Riverside wins another duel with South Park to reach Class 3A state finals
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Tuesday, June 10, 2025 | 5:29 PM
Riverside pitcher Christian Lucarelli celebrates after getting out of a jam against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Dylan Meyer celebrates after driving in a run with a single against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Huner Garvin scores past South Park catcher Ryan Spitznagel during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Zach Hare singles against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Zach Hare pumps up the dugout after his single against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Dylan Meyer celebrates after driving in a run against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s Dylan Meyer drives in Zach Hare during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal against South Park on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
Riverside pitcher Christian Lucarelli delivers against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside pitcher Christian Lucarelli celebrates after getting an out against South Park during the sixth inning of their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s John Bowser scores against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside’s John Bowser scores under South Park catcher Ryan Spitznagel and pitcher Cooper Hochendoner during their PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday at Seneca Valley.
Riverside shortstop Dylan Meyer pumps his fist after turning a double play against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
South Park pitcher Cooper Hochendoner delivers against Riverside during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
South Park’s Cooper Hochendoner scores against Riverside during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
Riverside pitcher Christian Lucarelli pumps his fist after getting a strikeout against South Park during their PIAA Class 3A state semifinal on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Seneca Valley.
When Riverside defeated South Park 1-0 in 12 innings in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals, the Eagles hoped for another opportunity to face the Panthers in the PIAA playoffs, while Riverside expected the possibility of another game between the two teams.
Opportunity and possibility became reality Tuesday afternoon at Seneca Valley as the Panthers and Eagles met, albeit a day after originally scheduled, to see who would represent the WPIAL and the western half of the state in the PIAA title game Thursday at Penn State University.
Riverside rode the gritty pitching of Christian Lucarelli and just enough offense with runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings for a 4-1 victory to set up a finals clash with District 4 champion Mt. Carmel at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
“(A state title) is the goal,” Panthers coach Dan Oliastro said. “That is the only goal we haven’t fulfilled yet. We want to check that one off. The guys are excited. They are ready to get up there and go after the title.”
Riverside (20-2) returns to Penn State hoping for its second PIAA title in three seasons. The Panthers won it all in Class 3A in 2023 with a 4-0 win over Camp Hill.
Lucarelli won for the second time in the state playoffs. He allowed just three hits in shutting out Huntingdon, 9-0, in the PIAA first round June 2.
On Tuesday, he reached the pitch limit but completed six innings, giving up three hits while walking two and striking out six.
“We got a great performance out of Christian,” Oliastro said. “He had velocity on his fastball. He’s coming back from an injury. Against Huntingdon, he pitched well but didn’t have a lot of velocity. He had the velocity today, and his other pitches were working for him. It was a really gutty performance. We had to get five innings out of him, and he gave us six.”
Hunter Garvin came on for the Panthers to earn the save. He struck out the first two South Park batters he faced in the top of the seventh before surrendering singles to Keegan Fekety and Nolan Oliphant, the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters in the Eagles lineup.
However, the Eagles, who rallied from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Quaker Valley in the quarterfinals at Plum last Thursday, were not able to come back this time around.
Garvin induced a grounder to second off the bat of Cooper Hochendoner to end the game and South Park’s hopes of making it to Penn State.
“Hunter is a good closer for us,” Oliastro said. “It was nice to have a couple runs (lead) there where we weren’t worried too much.”
South Park was trying to reach the state title game for the first time since 2017 when it fell to Dallas, 5-0, in the Class 4A final.
The Eagles capped their season at 17-8.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” South Park coach Corey Fischer said. “We lost in the WPIAL (semifinal), and some teams, when they lose in the district, go into the state playoffs not really caring. I told them that is not what we’re doing. We’re here every game hoping to do the things to ultimately win gold. For the last month, the practices might have been our best of the season. The guys played for each other. It’s been a 21-player team effort.”
Hochendoner got the call for South Park on Tuesday. He won the Eagles’ PIAA opener against District 6 champ Forest Hills and struck out 14 Riverside batters through 9⅓ scoreless innings in the WPIAL semifinal.
On Tuesday, he struck out seven, walked two, gave up just five hits and surrendered two earned runs.
“I was so proud of Cooper and the way he pitched,” Fischer said. “He’s the best pitcher in the state. What he goes through pitching on short rest and everything else, he’s phenomenal. He gave us everything he had today.”
Riverside scored the game-deciding runs in the bottom of the fourth with a little controversy mixed in.
Garvin and Zach Hare both singled to lead off the inning and moved up 90 feet on a throwing error by South Park catcher Ryan Pitznagel.
With one out, Drake Fox popped out to foul territory down the first base line.
Both Garvin and Hare tagged up and started off their respective bases. Hare was about 15 feet from third as South Park players brought the ball in. On a throw to second, Garvin broke for home and beat a throw to the plate to make it 2-1 while Hare reached third.
Fischer protested, feeling Hare hadn’t tagged up at second. The umpire at second said he did tag up and ruled him safe.
“The umpire said (Hare) was on the bag when my first baseman caught the ball,” Fischer said. “My question was did he go back and touch the bag or was he on the bag, and he said he was on the bag.”
Dylan Meyer then singled Hare home to make it 3-1.
A pair of South Park errors in the bottom of the fifth allowed Riverside to scored an insurance run for a 4-1 lead.
“The bottom line when you are playing a team like Riverside who is the best team in the state and who has earned that title, you just can’t make mistakes and give them extra baserunners,” Fischer said. “We weren’t perfect today defensively, gave them a few runs and didn’t hit well enough to win.”
The Panthers got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Hare led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and tagged up to third on a pop out by Fox in foul territory down the first base line.
Hare then scored on a Meyer’s first RBI single of the game.
“It’s just amazing to be able to contribute the way I did and help get my team to the state title game,” Meyer said.
Riverside’s pitching and defense came into the game having not allowed a run in 44 innings since surrendering three in the top of the first of their WPIAL first-round game against Shady Side Academy.
South Park got a runner to third in the first and had one reach second in the second but couldn’t score either time.
The Eagles broke through in the third.
Hochendoner helped himself with a leadoff single before stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch.
He then beat a throw home on a sacrifice fly to right from William Hayes with two outs to tie the game 1-1.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
Tags: Riverside, South Park
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