How one night in June was 'like a fairytale' for Penn High School athletics
MISHAWAKA — There are good days in high school athletics, and then there is what Penn High School accomplished on June 10, 2023.
Few schools anywhere in the country have enjoyed such a historic day. What a list.
An epic state championship game victory in softball. Check.
A LaPorte semi-state title by the Kingsmen baseball team. Check.
An MVP performance by Indiana Mr. Basketball Markus Burton in the storied Indiana-Kentucky boys All-Star basketball game. Check.
A victory in the girls Indiana-Kentucky All-Star basketball series with Penn coach Kristi Ulrich at the helm. Check.
And another International-level wrestling championship by Penn alum and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt. Check.
More: Hildebrandt to compete at World Wrestling Championships
What started as optimism around 2:50 p.m. ended with pure joy by 9:45 p.m., with Penn players, coaches, staff and alumni experiencing a day unlike any other for a school in Indiana.
“It was just a tremendous feeling of accomplishment for the kids and for the coaches,” Penn Athletic Director Jeff Hart said. “We see these kids from their first day of high school, and we know the work the coaches put in behind the scenes.”
Adding to the day was the vested interest everyone had in each other’s success.
Penn softball coach Beth Zachary’s husband, Dave, was a key player on the 2001 Penn baseball team under head coach Greg Dikos that won a Class 4A state title. The relationship for Dave with Dikos grew after his playing days.
“In his first couple of years when we were at Penn, he actually coached with coach Dikos before I recruited him to come over and help coach with me,” Beth Zachary said. “So, we’re super invested in the Penn baseball program and have that connection with them.”
A family affair: Penn softball coach enjoys ride with daughters.
Penn High School's historic day started with baseball
Baseball was the only thing happening in the early stages of the day for Penn, meaning everyone was tuned-in to how the unranked Kingsmen were fairing in its 4A semi-state semifinal contest against No. 3 Lake Central.
“I was constantly checking my Twitter feed," Ulrich admitted, "to see what was going on.”
She wasn't alone.
“I was busy with all-star stuff," Burton remembers, "but I was following the game on Twitter and Instagram, texting some of my friends to see if they were doing well or not."
The baseball game started at 2:50 p.m. ET at LaPorte High School. With softball's state final scheduled for 7 p.m. at Purdue's Bittinger Stadium in West Lafayette, Hart couldn’t stay for the entire baseball game.
He and his wife, Julie, left during the fifth inning with the Kingsmen down a run. It didn’t take long for that score to change.
“By the time we left the LaPorte area," Hart said, "we had tied it and taken the lead.”
Around 4:55 p.m. the Kingsmen closed the door on a 7-6 win, sending them to the semi-state championship game against Hamilton Southeastern later that night.
Penn's Kristi Ulrich coaches Indiana girls All-Stars to victory over Kentucky
Less than 10 minutes after Penn's first baseball win, the girls basketball all-star game began. After losing to the Kentucky All-Stars the day prior, Ulrich guided Indiana to a win, 71-67, on home soil in Indianapolis. A late push led by Miss Basketball, Laila Hull of Zionsville, sealed a win for Indiana inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“It was just an overall tremendous experience,” Ulrich said. “I felt beyond grateful that I was selected to lead the Indiana All-Stars. It was one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ things.”
While 1-1 in all-star competition, on Penn's bench Ulrich is 312-50 in 14 seasons with a Class 4A state championship in 2016.
Sarah Hildebrandt earns spot on Team USA wrestling
In the middle of the girls basketball game is when Hildebrandt — a 2014 Penn grad — did what she does best: wrestle.
The 29-year-old dominated her way to winning the 50 Kg (110-pound) weight class at the Final X Wrestling Championships, making quick work of her opponents. It earned her a spot on Team USA for the World Wrestling Championships, which take place September in Serbia.
Hildebrandt, a Granger native, represents the New York Athletic Club. In May, she claimed her seventh Pan-American Championship gold medal in Buenos Aires, Argentina, winning all of her matches by first-period technical falls. In 2021 she earned bronze in the Covid-delayed 2020 Beijing Olympic Games.
On June 10, 2023, her latest title came around 6:20 p.m.
“I know Sarah Hildebrandt pretty well," Hart said. "Her and my son were wrestling partners in the same weight class and grew up as friends. So, that was exciting."
Much more to come for Penn softball, baseball and Markus Burton
The girls’ all-star game finished around 7:11 p.m. By 7:15, the 4A softball state finals had begun.
An invested Ulrich did all she could to keep up with the game.
“I had media and all these other things after our game, so I was trying to check for updates (from softball) as much as I could,” Ulrich said.
Burton’s final game as a high school player tipped off at 7:50 p.m. Ulrich stayed around to watch Indiana’s Mr. Basketball lead his team to a blowout win over Kentucky. Just like the girls, the Indiana boys all-stars had lost the day prior to Kentucky. And also just like the girls, the boys vindicated that loss to the tune of a 95-74 victory.
Burton had 26 points to earn game MVP honors.
“It meant a lot to me,” Burton said of MVP honors. “It was fun getting to represent Penn High School, but it was also fun getting to play with (Ben Davis head coach Don) Carlisle and all the other players on that team.”
Burton’s game ended at 9:42 p.m. At the same exact time another celebration was on up in LaPorte.
The baseball semi-state final started at 8 p.m. It would take nearly 90 minutes for a run to be scored, as the Kingsmen pushed across the lone tally of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning off a wild pitch. Penn then finished off the win in the top of the seventh, also ending at 9:42 p.m.
“That whole day was probably one of the more mentally exhausting days that I can remember as a coach,” said Greg Dikos, who’s won 820 games in 36 years at Penn. “The way the first game went and the way we won the second game, it was just exhausting, mentally. I remember being tired — I can’t imagine how the players felt.”
One week later: Back to Back — Penn finishes off postseason run with sixth state title
Two minutes after baseball won, softball finished off its state title in dramatic fashion.
After two-plus hours of an intense state title game that reached extra innings, Penn took the lead in the top of the ninth — also on a wild pitch, just like the baseball team did. The two plays nearly happened at the same time.
With a state title on the line, Penn sophomore Olivia Signorino closed it out in the bottom half of the frame, giving the Kingsmen its first softball crown in 24 years.
4A IHSAA softball title game: Penn knocks off top-ranked Roncalli
The victory came at 9:44 p.m., punctuating a seven-hour stretch that will never be forgotten for the Penn faithful.
“It’s almost like a fairytale, right?” Zachary said. “How in the world do you have that much success in so many different programs with so many different kids, you know? It truly was incredible, but I also think it’s a testament to standard set at PHM.”
The day encapsulated the word Penn uses to motivate its school.
Excellence.
“To watch the kids we know so well step up in those moments was a great feeling,” Hart said. “And it also gives us assurances and some satisfaction that what we’re doing with our student-athletes is working.”
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana IHSAA Penn High School state softball baseball Markus Burton
