2024 WPIAL Class 3A baseball championship preview: Riverside vs. Avonworth

By: Bill Hartlep
Monday, May 27, 2024 | 8:44 AM

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2024 WPIAL Class 3A baseball championship

No. 1 Riverside (16-1) vs. No. 7 Avonworth (15-8)

4 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park, Washington

On the air: Trib HSSN

How they got here: Riverside defeated No. 16 Keystone Oaks, 4-1; No. 9 South Park, 11-1; and No. 4 South Allegheny, 2-0. Avonworth beat No. 10 Greensburg Salem, 7-0; No. 15 East Allegheny, 5-4; and No. 14 Burrell, 2-1.

WPIAL titles: Riverside 6 (1996, 2006, ‘11, ‘16, ‘17, ‘23); Avonworth 1 (1992)

Coaches: Dan Oliastro, Riverside; Jeff Bywalski, Avonworth

Players to watch: Christian Lucarelli, Riverside; Hunter Blackson, Avonworth

Extra bases: The Panthers are the defending WPIAL and PIAA champs. Riverside won Section 1 with an 11-1 record. The Panthers average 9.5 runs per game, which is the seventh-highest total in the WPIAL behind Serra Catholic (10.7), Union (10.4), Fort Cherry (10.2), Eden Christian (10.2), Seton LaSalle (10.1) and Bishop Canevin (9.7). The Panthers had a 36-game winning streak end in a loss to Neshannock on April 30. Junior Zach Hare is 9-0 with a 0.67 ERA and 83 strikeouts. Hare also is batting .556 with 19 RBIs. Junior pitcher Christian Lucarelli is one of the state’s top hurlers. The 6-foot-3 righty who throws in the mid-90s is committed to Duke. He is 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 41 strikeouts. Junior Hunter Garvin is batting .467 with 24 RBIs and five homers. Coach Dan Oliastro, 80, is in his 56th season. … The Lopes got over the hump this season after falling in the WPIAL semifinals the past three years. Avonworth is looking for its first WPIAL title since 1992. The Lopes finished second in Section 2 at 8-2 and ended the regular season strong by sweeping Keystone Oaks and Steel Valley. Senior Hunter Blackson hit .473 during the regular season. Senior Aidan Tinker is the team’s top pitcher at 4-0 with a 0.86 ERA and 56 strikeouts. Junior Mason Metz, who has knocked in 15 runs, is a Division I prospect. Sophomore Jack Dolan is hitting near .400 with 15 RBIs, and sophomore Cooper Scharding is batting .344 with 16 RBIs. Coach Jeff Bywalski is in his second season leading the Lopes and guided them to an 18-7 mark last season.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Avonworth, Riverside