NEWBURYPORT — Ciara Pennie is never going to be anything but herself.
It’s not an enviable task that the Pentucket junior has been challenged with accepting this year, taking over in the circle for a program legend. Because in reality, there’s plenty of good arguments to support the claim that Molly LeBel is the best pitcher to come through West Newbury. The three-time Daily News All-Star and CAL Kinney co-MVP a year ago finished with 774 career strikeouts, and more importantly was the fuel behind 60 career wins.
But Pennie — and really the entire Pentucket program — know better than to start comparing.
This isn’t a competition.
The normal four-year high school cycle has played its traditional course, and now it’s Pennie’s turn to take over the reigns and write her own story.
And so far … the Panthers haven’t skipped a beat!
Following a rather dominant 12-2 win over rival Newburyport on a beautiful Friday afternoon, Pentucket (3-0) is still undefeated on the young season. Pennie put together another strong outing against the Clippers at Pepe Park, tossing a complete-game two-hitter with nine strikeouts and only one earned run. Through three starts now, she has a solid 3.50 ERA and has struck out 21 in 20.0 innings pitched, with of course the most important stat being the three victories.
“I always looked up to Molly, her attitude and everything that she did,” said Pennie. “And just being the starting pitcher now, obviously I still think of Molly, but now I need to focus on myself and focus on the team to make sure that we continue to win.”
Coming into the year, there was optimism that it was going to be a seemless transition.
When Pennie entered the program a couple of years ago, she did so already with some intriguing pitching potential. Of course, immediately taking over the starting role really wasn’t a question with LeBel already in place, but Pennie didn’t waste any time getting the best possible view of her predecessor go to work. With the Panthers needing a catcher at the time, Pennie volunteered to give it a shot, and for the past two years she’s had a front row seat to one of the best our area has seen.
“(Pennie is) amazing,” said Pentucket coach Deb Smith. “We have all the faith in her, and we always knew that she could do it. I mean, obviously we didn’t have a catcher two years ago and she was like ‘I’ll do it!’ But you just saw what she can do (in the circle) today. That was a tough Newburyport lineup. So she’s done an outstanding job.”
And, really, everything around Pennie is working right now, too.
The Panthers won their first CAL Kinney title since 1990 a year ago, and look to have the roster to make a serious run at going back-to-back. Offensively they opened the season putting up 12 runs on a good North Reading program, then they dropped 19 on Essex Tech before going for another dozen against Newburyport. So quick math comes out to 14.3 runs per game, while in the field the Panthers have only made three errors so far (all against the Hornets in the opener).
“They play as a team and win as a team,” said Smith. “They genuinely want each other to do well, and are rooting for each other no matter what. And they’ve worked so hard in the offseason. A ton of lifting, a ton of work and a ton of reps. They work really hard, and there’s really good team unity.”
Top to bottom, everyone is contributing.
Returning Daily News All-Star senior Sarah Freitas has moved to shortstop, and went 3-for-4 on Friday with a double and a triple. The team’s other returning Daily News All-Star is sophomore lefty slugger Kam Bonneau, who went 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI and has moved to catcher. Third baseman Kallie White had an incredible game against the Clippers, going a perfect 5-for-5 with three triples and four RBI as well.
And that’s just the start of it.
Caitlin McCoy (2-for-5) and Michaela Gabardi are returning starters, and fellow junior Emma Burkinshaw has taken a huge leap forward this season. The Panthers have then seen sophomore Maizlyn Brush take over at second base, while freshmen Evelyn Spaulding, Mya Galvin, Genna Chisholm and Claire Champion have all contributed across the opening three games.
Put more simply: The Panthers are rolling.
“Communication, teamwork, and the defense around me has been amazing,” said Pennie on what has fueled the hot start. “I couldn’t be more confident in the team behind me.”
Meanwhile, Newburyport (0-3) is dealing with a lot of youth this spring.
With only one senior on the roster in Cassidy Bolcome, the Clippers have a lot of new faces in important roles. But there have been early signs of improvement, and on Friday the team got an RBI-single from Katie Kebler, a single from Emily Stick and an RBI from Lilah Thompson. Also, second-year starter Clara Thompson pitched well despite the final score, striking out seven against a potent lineup.
“Clara really battled for us today,” said first-year Newburyport coach Fred Habib. “That was a really tough lineup she had to go against, Pentucket is very strong. But she hung in there and really battled hard.”
Pentucket 12, Newburyport 2
Pentucket (3-0): 3 1 1 2 0 1 4 — 12
Newburyport (0-3): 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 — 2
Pentucket (12): Sarah Freitas ss 4-4-3, Kam Bonneau c 3-3-2, Caitlin McCoy cf 5-1-2, Kallie White 3b 5-2-5, Michael Gabardi 1b 4-0-0, Genna Chisholm ph 1-0-0, Ciara Pennie p 3-0-1, Evelyn Spaulding ph 1-0-0, Miazlyn Brush 2b 2-0-1, Emma Burkinshaw lf 3-1-0, Clare Champion rf 3-0-1, Mya Galvin cr 0-1-0. Totals 34-12-15
Newburyport (2): Lexie LaCava ss 2-0-0, Charlotte Turco 3b 4-0-0, Cassidy Bolcome cf 2-0-0, Clara Thompson p 1-1-0, Caroline Mullen lf 1-0-0, Mia DesRossiers lf 2-0-0, Katie Kebler 1b 2-0-1, Emily Stick rf 3-1-1, Lilah Thompson c 3-0-0, Ryleigh McCarty 2b 2-0-0, Mackenzie Warnat ph 1-0-0. Totals 23-2-2
RBI: P — Bonneau 4, White 4, McCoy, Pennie; N — Kebler, L. Thompson
WP: Pennie; LP: Thompson