The NCAA News - News and Features

May 26, 1997

Pitcher shines as Vulcans grab II softball crown

Junior Danielle Penner of California (Pennsylvania), who did not allow an earned run in 35 tournament innings, scattered six hits over seven innings in the championship game and the Vulcans defeated Wisconsin-Parkside, 2-1, to win the Division II Women's Softball Championship.

The May 18 victory at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia, gave California a 5-0 tournament record and its first Division II softball title.

Parkside scored once in the top of the first inning after Kathy Kilsdonk reached on a error and scored on Billi Kapla's single with two out.

California, which finished 53-5, answered in the bottom of the third inning as Lith Webb scored on a single from Jennifer Valeriote.

Webb's aggressive sixth-inning base-running turned out to be the difference in the game. The junior reached on a fielder's choice, stole second base and scored on a Kerry Novak single, giving the Vulcans the game-winning run.

"Winning a first national championship at the college level is very exciting," said California coach Rick Bertagnolli. "Who would have thought we'd be playing here after the way we started the year? We'll cherish every moment of this."

Wisconsin-Parkside was led by third baseman Jackie Aiken, who finished the game two-for-three and posted a tournament batting average of .400, with 10 RBIs and three home runs.

"With a little better execution today, we thought maybe we could force two games, but it just wasn't mean to be," said Wisconsin-Parkside coach Tory Acheson. "(Penner) was a monster all week -- just incredible all week long. The way they are playing this week, they're the best team we've played all year."

Penner, Beth Clifford and Keri Weaver represented California on the all-tournament team. Wisconsin-Parkside selections were Kathy Kilsdonk, Wendy Wolff and Aiken. The other selections were UC Davis' Beth Clifford and Gena Weber, Kennesaw State's Kim O'Kelley, Nebraska-Kearney's Jill McCaslin, American International's Stacy Squires, and Holly Voss of Nebraska-Omaha.

Game No. 1

Kennesaw St. -- 000 -- 010 -- 0 -- 1 -- 4 -- 3

Wis.-Parkside -- 005 -- 011 -- x -- 7 -- 5 -- 2

Brenda Farrell, Natasha Johnson (6) and Kim O'Kelley; Wendy Wolff and Bobbi Kapla. HR -- Jessie Johnson (Wis.-Parkside), Jackie Aiken (Wis.-Parkside). W -- Wolff. L -- Farrell.

Game No. 2

Calif. (Pa.) -- 201 -- 010 -- 1 -- 5 -- 11 -- 1

Fla. Southern -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Danielle Penner and Dana Boyer; Lisa McNeley and Jennifer Potts. HR -- Lith Webb (Calif.), Kerry Novak (Calif.) W -- Penner. L -- McNeley.

Game No. 3

Neb.-Kearney -- 010 -- 000 -- 0 -- 1 -- 5 -- 0

Neb.-Omaha -- 000 -- 002 -- x -- 2 -- 6 -- 1

Tina McCaslin and Channon Hunt; Kelly Secord and Jessica Barrineau. Holly Voss (Neb.-Omaha). W -- Secord. L -- McCaslin.

Game No. 4

American Int'l. -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2 -- 1

UC Davis -- 000 -- 100 -- x -- 1 -- 5 -- 0

Ravella Gericke and Shana Perry; Gena Weber and Andorra Hamilton. W -- Weber. L -- Gericke.

Game No. 5

Fla. Southern -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 -- 3

Kennesaw St. -- 113 -- 1 -- 2 -- 8 -- 10 -- 0

Lisa McNeley, Julianne Coleman (5) and Jennifer Potts; Brenda Farrell and Kim O'Kelley. Kathy Morgan (Kennesaw St.), Shannon Ross (Kennesaw St.). W -- Farrell. L -- McNeley.

Game No. 6

American Int'l. -- 202 -- 010 -- 0 -- 5 -- 12 -- 1

Neb.-Kearney -- 000 -- 000 -- 1 -- 1 -- 7 -- 1

Ravella Gericke and Shana Perry; Lisa Graff, Tina McCaslin (2), Amanda Kelly (3) and Darcie Berry. Renee LeClerc (American Int'l.). W -- Gericke. L -- Graff.

Game No. 7

Wis.-Parkside -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 -- 2

Calif. (Pa.) -- 000 -- 010 -- x -- 1 -- 4 -- 1

Wendy Wolff and Bobbi Kapla; Danielle Penner and Dana Boyer. W -- Penner. L -- Wolff.

