Pepin to stay on field with Bay

GLADSTONE -- Gladstone's Kenzingtin Pepin will be keeping her softball skills close to home while stepping up to the collegiate level next year as she signed her national letter of intent to attend Bay College and become a member of the Norse softball team Thursday morning in Gladstone.

One of the driving forces behind the decision was the coaching staff, said Pepin.

"I'm really excited because I've been able to play with the head coach Ross (Rahoi) and the assistant coach Ashley (Hughes), for a while," Pepin said. "It's kind of exciting to get back into that.

"When I heard that (Rahoi) was going to be there, I was like, 'I want to be able to play for them.' I applied, and I got a message back from him, and he said they'd be really happy if I played with them."

Among players Pepin is excited to reunite with are former Escanaba Eskymos player McKenna Bullen and her former Gladstone Braves teammate Marnnea LaFave.

As a Brave, Pepin has been a versatile weapon as a utility player. She plans to carry her experience in varied positions with her to Bay.

"(I'm going to bring) my skill set and ability," she said. I'm the utility player for my team. I was all-district and all-regional. So, hopefully, I can transfer that from here to there."

As far as the classroom side of things, Pepin will apply her love of animals to her studies as she peruses a career as an animal physical therapist.

While she isn't quite finished with her high school career, Kenzingtin reflected on some of her favorite moments.

At the top of the list was the opportunity to have father Rick as her coach.

"Definitely my dad coaching because he's been coaching me since I was like eight," she said. "To be able to have that opportunity has been amazing.

"And the people here, the people on my team, we have a lot of chemistry, and I'm going to miss that when I leave."

For Kenzingtin's father and coach Rick, the moment of seeing his daughter sign to compete at the college level was special on multiple fronts.

"It is always incredible when you can have a player in your program move on and play at the college level," Rick Pepin said. "But, when it's your daughter (it's special). Very, very, proud and very, very excited for her."

Rick Pepin added the nice it is that Kenizingtin can have the opportunity to play at the next level so close to home under the direction of coach Rahoi.

"I think it's really cool that she gets to get the college softball experience right here in her backyard," he said. "I'm really excited that she gets to play for coach Ross Rahoi. He is a great leader, and he is good for young student-athletes. So, she will definitely benefit from being in his program in more ways than one."

As Gladstone's only softball senior, Kenizingtin has stepped up in multiple ways as a team leader added Rick.

"She has been a great leader this year," he said. "She has embraced the role of being our only senior, and she has definitely blossomed this year in that role. She continues to be a utility player for us, and hopefully, the best things are still yet to come here at the end of the season for her and our team."