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Penn pitcher Ben Gregory threw a gem shutting down a hot Cathedral offense for a 3-0 victory in the 4A state championship game.

Gregory (4-1) threw a complete game allowing just three hits and struck out seven Irish batters. Cathedral had entered the championship game scoring 10 or more runs in each of its last five games.

The Kingsmen (26-6) scored in the first, second and fourth innings to win their 12th straight contest and ended the season on top in 14 of their final 15.

It was the fifth baseball state championship for Penn and its first since 2015, all of which have come with 35th year coach Greg Dikos leading the team. Cathedral won the 2017 title matchup between the two schools.

Cathedral (18-11-2), under sixth year coach Ed Freije, was looking for the fourth state title for the program and fell shy of becoming just the second team to win the triple crown of a football, basketball and baseball title in the same year. Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in 2007-08 remains the only school to achieve the feat.

Penn’s Ben Gregory named Mental Attitude recipient
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee announced Ben Gregory of Penn High School as the recipient of this year’s Bob Gardner Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A Baseball.

Ben is an outstanding student recently graduating Magna Cum Laude with a 4.1 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society.

After a terrific junior season as Penn’s number one pitcher, earning the MVP Award from his team and the Northern Indiana Conference, Ben had to undergo surgery on his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) last September. With a diligent rehabilitation, he worked showed resilience working his back. Coming into today, nine months post-surgery, he has thrown 417 pitches in 27 innings, coming in clutch during the state tournament and starting on the mound in the championship game.

Ben is the son of Chad and Laura Gregory of Granger, Indiana. He plans to attend Maryville University of St. Louis to play baseball and study Sports Business Management.

The award is annually presented to an outstanding senior participant in each state championship game who has best demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in baseball. This is the first year the award has been named in honor of Bob Gardner, who served as commissioner of the IHSAA from 1995-2000 and spent a total of 15 and a half years on the IHSAA Executive Staff.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA's corporate partner, presented $1,000 to the general scholarship fund at Penn High School in the name of Ben Gregory.