Students Start Semester With 9-1 Whiffle-Ball Win Over Staff/Faculty

The fall semester is barely two days old, but the athletic rivalry between Penn College students and employees is already heating up. Taking to the whiffle-ball field Tuesday night, students started the scoring with two runs in the top of the second inning – thanks to costly errors by the staff/faculty team. The employee squad kept the game close. however, with some great defense at third base by Jami Hughes. "Each inning, the staff/faculty had base runners on, but could not get them home," said intramural assistant Jeremy R. Bottorf, who also provided the photos. "The students would add a run in the third and fifth inning before waking their bats up to score three runs in the sixth." The staff/faculty bats also sparked for a moment, as Wyatt Decker knocked in Hughes with a single. Heading off a possible comeback, Bottorf said, the students added two insurance runs to make the game 9-1 heading into the bottom of the final inning. Feeling no pressure, Lane Ackerman got the final three outs and pitched his complete-game gem. Joining him on the student team were Kanen Gavitt, Alex Eberly, Ethan Kline, Everett Zaluski and Aaron Sallade.  Joining Decker and Hughes on the staff/faculty team were Daniel Warner, Matthew Strayer, Andy Fry and Michael Richards. "Thank you to everyone who participated!" said Bottorf, who noted the next staff/faculty vs. students event will be sand volleyball at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30.  "Staff/faculty captain Daniel Warner has begun assembling a team capable of extending its win streak over the students in the annual sand volleyball match."