Penn's Masten slugs three homers in win

ELKHART — Well one thing is certain, the next family reunion involving the Walker and Masten families will certainly be interesting.

Penn High sophomore Easton Masten slugged three home runs and drove in eight runs Tuesday night, as the third-ranked Kingsmen took over sole possession of first place in the Northern Indiana Conference by beating Elkhart, 13-3.

The Lions head coach is Matt Walker, cousin of Easton Masten.

"I've disowned her,'' Walker joked after the game. "But hey, kudos to her, she did a great job tonight and hit the ball all over.''

"He gave me a high five after the game but then said he hated me,'' Masten said with a big smile.

So about that family reunion ...

Penn is now 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the NIC, while the Lions fall to 14-5 and 5-1.

While Masten was certainly the headliner for Penn, the Kingsmen pounded out 15 hits against former teammate Ava Sanders, now the Elkhart ace pitcher.

"I thought we were really locked in from the start,'' Penn coach Beth Zachary said. "Softball can be a game of momentum and we wanted to attack them right from the start.

"I thought by jumping out to the 2-0 lead in the first inning we set the tone early.''

Those two runs came off the bat of Masten, who hit a no-doubt homer with two out in the first. The drive scored Logan Rumble, who singled after Sanders retired the first two Penn hitters.

The Kingsmen got three more runs in the second, with doubles by Harper Rumble and Addyson Zachary each driving in a run, while Zachary scored on a single by Phoebe Wood.

Things could have been worse for Elkhart, as Sanders left the bases loaded by striking out Masten and Addison Bogunia.

"It was good to see the lower half of our batting order get the offense going that inning,'' Beth Zachary said. "I believe our lineup puts a lot of pressure on a pitcher and doesn't give a team a chance to breathe when we're on.''

The Kingsmen took any remaining drama out of the game in the third inning, scoring six run on six hits, including a grand slam homer by Masten that cleared the center field fence by several feet.

Leadoff hitter Carson Petty added a two-run single in the inning, which started after the first two Penn hitters were retired.

Elkhart's Eden Guerrero singled and scored on a Penn error in the bottom of the third to make it 11-1.

A long homer by senior Bailey Harris-Rogers in the fourth inning — following a single by Sanders — cut the lead to 11-3 off Penn starting pitcher Caitlyn Denny.

After retiring five Penn hitters in a row, Sanders walked Charlie Swiger with one out in the fifth. After Logan Rumble reached on a force play, Sanders jammed Masten on the wrists, but the sophomore still got enough of the pitch to put it over the left field fence for her third homer of the game, to put Penn up 10 once again.