Softball notes: Penn, South Bend Saint Joseph post impressive weekend victories

It was some weekend for the Penn and Saint Joseph softball squads.

Both teams, the best in the area and a pair of the top squads statewide, turned in some impressive performances.

The pair of Northern Indiana Conference powerhouses each picked up noteworthy wins on the road. Penn played in the loaded field at the Carmel Invitational, while the Indians dominated the competition at the first annual Kokomo Tournament.

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Penn, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, beat Class 4A No. 15 Brownsburg 6-5 in eight innings. Star senior Kiley Hinton, who is bound for Austin Peay, cracked a two-run homer in the seventh to tie the game. Sophomore Shannon Rudge then delivered the game winner with a perfect squeeze bunt in the eighth frame.

Standout sophomore Ava Zachary led the Penn offense with three hits and two runs. Her junior sister Aubrey Zachary, who has committed to Purdue Fort Wayne, gutted out the win in the circle. Aubrey was second team All-State a year ago and team MVP for the Kingsmen.

The Kingsmen then knocked off Class 4A No. 1 and two-time defending state champion Roncalli 13-3 in five innings. It was Roncalli's most lopsided loss since a 10-0 setback vs. New Palestine on April 28, 2018.

Standout sophomore Peyton Dwigans slugged a pair of homers and drove in four runs and Hinton had four hits as Penn piled up 17 hits to rally from an early 3-0 deficit. Junior Sarah Gentry got the pitching win.

Roncalli, which went 64-2 the past two seasons, dropped to 9-2-1 with the loss. Senior Keegan Rothrock, a Florida recruit and the top player in the Class of 2023 nationally, did not pitch for Roncalli versus Penn. Rothrock was 28-0 last year for her 33-0 team with a 0.70 ERA. She allowed 17 earned runs in 170.1 innings pitched with 18 walks and 382 strikeouts. Rothrock committed to Florida in seventh grade.

"It would have been nice to see her (Rothrock), but we were thrilled to play them," said Penn coach Beth Zachary via text about the win over Roncalli. "Their team around her is so strong and to beat them was still a huge win. We went offense to offense and did our job.

"The Brownsburg game was a battle all the way through. It was good to see Aubs (Aubrey Zachary) battle in that one and finish it."

Penn had lost 6-0 to Roncalli a season ago in a game that Rothrock fired a no hitter with 21 strikeouts and one walk.

The Kingsmen finished 21-10 overall and 11-0 in the NIC a year ago with a team with no seniors. Penn lost in the Class 4A semistate title game in 2022.

Penn improved to 9-3-1 overall with the Saturday showing versus a loaded schedule. The Kingsmen, who won the NIC title in 2022, were 4-0 prior to a league game at unbeaten Adams Monday night.

Penn is slated to host Concord Tuesday, NIC foe Clay Wednesday and Edwardsburg Thursday.

South Bend Saint Joseph in the swing of things

The South Bend Saint Joseph bats were booming down Kokomo way Saturday.

Class 4A No. 13 Saint Joseph dominated three foes by a combined score of 39-8 to reign supreme as champions.

Coach Earl Keith's undefeated squad, which won the Class 3A state title in 2022 and was moved up this year to 4A due to the IHSAA success factor, beat Class 3A No. 8 Franklin County 11-0 Friday night.

Saint Joe then crushed Caston 17-8 Saturday as the offense belted six homers. Junior star Riley Zache, who set the program record last year with 10 roundtrippers, hit three in the win.

Saint Joe belted Huntington North 11-0 in five innings in the title game. Riley Zache swatted two more homers to give her six this spring. Sophomore star pitcher Berkley Zache fired a no hitter with 13 strikeouts.

Berkley, who was 17-1 last year, was recently named to the watch list for the USA Today HSSA Softball Player of the Year nationally.

Riley Zache batted .750 in the tourney with 13 RBI to go with her five homers. Berkley Zache collected two wins and a save in the three wins, working 15 innings with 40 strikeouts,

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"It was a solid tournament for us," Saint Joe coach Earl Keith said via text. "Everyone was hitting for us. We had 20 hits against Caston and 15 against Huntington. The chemistry on this team is great."

After graduating just two seniors from last year's 28-3 team, Saint Joe has seven seniors this time around, and are 9-0 after the weekend with a 99-14 scoring margin. Saint Joe is had a 3-0 NIC record heading into a home league game versus Bremen Monday night, and also hosts NIC foe Adams Wednesday.

A battle with Penn looms on May 8 at Saint Joe Fields in what will be the NIC title game barring a major upset prior to then. Penn topped Saint Joseph 5-1 last year at Penn.

Cavemen looking good

Mishawaka is off to a nice start in its quest for a conference championship.

The Cavemen picked up a key Northern Lakes Conference road win at Goshen by a 7-5 count Friday night. Leah Dawson led the way with a two-run homer and a key RBI double in the final frame for Mishawaka. Senior Dawson will play at IUSB next year.

Coach Brian Miller's team, which was NLC runner up in 2022 to Northridge, led the league at 3-0 after the win at Goshen. The Cavemen also beat Plymouth (8-4) and Wawasee (4-1) to open league play.

"We're off to a nice start in the NLC," said Miller, the long time and very successful Cavemen coach. "It's a much improved league this year from top to bottom. Very balanced."

Mishawaka stood at 5-3 overall prior to an NLC game at Concord Monday night. The Cavemen have lost to St. Joe (11-0), Clay (1-0) and Edwardsburg (9-5). Mishawaka is slated to host NorthWood Wednesday and Northridge Friday in NLC action at Baker Park.

The Cavemen went 14-9 overall and 10-2 in the NLC in 2022 with a team with no seniors.

Mishawaka is slated to host a 4A sectional, which will include St. Joe this year.

State tourney draw set for Sunday

The pairings for the state tournament series will be drawn on Sunday, April 30, at 7 p.m. by the IHSAA.

Sectional play is slated for May 22-27 with area hosts including Mishawaka and Penn in Class 4A, along with Jimtown, NorthWood and Kankakee Valley in 3A, South Central in 2A and Westville and Lakewood Park Christian in 1A.

One game regionals are set for May 30 with four team semistates June 3. The four state title contests are scheduled for June 9-10 at Purdue University.

Conference standings

Northern Indiana Conference (through games of April 21)

Penn 4-0, St. Joe 3-0, Adams 3-0, Jimtown 3-1, New Prairie 2-1, Marian 2-2, Clay 2-2, Riley 1-2, Bremen 1-2, Washington 0-3, Glenn 0-4, Elkhart 0-4.

Northern Lakes Conference standings (through games of April 21)

Mishawaka 3-0, Concord 2-1, Plymouth 2-1, Goshen 1-2, Northridge 1-2, NorthWood 1-2, Warsaw 1-2, Wawasee 1-2.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn, Saint Joseph high school softball squads continue strong starts