Riverside wins PIAA baseball title as pitcher Zach Hare makes history
Riverside High School's baseball team won the PIAA 3A Championship last week and its star pitcher made history in the process.
It was a milestone win for Riverside, but there's a lot more to the playoff run.
Riverside star pitcher Zach Hare set a new national record this past season for the most consecutive no-hit innings.
Hare, a Slippery Rock University recruit, racked up 36 & 1/3 consecutive no-hit innings en route to helping lead his team to the PIAA 3A title this year with a win over Mt. Carmel.
"It was one no hitter and I was like "Oh, that's cool" then another and another and I was like what's going on here," Hare said. "I went on Maxpreps and saw I beat a national record for postseason no hits and I was like 'Holy smokes.' So I'm still trying to take it all in because now that the season's over I can sit back and look back on it without having to worry about another game."
Hare went on to say he's still in disbelief about his pitching milestone, attributing part of the success to his defense, who made the plays necessary in the outfield to keep the streak alive and keep the team alive through its postseason run.
"When we pick our goals we try to be realistic and the kids all felt winning the state championship was realistic," said Riverside head coach Dan Oliastro."
Oliastro, 81, is in his 57th season as the head coach at Riverside and is now six for six in the PIAA title game. Oliastro's teams also won state championships in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, and 2023.
"People ask me about all the accolades," Oliastro said. "To me, it's the process. It's the day to day involvement with these kids."
Oliastro said there was one point in his career when he thought about leaving, but former players wouldn't let him.
"He heard that I was thinking about giving it up and he said 'Coach you can't quit,'" Oliastro said. "You don't believe how many kids you're touching and helping."
Oliastro says he still feels like a kid out on the diamond after more than five decades and that he doesn't really have a timeline on when, or if he'll walk away from the game.
"I'm still like a little kid," Oliastro said. "I'm still like a little kid in the backyard playing wiffle ball with my brother. I always talk to my agent. My agent never makes a mistake."
For Hare, Oliastro and Riverside, it was quite the end to a baseball season with a PIAA title and a new national record.
