The Pennino family has produced two Long Island softball coaches who have worked together in the past, but now have a collegiate-level rivalry.
Tom Pennino is the head coach of the SUNY Old Westbury softball team, and Liz Pennino is the head coach of Farmingdale State College’s softball team. The two coaches faced off for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 19.
Tom was born in 1984, and his sister Liz was born one year later. The two excelled in sports growing up, with Tom picking baseball as his primary sport and Liz choosing softball.
Tom enrolled at Indian River Community College in Florida to continue playing baseball, and one year later tried convincing Liz to join him. She opted to play softball at Manhattan College. Tom later transferred to finish his collegiate career at Stony Brook University.
The siblings took different paths from there. Liz coached at a high school level while Tom continued to play baseball professionally.
Tom played three years for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League and for the Long Island Ducks in 2010 and 2011.
Liz had the idea of running a travel softball program, the LI Surge Fastpitch, which she later formed with her brother’s help in 2012.
That same year, Liz became an assistant coach at Farmingdale. Two years later, she recruited her brother to join the staff. The Penninos spent five years together as part of the coaching staff. Tom then received the opportunity to get a head coaching job at SUNY Old Westbury.
“One of the reasons why I transitioned over there was to take over my own program and build a program from scratch,” Tom said.
SUNY Old Westbury went 9-18 with just two conference wins in 2019.
That same year, Liz became the head coach at Farmingdale. The siblings had to wait until 2022 to play each other as the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 season.
“He’s like my best friend,” Liz said. “I think it’s very special that we have the chance to do this. We’re both college softball coaches, but at the same time, we’re competing against each other.”
Farmingdale won both games of an April 2 doubleheader by a score of 8-0. The Rams have won every regular-season game against the Panthers since the Penninos became the coaches of the two programs.
SUNY Old Westbury did get the most important win of the recent head-to-head matchup.
The two teams played in the first round of the Skyline Conference playoffs in 2024. Farmingdale won that game 8-0, sending Tom’s squad to the losers’ bracket. Liz’s team lost in its next game, forcing a win-or-go-home contest between the two teams.
Tom got his first win against his sister, sending the Panthers to the conference finals.
“I’ll take losing every regular season game ever and never beating her in the regular season if I could knock them out in the playoffs every day,” he said.
Liz won two Skyline Championships as a head coach, in 2021 and 2022, and was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2024.
Both coaches said they enjoy each other’s company off the field, whether spending time on the beach or fishing together.
The Skyline regular season concludes on May 4, with the first game of the playoffs beginning on May 6.
