Penn College freshman softball player Grace Lorson has been named a finalist for the Tucci/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III National Freshman of Year. The award annually honors the outstanding athletic achievement of freshmen in NCAA Division III.
Over the past week, three Pennsylvania College of Technology spring sports teams got a taste at the top, two (men’s golf and women’s softball) in NCAA Division III national and regional competitions, respectively, and the third (archery) at the outdoor national championships as the 2023-24 athletic seasons came to a close.
Among the nation’s elite. From one of more than 400 women’s softball teams competing this season in NCAA Division III and now in a field of 62 in tournaments at 16 regional sites Thursday-Saturday. That is the rare company where coach Angela Stackhouse’s Penn College Wildcats find themselves. During Monday morning’s selection show, several members of the team and coaching staff gathered to watch online, where the announcement was met with screams and cheers of joy.
The stage is no bigger than on the national championship level and three Penn College teams will be there this week. The golf team is in Boulder City, Nevada, where play begins Tuesday in the NCAA Division III Championship. The women’s softball team, fresh off winning the United East Championship on Saturday, will play in D-III action Thursday-Saturday at the regional level of the NCAA championships. Archers will compete Thursday-Sunday in the USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals in Statesboro, Georgia.
For the second time in four seasons, and first since 2021, the Pennsylvania College of Technology women’s softball team is in the United East Conference Championship series. An automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Regionals also is on the line.
One down, one to go for the women’s softball team. Entering Friday’s United East Volt Division playoffs, Penn College coach Angela Stackhouse said, “It is anybody’s game.” And her Wildcats were more than happy to make it theirs alone with a three-game sweep to the divisional crown and a berth in this weekend’s UE Championship series at Elm Park.
After splitting four regular-season softball games with Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Berks, going 3-1 against Lancaster Bible College and 4-0 against Penn State Abington, it’s easy to understand why Pennsylvania College of Technology coach Angela Stackhouse says of the United East Volt Division playoffs, “it is anybody’s game.” The second-seeded Wildcats open the double-elimination tournament at noon on Friday against third-seeded Penn State Berks.
After the golf team won its second straight championship over the weekend, United East Conference playoff action is scheduled to continue this week with two more Pennsylvania College of Technology teams seeking titles — men’s lacrosse and women’s softball.
Even though his second-seeded team is coming off Saturday’s 23-9 win over Keystone College, Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s lacrosse coach Jordan Williams said he is taking nothing for granted entering Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home contest against No. 3 seed Keystone in a United East Conference semifinal. Headed to the playoffs for the fourth straight season, the Wildcats enter the game with records of 4-1 in the UE and 9-8 overall, while Keystone is 3-2, 6-9.
When the Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s golf team won the United East Championship last spring, coach Rob Lytle called it a “great, great tune-up because I believe we’ll be doing this again, year after year.”
Get Penn College News in your inbox each morning.
Subscribe