MISHAWAKA — An aggressive offensive start aided Class 4A No. 16-ranked Penn in beating 3A’s John Glenn 4-1 Thursday, May 3 in Northern Indiana Conference high school baseball. 

In a game played at Penn’s Jordan Automotive Group Field, the Kingsmen (15-4, 10-0) bunched all of its runs and four of its seven hits in the first two innings in besting the Falcons (13-5, 6-4). 

Sophomore Camryn Szynski drove in two runs while sophomore Ryan Lynch and junior Hayden Berg knocked in one each for Penn. 

Left-hander Lynch (4-1; 5 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts) was the winning pitcher.

Junior right-hander Kegan Hoskins (2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts) retired the last five batters he faced and earned the save. 

Glenn senior right-hander Mason Ryans (6 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts) went the distance and absorbed the loss. 

“I like the way we started the game off,” said Kingsmen coach Greg Dikos. “We had Ryans on the ropes the first couple of innings. Then he settled down and — all of a sudden — we lost all of our aggressiveness at the plate. We started taking too many fastballs. We just played right back into their hands.

“That’s a nice-looking (Glenn) team right there. They didn’t fold. They just kept on playing the game of baseball. I feel fortunate with a win.”

Penn tallied three runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead.

Szynski lashed a 1-0 Ryans pitch for a two-run double to center, plating senior courtesy runner Gino Hoath (running for senior Nate Lovisa who walked) and senior Marshall Furner (who singled to left).

Szynski scored on Berg’s single to left.

The Kingsmen took a 1-0 lead in the first.

Senior Nate Vargo led off with a double to left, moved to third base on junior Brock Boyton’s groundout and scored on Lynch’s groundout.

Junior Easton Stephens knocked a 1-0 pitch into the corner in left for a double to drive home the Falcons’ run.

Ryans led off with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Stephen’s two-bagger.

The rally ended with Glenn leaving runners at second and third.

Falcons coach John Nadolny saw plenty of positives for his club.

“We’re ready to go for the (IHSAA) tournament,” said Nadolny. “We played some really solid defense and pitched pretty well other than the one inning.

“We’ve just got to put the ball in play a little more. We can’t strike out as much as we did. When we face a really good pitcher — any pitcher — we have to bow our necks a little more at the plate and make that contact.”

Penn left a runner at third base in a scoreless sixth.

Lovisa lashed a double to left and moved to third on a pop-out but got no further.

Hoskins replaced Lynch on the mound for the Kingsmen to begin the sixth. Hoskins yielded a one-out single to left by junior Jack Vukovits then struck out the next two Glenn batters.

Berg led off a scoreless Penn fifth with a triple to right-center. He was put out at the plate on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Vargo — third baseman Stephens to senior catcher Michael Machnic.

Machnic threw out would-be Kingsmen base stealers at second base in both the second and sixth frames.

The Falcons retired Penn in the fourth with a double play.

Sophomore center fielder Garrett West caught the ball in right-center and fired to senior first baseman Alex Holderbaum to double off the Penn runner.

The Kingsmen left a runner at third base in a scoreless third.

Boynton smacked a lead-off single to right, moved to second base on a wild pitch and third base on a groundout by senior Payton Kerr.

Stephens smacked a double to left and was stranded at second base in a scoreless Glenn second.

Glenn finished out a busy week at 4-1 and has won five of its last six.

“This was a good test for us,” said Nadolny. “I’m happy with our effort.

“We’ve got about 10 games left before the tournament. We’ve got to crank it up.”

Penn plays Fort Wayne Carroll in the second semifinal of the four-team Plymouth Invitational Saturday, May 5 (Plymouth and South Bend Riley are the other two squads). Culver Military Academy visits Glenn Tuesday, May 8.

SHOWCASES

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
Improve My Profile with HS Game Video	IN	06/03	Indiana
2018 Summer Trials	IN	06/05	Grand Park - Westfield, IN
2018 Top Prospect Games	IN	06/12	Purdue University - West Lafayette, IN
Future Prospects Showcase & Educational Camp	IN	06/26	Grand Park - Westfield, IN
Mid-Summer Open, Fort Wayne	IN	07/10	Carroll High School - Fort Wayne, IN
PBR ProCase - Midwest	IN	07/10	Silver Cross Field - Joliet, IL
Mid-Summer Open, Region	IN	07/17	Hobart High School
2018 Underclass Games (Invite Only)	IN	07/24	Indiana University - Bloomington, IN
Prospect Games at Notre Dame	IN	07/24	University of Notre Dame - Notre Dame, IN
2018 PBR Future Games (Indiana Invite Only)	IN	08/01	Grand Park - Westfield, IN
PBR Junior Future Games (Invite Only)	NATIONAL	08/02	Grand Park - Westfield, IN
GPA Games	IN	08/12	Lee Pfund Stadium - Carol Stream, IL