Head coach Herb Minch’s Lady Hilltoppers begin the defense of their 2019 MEC softball championship Friday in Salem, Va. as the conference tournament gets underway.
West Liberty sets itself up in a solid position as its split with Notre Dame gave the Hilltoppers the MEC North Division crown for the second season in a row.
Now, WLU will take on the South Division’s No. 4 seed, currently Concord. The Hilltoppers are 2-0 against the Lions this season, but both games were hotly contested. In a doubleheader at Athens, West Liberty won the opener 2-1 before needing nine innings to put Concord away, 5-4, in the night cap.
W.Va. State is presently the No. 1 seed in the South Division and split an earlier season doubleheader with West Liberty, winning 3-0 before falling 6-3.
The Hilltoppers are led by hard-hitting catcher and former Wheeling Park standout Kat Donzella. She leads the MEC in batting average (.463), slugging (.748), on-base percentage (.525), hits (57), total bases (92), is tied for first in home runs (7) and is second in runs scored (35).
In the circle, the Hilltoppers boast the top two ERA marks in the conference in sophomore Annie Patterson (1.59) and junior Makenzie Amend (1.6), another WPHS product. Not far behind is Wheeling Central graduate Riley Bennington (2.95), giving WLU three in the Top 9.
Amend allows a league-low opponents’ batting average of .150, while Patterson leads the MEC in strikeouts with 133. Amend has eight wins while Patterson and Bennington have seven apiece.
All-MEC Football Honors Announced
Two Hilltoppers earned first-team all-MEC football laurels when the team was announced last week. Running back Quincy Wimbish, along with punter Owen Rozanc both earned a spot on first team.
Wimbish was third in the MEC in rushing and became the first WLU running back to eclipse 100 yards in back-to-back games since 2017. Rozanc, meanwhile, moved up from his second-team position last season by leading the MEC in punting whilst hitting 4-of-4 field goal attempts.
They are joined on second team by fellow West Liberty teammates Kyle Ritz at H-Back, David Gilcreast at defensive line, linebacker Clay McDonald, and defensive backs Koty Hudson and Jason Mitchell. Ritz, Hudson and McDonald are products of Magnolia, Brooke and Wheeling Park, respectively.
Wheeling didn’t have any players on first team, but it did land four on second. Running back Sy Alli IV and defensive back Rich White III, along with Martins Ferry product Dalton Hoover at linebacker and former Monroe Central Seminole Ryan LaFollette at receiver. This is LaFollette’s second time on the team as he earned the honor in 2019.
Former Hilltopper Lands Position
Former West Liberty standout, and most recently as director of player development under Jim Crutchfield at Nova Southeastern, Devin Hoehn was named the new head men’s basketball coach at Bluefield State.
Hoehn played under Crutchfield, then the ultra-successful Hilltoppers’ head coach, helping the Black & Gold to two national championship appearances while averaging better than 17 points per game during his senior season.
In an interview given to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Hoehn imparted he’ll be taking the lessons he learned from Crutchfield, both as a player and an assistant, and implementing them with the Big Blue.
Weekly Conference Honors
The following athletes were honored last week by the MEC as the top performers in their respective sports:
| Players of the Week |
| Men’s Track & Field: Devin Taylr, W.Va. Wesleyan |
| Women’s Track & Field: Faith Gandy, W.Va. Wesleyan |
| Baseball: Brian Campbell, West Liberty (Player); Ethan Lauchart, W.Va. State/Andrew Neff, Concord (Pitcher) |
| Softball: Lauryn King, W.Va. Wesleyan (Player); Danielle Baure, UC (Pitcher) |
| Women’s Lacrosse: Stephanie King, Frostburg State (Offensive); Mackenzie Levine, Notre Dame (Defensive) |
Note: The MEC Notebook highlights the top news and notes from around the Mountain East Conference.
