Before Knoch threw its first pitch of the season, the Knights had to change pitchers.

“I guess I should have recognized that as a bad omen,” first-year Knoch coach Sean O'Donnell said of Wednesday night's season-opening 5-4 baseball loss to Riverside at Kelly Automotive Park.

Senior Brandon Kowalski was on the mound taking his warm-up tosses to begin the top of the first inning when he came up lame. He aggravated an old hip flexor injury.

Sophomore Jack Bartek took his place on the hill, pitched the first four innings and left with a 4-3 lead against the defending WPIAL Class AA champions.

“Jack was going to pitch at some point tonight. He just didn't think it'd be that soon,” O'Donnell said. “Throwing a sophomore into a situation like that was tough.

“But he did great. I'm proud of him.”

Riverside (2-1) returns six starters from last year's 22-3 championship team. The Panthers took advantage of three walks, a hit batsman and wild pitch to score twice without a hit in the top of the sixth. They held on for the 5-4 win.

“Things got a little sloppy tonight for both teams,” Riverside coach Dan Oliastro said. “We were fortunate to scratch out a win.”

Ty Thellman got the win in relief, limiting Knoch to two singles over the final three innings. Jake Herrit took the loss for the Knights despite allowing just two hits in the final three frames himself.

“Jake wasn't missing the plate by much,” O'Donnell said. “It's not like he was all over the place. He was missing by inches.

“It's just one of those things. I'm encouraged by the way we played against an outstanding opponent.”

The Knights overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three times in the second inning. No. 9 hitter Alex Altmire drilled a two-run single to center and Mike McCarty delivered a two-out RBI double to left.

After Riverside knotted the game with single tallies in the third and fourth innings, Knoch regained the lead in its half of the fourth. Altmire walked, moved up on a Herrit single and scored on a wild pitch.

Cristian Cicchinelli started on the mound for Riverside and worked four innings. He struck out six, walked five and was removed after 90 pitches.

“ It looked like he wasn't getting many calls,” Oliastro said. “With the new pitch-count rule, umpires were supposed to be calling a wider strike zone. That didn't happen tonight,

“Ninety pitches in four innings ... That's ridiculous.”

The teams combined to walk 13 batters on the night.

Thellman had two singles and Cicchinelli scored two runs for the Panthers. Derek McGill had a pair of singles for Knoch while Altmire reached base three times and scored twice.

“We hit a couple of tough spots tonight,” O'Donnell said. “But I like what I see in this team.”

Riverside 011 102 0 — 5 7 2

Knoch 030 100 0 — 4 7 0

W: Ty Thellman 3IP (1K, 1BB). L: Jake Herrit 2IP (3K, 3BB).

Riverside (2-1): Ricky Wass RBI, Ty Thellman 2-1B, Cristian Cicchinelli 2-1B 2-R, Gunnar Boehm 1B, Danny Fox 1B, Will Yasenka 1B RBI,

Knoch (0-1): Jake Herrit 1B, Mike McCarty 2B RBI, Dylan Swarmer 1B, Andy Pipes 1B, Derek McGill 2-1B, Alex Altmire 1B 2-RBI 2-R

Friday: Mars vs. Knoch, 4 p.m., Kelly Automotive Park