SV grad breaks innings-pitched record for Grove City College
GROVE CITY — It takes a while for Lauren Pennell to rev up her right arm.
“I'm like a diesel engine,” said Pennell, a Seneca Valley graduate and a senior pitcher for the Grove City College softball team. “I take a long time to warm up.”
But once she does, Pennell has been one of the best and most reliable pitchers in the program's history.
Pennell has tossed more innings than any other player to put on a Grove City softball uniform. The 496X\c innings she has pitched in her career have eclipsed the record of 4802/3 set by Michelle Kirin in the late 1980s.
“I think it's awesome. I'm not going to deny that,” Pennell said of setting the record. “But at the same time, a lot of those innings was my team picking me up and helping me. It's a monument to them that they have put up with me this long.”
Grove City College softball coach Chelle Fuss said the record also is a monument to Pennell's relentlessness.
“Lauren is a workhorse and (the record) just illuminates that,” Fuss said. “She will do whatever you want her to do. She's steady all the time and shows up for you every day.”
Pennell had to show up every day for Fuss two years ago; she was the Wolverines' only pitcher that season.
Pennell racked up a school-record 2012/3 innings during her sophomore season in 2009.
Middle infielders Amy Fisher and Amanda Furmage saw limited action that year in the circle, pitching in the team's other 312/3 innings.
This season things are much different. Pennell is just one of six players who have pitched and has a 4-4 record with a career-low 2.55 ERA for the 12-6 Wolverines, who are off to their best start in seven years.
Pennell usually starts the second game while Lauren Clarke starts the first game of a doubleheader.
Pennell said she likes sharing the load and learned quite a bit from the days of being the only pitching arm on the roster.
“Tenacity and never giving up,” Pennell said. “It helps me appreciate the girls we have pitching now. Sometimes you need to be saved by someone else. Sometimes you need to have someone come and pick you up off the ground.”
Pennell has been doing some saving herself.
She can be found most days with Fuss and her pitching teammates, watching video of their mechanics in the circle and correcting slight flaws.
“I'm a visual learner, so when I see myself doing something wrong on tape, it really helps,” Pennell said.
All the pitchers have gleaned valuable info from the video sessions. But Pennell has been the biggest leader in the film room, and out of it, Fuss said.
Pennell is a team captain, after all, and team captains on the Grove City softball team are not in name only.
“She has just made such an impact on that pitching staff,” Fuss said. “She's really going to be missed.”
