Softball Regionals: Northridge, Bethany Ousted From Tourney
The Northridge and Bethany Christian softball teams saw their seasons end Tuesday night with a pair of lopsided losses in regional play.
The Raiders dropped a 13-0 final in five innings to No. 1 ranked Penn in a Class 4-A contest in Middlebury.
The Bruins lost 16-3 to South Central in five innings in a Class 1-A game at Bethany Christian.
Penn, which was state runner-up a year ago and is ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps, overwhelmed the Raiders for the second time this season to win its third straight regional championship.
Senior pitcher Danielle Watson fired a three-hitter to pace Penn to the win. The Louisville recruit recorded all 15 outs by strikeout in another dominating performance. Watson also had two hits and two RBI as Penn improved to 27-1 on the season.
Watson fired a no-hitter during a 10-0 win over the Raiders in the regular season with 12 strikeouts and one walk. She has five no-hitters this season and 16 total in her brilliant prep career. Watson, who is 20-1 this season, has 254 strikeouts and 32 walks.
Senior Katie Quinlan, who will play next season at Michigan State, cracked a grand slam homer to lead the 15-hit attack for the Kingsmen. Penn scored a pair in the first, followed by five in the second and six more in the third.
Jessica Buckley also homered for coach Beth Zachary’s loaded Penn squad. Buckley, along with Maddy Newman and Mackenzie Griman each had two hits. Griman scored three runs and Lexi Clay had two RBI.
The Kingsmen have four Division I players as both Watson and Newman are bound for Louisville next season and Quinlan is headed to Michigan State. Sophomore Griman, who leads the state in RBI with 61 and has smacked a Penn single-season record nine home runs this year, has already committed to Butler.
Sami Deisler had two hits for the Raiders. Allison Hosteler took the pitching loss.
Northridge ends its season at 20-8.
Penn has won its last 10 games since a 1-0 loss in eight innings back on May 6 in the first game of a twin bill at Oak Park River Forest, the 2016 Illinois state champion. The Kingsmen won the second game that day 18-4 to snap Oak Park’s 46-game winning streak.
Penn will meet No. 2 Crown Point (27-2) Saturday in the Class 4-A Harrison (West Lafayette) Semistate. The two teams were scheduled to meet during the regular season, but the clash was rained out. Crown Point checks in at No. 21 in the national MaxPreps poll.
South Central claimed its third straight regional title at Bethany. Skyler Wildfong drove in four runs to pace the champions. South Central scored five runs in the first inning and 11 more in the second frame.
Faith Boggs and Jessica Gilmore each scored three runs for the Satellites. Savannah Becker was the winning pitcher.
Bailey Hanton had two singles and an RBI to lead Bethany Christian.
The Bruins, who claimed just the second sectional title in program history this season, finish at 6-18. Bethany Christian won just a pair of games a season ago before winning its own sectional title this year, its first since 1999.
South Central, now 19-7, advances to the Frankfort Semistate on Saturday.