“One pitch, one at-bat, one inning, one game at a time.” Almost two years before, California (Pennsylvania) pitcher Danielle Penner used that simple philosophy to help her come back from an injury that nearly ended her athletic career. Now Penner, the winningest pitcher in Division II softball history, stood on the mound and recalled that phrase as she made the final pitch of the 1998 NCAA championship game.
Her Vulcans were one out away from defending their 1997 national championship, but Barry University had runners on first and third with two out in the bottom of the seventh, trailing, 2-1. “I wasn’t happy with the way I was throwing and their batter drilled a pitch to right,” remembered Penner. “As soon as the ball was hit, I knew it definitely was trouble.”
But rightfielder Meaggan Wilton’s speed allowed her to turn impending doom into a routine catch, giving California back-to-back titles and Penner her 46th win of the year and 141st of her record-breaking career.
Her amazing accomplishments earned her a number of postseason awards and, eventually, a berth on the NCAA Silver Anniversary Team. Not bad for a kid from Canada who never played high school softball. At the time, there were no organized high school softball programs, so summer programs were the only alternative for those who played the sport.
But the tallest hurdle Penner had to navigate was in her junior year at California, when she was diagnosed with compartment syndrome in October and had surgery in November. The initial timeline had her returning in mid-April, if at all, for the 1997 season. “I kept after the doctor to try and get back much quicker. He told me I needed to prepare myself for two possibilities: not playing that season and not ever pitching again,” she said. “That got my attention and I really just concentrated on one pitch, one at-bat, one inning, one game at a time, because I never knew how long I would be able to go.”
The result of that hard work was a season for the ages. Penner led California to its first national championship in any sport, going 5-0 in the finals and allowing just one unearned run. She finished with a remarkable 50 wins – still the Division II season record – and led the nation with a 0.51 ERA. The team finished 47-7 in 1998 and 193-24 during Penner’s career.
Ten years after her last game as a player, Penner now is in her third season as the coach at, ironically, Barry, where she still knows how to win.
“I am a believer in stretching goals,” she said. “If we strive for a difficult but possible goal, we will achieve more than expected ... If we approach it like that, our mistakes and successes should be forgotten easier, allowing us to prepare for the next challenge. The biggest obstacle to overcome is not the opponent. The game is won and lost in our minds and mental strength.”
Pitcher Danielle Penner back in her playing days at California (Pennsylvania). / Photo by Dave Doolittle.