No. 16 Penn hosted No. 1 Elkhart Central Wednesday night in one the most anticipated pitching matchups of the year.  Penn’s Chad Whitmer (2013) once again squared off against Elkhart Central’s Tanner Tully.  In the previous matchup between these two teams, Elkhart Central won 9-5. Last night, however, was all about the pitching.

Whitmer is a 6-foot-3 right handed pitcher that is fairly athletic with a quick arm. It was easy to see why Whitmer is considered to be a top 10 right handed pitcher in the state. Tully singled in the first inning, but Whitmer would not allow another hit until the 6^th.

Tully matched Whitmer pitch for pitch, yielding only four hits through seven innings. Tully had to work out of a couple more jams than Whitmer, but was equally impressive. His most impressive inning was striking out the side in the seventh to force extra innings.

In the 8^th, Penn would threaten with runners in scoring position, but Tully would strike out Caleb Birkey and Alex Hostetler to end the would be threat.  In the 9^th, Whitmer threw what was the most impressive inning PBR has seen this year. Whitmer climbed the gun, not throwing a fastball under 87 mph and touching 89 on multiple occasions. His velocity was not the only impressive thing, as he consistently painted the corners and threw a good breaking ball at 70-73 mph. Whitmer finished the day throwing nine innings of shutout baseball, and locked himself in as one of the top right handed junior arms in the state. 

In the 9^th Tully had to work himself out of another bases loaded jam, but did so with ease, forcing two weak ground outs.  Tully proved, yet again, why he is the top unsigned left handed pitcher in the state, by working at 85-88 mph most of the game, and touching 90 once.  He also showed a good breaking ball and the ability to compete.

The 10th inning for Penn saw them once again load the bases with nobody out. Reliever Cory Malcom (2013) was able to get two ground outs before hitting Cameron Glaze, on a 2-2 count with two outs, forcing in the game winning run. Tyler Thompson picked up the win for Penn, working a scoreless 10th inning.