SOUTH BEND — The Penn High School softball team can win games in a multitude of ways.
The Kingsmen proved that in emphatic fashion Tuesday, May 19 to turn back host South Bend Saint Joseph.
The Class 4A No. 3 Kingsmen put an exclamation point on another Northern Indiana Conference title by blanking the Class 3A No. 11 Huskies 4-0 in league play.
Penn used the combination of small ball, high IQ baserunning and a strong pitching performance by ace hurler Caitlyn Denny to turn back the Huskies in a clash of two of the area’s top teams and perennial powers.
Senior Denny fired a three-hitter with nine strikeouts in the circle as Penn improved to 21-3 overall and moved to 11-0 in league play. The Kingsmen officially claimed the NIC crown last week due to potential tiebreaker criteria over second place Elkhart, but Penn put a stamp on the championship Tuesday night.
The Huskies, who have won eight of their last 10 games, dropped to 16-7 overall and moved to 7-4 in conference action. St. Joe, now 11-4 at home, has outscored its opponents 177-58. The two teams meet again to close out conference play Thursday night.
Penn coach Beth Zachary’s team, which has now outscored its foes 205-70, looks ready for another lengthy postseason push.
“We have a standard of excellence that we expect to win championships,” said coach Zachary, who guided Penn to a Class 4A state title in 2023. “We never take winning a championship for granted.”
Zachary’s team will host Michigan power Lakeshore Friday night for a twin-bill in the regular-season finale to prepare for tournament play next week. Penn hosts a sectional this year and will face NIC foe South Bend Riley on May 27 at 6 p.m.
“This is why our schedule is the way it is,” Zachary pointed out. “It’s intentional. We want to play these really good teams late in the season going into the state tournament. It prepares us every year. I think this win tonight was a testament to our schedule.”
Penn’s three losses this season are to Class 4A No. 1 Lake Central, Class 4A No. 2 Crown Point and Daviess County out of Kentucky. The Kingsmen were coming off a thrilling 2-1 win in eight innings at home Friday night over Class 4A power Fort Wayne Carroll. The loss was the first of the season for Carroll, who was ranked No. 4 in Class 4A in this week’s poll.
The Kingsmen took advantage of a leadoff walk to cleanup hitter Easton Masten, a couple of fine bunts by Addison Bogunia and Kaiya Garringer and a pair of physical errors and two mental mistakes in the second frame by St. Joe to take a 2-0 lead. The Huskies had a pair of Penn runners in rundowns in the inning and allowed each to reach the next base safely, including one to score on an errant throw.
“We play the game fast and we have athletic kids with speed and good heads on their shoulders,” Zachary explained. “We practice what you saw tonight, both offensively and defensively.”
Penn made it 3-0 with a single run in the top of the fifth on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Bogunia. The Kingsmen stole another run in the final frame as Masten drew a two-out walk, then smartly got in a rundown between first and second that allowed Logan Rumble to race home from third.
The Huskies had their best scoring chance in the fifth inning. They got a single and a walk before Denny recorded a pair of punchouts looking with a popout to second sandwiched in between.
Denny allowed three singles to go with her nine strikeouts and three walks.
“I’ve done well in pressure situations, and it means a lot to me that coach trusts me,” Denny said. “She trusts me to trust my defense and I do. I just needed to slow down there and let my defense work if I needed them to. That trust in them helps me know that I can throw hittable pitches. I don’t need to try and strike out everyone.”
Zachary, herself a former prep state champion pitcher, displayed confidence in her ace.
“I have complete faith in Caitlyn out there,” Zachary emphasized. “She looks at me and I tell her something and she nods her head, resets and is good to go. I don’t need to go out there to talk to her. The game is hers. She’s calm, cool and collected. It’s also the power of having a senior catcher too in Phoebe Wood back there for us.”
St. Joe coach Earl Keith, whose program won a Class 3A state title in 2022, knows that his team is right there with the top teams.
“We’re playing the good teams hard and showing we can play with anyone,” noted Keith, whose team has just two seniors. “We just can’t get over the hump right now to win one of these games. We were right there tonight. You just can’t give Penn three unearned runs like we did and think you will beat them. They are just too good to do that.”
St. Joe also had a pair of runners thrown out on the bases, including one trying to steal third base for the final out of the contest.
The Huskies, who finished 12-15 overall with a loss to John Glenn in the sectional in 2025, play at Penn Thursday, at Concord Friday night and host Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger for a pair on Saturday. St. Joe faces rival Mishawaka Marian on May 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the Class 3A Plymouth Sectional.
Losing pitcher Bella Esquibel, a junior, allowed six hits with two strikeouts and four walks. She got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn softball showcases skill set in NIC win over Saint Joseph
Reporting by Scott Davidson, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
