Senior pitcher
Zach Hare of
Riverside (Ellwood City, Pa.) set what is believed to be a high school baseball national record by piling up 31 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a hit in the postseason.
Although six pitchers have thrown more no-hit innings, Hare has the longest such streak in postseason play.
In his most recent outing Thursday, Hare tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing three walks while striking out 13 batters in a 6-0 victory over Mohawk Area (Bessemer) in the PIAA Class 3A state quarterfinals.
Zach Hare has a career ERA of 0.78 with a 20-1 record and 226 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched. (FILE PHOTO: James Gregio)
In the WPIAL Class 3A title game May 28, he recorded 15 strikeouts in a perfect game to give the Panthers a 1-0 win against Quaker Valley (Leetsdale).
His impressive no-hitter streak spans five postseason games. During that time he has 55 strikeouts with eight walks and zero runs allowed.
On the season, the ace pitcher has a 9-0 record in 12 starts with a 0.74 ERA, 0.434 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 66 innings which is good for a 17.32 K/9.
Committed to continue his playing career at Slippery Rock University, the 6-foot-3 standout also plays first base and leads the team in home runs with four. He boasts a .400 batting average with 16 runs and 28 hits in 70 at bats.
At 81 years of age, head coach Dan Oliastro recently won his record-setting seventh WPIAL championship in his 57th year at the helm. Riverside is currently ranked No. 2 in Pennsylvania according to MaxPreps computer rankings.
Riverside (19-2) faces South Park in the Class 3A state semifinals Monday with a potential state championship game to follow Thursday.
Hare's streak is believed to be the seventh longest streak in high school baseball history overall:
45 — Chis Tarranto, Notre Dame (Biloxi, Miss.) 1961
38 — Tom Murray, St. Bernard (Conn.) 1968-1969
35 — Colt Molloy, Memphis (Texas) 2007
34 2/3 — Tom Engle, Fairfield (Ohio) 1989
34 1/2 — Keith Atherton, Matthew (Va.) 1977
34 — Byron Randolph, Winters (Callif.) 1963
