and likely 3A state title game starter for the Panthers has not allowed a hit in his last 31⅓ innings pitched, including complete game no-hitters in the WPIAL finals (a perfect game vs. Quaker Valley) and in the PIAA quarterfinal win over Mohawk. Senior pitcher Christian Lucarelli was the winning pitcher for Riverside in the PIAA opening round and again in the semifinals, while senior Hunter Garvin picked up the save in the state semifinal victory over South Park. On offense, Garvin is batting .448 with two homers and 24 RBIs while Hare is hitting .417 with four home runs and 26 RBIs. Sophomore Dylan Meyer is batting .409 with 22 RBIs.

Mount Carmel

Red Tornadoes junior Lukas Carpenter has been a force at the plate and on the mound. He is batting .441 (30 for 68) with two home runs and 13 RBIs. The likely starter for Mount Carmel is 6-0 with a 1.48 ERA for the season. Carpenter was 2 for 4 with an RBI as Mount Carmel scored three runs in the last two innings to come back and beat Berks Catholic in the state semifinals, 4-3. Drew Yagodzinski struck out 11 in earning a complete game victory over Berks Catholic, improving to 7-1 this year with a 1.29 ERA. Senior Jon Morgante is batting .421 for Mount Carmel and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 20.

Streaks: Riverside has won 11 straight games since losing to 5A power Bethel Park in 11 innings, 2-1, on April 17. … Mount Carmel has won seven games in a row since suffering a loss to Southern Columbia in eight innings, 2-1, on May 12.

Quotable: “Our trip to Penn State means the world to us,” Riverside senior pitcher Zach Hare said. “Ever since our sophomore year when we made it, that’s what we (seniors) dreamed of. We knew how hard it would be and how many sacrifices we would make and how everyone had to be all in. We have come so far, so this game means everything for us. For us seniors, it will be the last time we play together on the same field. For some, it will be the last baseball game they play. I am nervous going into this game but very excited at the same time. I am just going to go out there and pitch no differently than any other start and do my best for my teammates.”

Factoids

• Riverside is 30-7 all-time in the PIAA baseball playoffs in 13 appearances. The Panthers have reached the PIAA baseball championship game six times and are a perfect 5-0 in the state finals. They beat Halifax in the 2005 finals, 8-0. They repeated in 2006 by beating Montoursville, 7-4. Riverside won it all in 2011 with a victory over Salisbury Township, 5-2. A year later they went back-to-back again by beating Pine Grove in the 2012 title game, 5-4. Then two years ago, they blanked Camp Hill in the 2023 finals, 4-0.

• Mount Carmel has a 4-1 record in the PIAA playoffs all-time and this is the first time it has played for a state baseball championship.

• Riverside has been dominant on the mound this postseason. The Panthers edged Shady Side Academy in the first round of the district playoffs, 4-3. Since then, they had five consecutive shutouts before South Park scored a run in the state semifinals. So far this postseason, in seven wins, Riverside has outscored its opponents, 36-4.

• The Red Tornadoes never qualified for a PIAA baseball postseason prior to last season. In their first state playoffs games last spring, they defeated Mid-Valley, 4-1, before falling in the quarterfinals to Trinity out of the WPIAL, 7-1.

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