Fans who purchased tickets to Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 3A championship game between Riverside and Avonworth were treated to two games for the price of one.
In what is believed to be the longest championship game in WPIAL history, the Panthers and Antelopes traded blows for more than four hours before No. 7 Avonworth (16-8) finally prevailed in 14 innings to claim an unforgettable 4-3 victory. The defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A champion, No. 1 Riverside entered the game with only one loss over the past two seasons while holding a record of 41-1 during that span. The Antelopes, on the other hand, hadn’t won a WPIAL title since 1992, but they can kiss that drought goodbye now.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Avonworth second-year coach Jeff Bywalski. “Who would have thought it would take 14 innings? I can’t say enough about the group of guys I coach. … I told them [when I got here], I said, ‘Guys, I’m not here to win section titles. I’m not here to get to the semifinals. We’ve got to win a WPIAL title.’
“Those guys bought in, they believed, and here we are.”
Sophomore Cooper Scharding earned the win after tossing 7â…“ scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out nine in a gutsy performance. Senior Aidan Tinker started the game and allowed three runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts in 6â…” innings. Scharding also went 1 for 5 at the plate with two walks and a run scored.
“It feels amazing,” Scharding said. “All the seniors are like my best friends, so I just wanted to do it for them.”
Senior Luke Zelinko began the year as a pitcher, but Bywalski converted him to a designated hitter in midseason, and the move paid off when it mattered most. Zelinko went 2 for 7 and drove in a pair of runs — none bigger than the game-winning RBI on a two-out single in the top of the 14th inning.
“It definitely feels insane,” Zelinko said. “I’ve never competed in a game that long in my life. And getting that final hit to go ahead, I knew we were going to win from that point on.”
For the Panthers (16-2), Duke recruit Christian Lucarelli pitched 3â…” innings and allowed two runs on four hits and five walks while striking out seven. Zach Hare then pitched 7â…“ innings of relief while allowing one run and punching out 10, while Hunter Garvin pitched three innings and allowed one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
“The guys that threw against us were very good, too. Don’t get me wrong,” Bywalski said. “But guess what? I’ll take my two guys.”
Lucarelli surrendered a double into the gap by Jack Dolan with one out in the top of the first inning, but he then made a great play fielding a bouncer back to the mound to throw Dolan out at the plate, followed by an inning-ending strikeout. Tinker then stranded Garvin on third to keep the game scoreless after Garvin blasted a two-out double to the base of the wall in center field.
Riverside then strung together a trio of singles in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead, as Bowser brought home Darren McDade with a sharp liner to center. The one-run cushion held up until the top of the fourth, when the Antelopes brought home a pair on an RBI single by Alex Rowe followed by a bases-loaded walk drawn by Jack Dolan. Lucarelli seemingly lost control of his pitches during the inning, prompting longtime coach Dan Oliastro to replace him with Hare.
A Slippery Rock recruit, Hare then stranded the bases loaded with a key strikeout of No. 3 hitter Ben Barnes after entering the game with a 1-0 count.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers struck back to even the score after a leadoff triple by McDade, who came home to score on a dropped liner to short. But Avonworth then responded with a two-out single by Zelinko in the top of the fifth to bring Mason Metz home for the go-ahead run.
Riverside put runners on first and third in the bottom of the sixth, but Tinker escaped with the one-run lead intact after a strikeout followed by an inning-ending flyout. Oliastro then used Sean Hayes as a pinch-hitter for Bo Fornotaro to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and Hayes was hit by the first pitch he saw. Then, after laying down a sacrifice bunt, Ashton Schlosser collided with Antelopes first baseman Carson Franc, prompting Hayes to try to advance to third base. Franc then fired a strike to third while lying flat on his back to turn an incredible double play.
With the Panthers down to their final out, Garvin singled to keep their hopes alive, followed by a throwing error to put runners on first and second. Drake Fox then delivered a clutch game-tying single to send the Riverside faithful into a frenzy.
The Panthers had a chance to win it, but Scharding came into the game to relieve Tinker and promptly struck out McDade to send the game to extras — and he was just getting started.
“The moment doesn’t get to him. He just keeps going and going,” Bywalski said. “I’ll be honest — he thrives in those positions. That’s why I went with Tinker first and [Scharding] second, because I felt like later in the game, [Scharding] is the guy who can really finish it up for us. And he did.”
Both teams squandered several chances to score over the next six innings, as the game remaining deadlocked, 3-3, until the top of the 14th. That’s when Metz belted a single for his second hit of the game, setting the stage for Zelinko’s heroics.
After Zelinko brought Metz home with a two-out RBI single to deliver the go-ahead run, Scharding retired the Panthers in order in the bottom of the 14th, with Ryan Hetcko cathing the final out on a pop-up to first base to set off a wild celebration in the infield.
“I heard a lot of people yelling different things from the crowd. Obviously, they wanted me to drop it,” Hetcko said. “It’s a great story to tell when we’re 50. We’ll talk about this one forever.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