Game No. 8

UC Davis -- 010 -- 000 -- 2 -- 3 -- 8 -- 0

Neb.-Omaha -- 000 -- 100 -- 0 -- 1 -- 5 -- 1

Gena Weber and Andorra Hamilton; Kelly Secord and Jessica Barrineau. HR -- Holley Voss (Neb.-Omaha). W -- Weber. L--Secord.

Game No. 9

Wis.-Parkside -- 020 -- 010 -- 2 -- 5 -- 7 -- 2

American Int'l. -- 102 -- 000 -- 1 -- 4 -- 7 -- 2

Wendy Wolff, Kris Van Langevelde (4) and Bobbi Kapla; Ravella Gericke and Shana Perry. HR -- Jackie Aiken (Wis.-Parkside), Carolyn McGowan (American Int'l.). W -- Van Langevelde. L -- Gericke.

Game No. 10

Neb.-Omaha -- 101 -- 030 -- 0 -- 5 -- 8 -- 2

Kennesaw St. -- 011 -- 100 -- 0 -- 3 -- 10 -- 1

Kelly Secord, Tara Buzzell (5) and Jessica Barrineau; Brenda Farrell and Kim O'Kelley. HR -- Holly Voss (Neb.-Omaha). W -- Secord. L -- Farrell. S -- Buzzell.

Game No. 11

UC Davis -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Calif. (Pa.) -- 001 -- 000 -- x -- 1 -- 4 -- 0

Gena Weber and Andorra Hamilton; Danielle Penner and Dana Boyer. W -- Penner. L -- Weber.

Game No. 12

Wis.-Parkside -- 000 -- 030 -- 0 -- 3 -- 7 -- 0

UC Davis -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0

Wendy Wolff and Bobbi Kapla; Gena Weber and Andorra Hamilton. HR -- Jackie Aiken (Wis.-Parkside). W -- Wolff. L -- Weber.

Game No. 13

Neb.-Omaha -- 000 -- 000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 3 -- 2

Calif. (Pa.) -- 000 -- 020 -- x -- 2 -- 5 -- 2

Kelly Secord and Jessica Barrineau; Danielle Penner and Dana Boyer. W -- Penner. L -- Secord.

Championship game

Wis.-Parkside -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI -- PO -- A

Jessica Johnson, 2b -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 2 -- 1

Kathy Kilsdonk, cf -- 3 -- 1 -- 1 -- 0 -- 4 -- 0

Andrea Andrews, dh -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Jackie Aiken, 3b -- 3 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 2

Jen Brookins, pr -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Billi Kapla, rf -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 1 -- 2 -- 0

Nicky Durnin, 1b -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Bobbi Kapla, c -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 5 -- 0

Carrie Mach, pr -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Lisa Enz, lf -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Sherri Grosenick, ph -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Kristen Cirullo, ss -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 3 -- 0

Tracy Brauer, ph -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Wendy Wolff, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1

Totals -- 25 -- 1 -- 6 -- 1 -- 18 -- 4

Calif. (Pa.) -- AB -- R -- H -- RBI -- PO -- A

Kate Vaughan, ss -- 3 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 --

Lith Webb, 3b -- 4 -- 2 -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 5

Kerry Novak, rf -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 1 -- 0 -- 0

Jennifer Valeriote, cf -- 4 -- 0 -- 2 -- 1 -- 0 -- 0

Dana Boyer, c -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 4 -- 1

Tara Douglas, 1b -- 2 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 11 -- 1

Keri Weaver, dh -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Melissa Mader, pr -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Nikki Fiedler, lf -- 3 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Sarah Cassin, 2b -- 3 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 -- 4

Danielle Penner, p -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 3

Totals -- 26 -- 2 -- 8 -- 2 -- 21 -- 14

Wis.-Parkside -- 101 -- 000 -- 0 -- 1 -- 6 -- 2

Calif. (Pa.) -- 001 -- 001 -- x -- 2 -- 8 -- 1

E--J. Johnson, Cirullo, Douglas. DP--Calif. (Pa.) 1. LOB--Wis.-Parkside 5, Calif. (Pa.) 11. SB--Webb. SH--Andrews, Enz, Vaughan, Nova.

-- IP -- H -- R -- ER -- BB -- SO

Wolff (Loser) -- 6.0 -- 8 -- 2 -- 1 -- 2 -- 5

Penner (Winner) -- 7.0 -- 6 -- 1 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4 --

HBP -- Weaver (by Wolff). U -- Knupp, Nesteriak, Myers. T -- 2:07. A -- 327.