Ever since she visited the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, Raven Houck was waiting for this moment, to be given the opportunity to play softball for the Quakers at the Division I level.

It came Monday while Houck, Wheeler High School’s junior all-state catcher, was in Philadelphia to watch Penn's doubleheader against Ivy League oppononent Columbia and to meet with the team’s coaching staff. She didn’t exactly have to take time to think about it, giving coach Leslie King a verbal commitment right then.

“It’s just amazing,” Houck said Wednesday. “It was always my dream to play Division I softball and I’ve always been very into my schoolwork. This coach made me feel so very welcomed. … It all came together.”

That gives Wheeler (7-0 overall, 2-0 in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division) a pair of players headed to play in college. Senior pitcher Jenn Paride, who delivered a perfect game Tuesday in a 4-0 victory over Killingly, will play next season at Division II Dominican College in Orangeburg, N.Y.

Houck is hitting .478 for Wheeler with a home run and 11 RBI. Paride is 7-0 with a 0.50 earned run average and 89 strikeouts, also batting .364.

“I’ve been fortunate,” Wheeler coach Joe Cawley said. “Wheeler was down for a number of years. I walked into it with some real talent there that kind of put us on the map. Summer (Cipriani), Kaitlin (Banks), Raven, Jenn and a couple more good ones coming up.

“(Houck’s) ability has just meant the world. She started as a freshman and she should have been all-state, an all-state catcher which is not her natural position. She’s a middle infielder, but it was based on team need. She’s such a tremendous athlete, I want her touching the ball every single play.”

Houck started out playing Little League baseball — she loved to pitch — before she grudgingly switched to softball. She plays softball during the summer for the Connecticut Charmers and coach Neil Swanchak.

Wheeler is the defending ECC Small Division champion and earned a berth in the league tournament for the first time last season. On Monday, Paride pitched a one-hitter as the Lions topped ECC Large Division foe Ledyard 1-0.

“It feels good. Everyone on the team enjoys it,” Paride said of Wheeler’s success so far this season. “It feels good when we beat schools out of our division and show a small team can compete with a large team. … I think I’ve improved and hopefully I’ll get better.”

Wheeler plays another Large Division opponent today in East Lyme. The Lions lost 7-3 against East Lyme in the quarterfinals of last season’s ECC tournament.

“We know what we’re up against,” Cawley said of East Lyme. “… We made a good showing (last season). We tried to show the other teams what the maroon of Wheeler is doing there.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday