Penn College graduates Taylor (Brooks) Esposito ’19 and Brittan Kittle ’21 have been selected for induction into Penn College’s Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 18, in a 6 p.m. ceremony during Wildcat Weekend.
Esposito, of Cogan Station, was awarded North Eastern Athletic Conference first-team softball honors as a freshman in 2016 and sophomore in 2017 and took third-team honors as a senior in 2019. She also received a United States Collegiate Athletics Association Honorable Mention as a freshman.
An outfielder/pitcher, Esposito started 135 of the 138 games she played in and had a .349 career batting average, twice leading the team in runs scored. She also led in home runs, triples, slugging percentage and total bases. In the circle during her first three seasons, she led the team in ERA and strikeouts twice, finishing her career with 224 strikeouts. Career-wise, she still ranks in the top 10 in a dozen offensive categories and is No. 1 in the NCAA era (since 2014) with 13 triples.
During her tenure at Penn College, the Wildcats reached the playoffs all four years – three times in the NEAC, where they finished second in 2019, and once in the USCAA. Over that period, Penn College went 76-70.
During a career that spanned parts of five seasons – the 2020 campaign was shortened and then canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic – Kittle, of Millville, a catcher, earned all-conference first-team honors three times, was named to the second team once and was selected for the Division III All-Region Third Team as a senior.
In the NCAA era, since 2014, Kittle ranks No. 1 in eight career categories – 43 doubles, 22 home runs, 122 runs batted in, .608 slugging percentage, 33 hit by pitch, 720 putouts, 874 chances and 49 passed balls – and is second in three categories – 467 at-bats, 112 runs and 168 hits. He led the team in runs scored once, RBIs four times, doubles twice, home runs three times, batting average once, hits once, on-base plus slugging once, total bases twice and slugging percentage twice.
Kittle started 133 of the 135 games he played in. During that time, the Wildcats won 74 games and lost 68, reaching the NEAC playoffs four times, where they finished second in both 2017 and 2018. The 2017 team set a program single-season win mark of 25 that still stands.
Get Penn College News in your inbox each morning.