West Liberty gave a solid accounting of itself at the NCAA Atlantic Region softball tournament, finishing 2-2 before a late rally in an elimination game against East Stroudsburg fell short.
Whether the MEC champion Hilltoppers felt slighted or not at their No. 5 seed and description as a “sleeper” team for the tournament, West Liberty set to task quickly.
Facing No. 4 seed ESU in the opening round, West Liberty got its hit party started earlier with at two-run double from Annie Patterson. Later in the fifth, Wheeling Central product Allie Cook clubbed a two-run homer, which was followed by a solo blast from Katie Beeman. All told, the ’Toppers managed 10 hits, five of which went for extra bases.
Makenzie Amend and Riley Bennington, meanwhile, combined on a no hitter, with Bennington coming in for the final three outs to preserve the no-no. Amend’s 10 strikeout performance pushed her past the 500 mark for her career.
In the next game Bennington, Taylor Bonnett, and Amend combined to hold No. 1 seed and No. 25 nationally ranked Kutztown to two runs on five hits in a 5-2 victory. Riley Conkle drove in two of the Hilltoppers’ five runs.
West Liberty then ran into two-time defending regional champion and No. 3 seed West Chester, who defeated the Hilltoppers 6-3. The Rams managed six runs off 13 hits against West Liberty’s formidable stable of arms, while the Hilltoppers garnered hits only off Jen Hanshaw. One of those hits was a two-run homer.
Finally, facing ESU again in an elimination game, West Liberty got behind early thanks to an RBI single in the first inning, an unearned run in the second, and a successful suicide squeeze in the third. Donzella clubbed a solo shot to cut the deficit to 4-2 but West Liberty couldn’t quite close the gap, sending the Warriors to the championship game opposite West Chester.
West Liberty concluded the season with a 37-17 record along with four D2CCA All-Atlantic Region selections in first teamers Amend, Beeman, and Annie Patterson, along with second-teamer Donzella.
Fleming Heading to National Meet
Wheeling’s Liz Fleming learned earlier this week that she qualified for the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships at Grand Valley State University.
Fleming, the reigning MEC champion in the hammer throw, just finished qualifying in her signature event, posting the 23rd best distance nationally. The top 17 were taken in the hammer. But her PR of 14.91m in the shot put gave the Cardinals’ senior the No. 15 time, earning her a spot in the meet.
Teammates Brian Vandusen and Danielle Stewart just missed qualifying in the long jump and pole vault, respectively.
Vandusen’s leap of 7.47m in the MEC championship gave him the 15th best time nationally, but the meet only took the top 14, all of whom were, at minimum, 7.5m. Stewart’s best vault of the season of 3.92m was a bit off the final spot of 4.02m as she finished with the 27th best vault.
MEC women’s discus champion Kelsi Hulit was also close, finishing with the 27th best throw of 47.10m. The last qualifying distance to was 49.7m
Cards Garner All-Region Honors
No Wheeling U baseball player had been named to the All-Atlantic Region team since 2010. That is, until the conclusion of the 2021 season, when three Cardinals were so honored.
Leading the way are senior third baseman Luis Dominguez and sophomore utility-man Jacob Murray, a former Linsly Cadet.
Teammate Albert Baez was named second-team all-region as a relief pitcher. Joining Dominguez and Murray on the first-team are fellow MEC athletes Ethan Lauchart and Matt Harrison from W.Va. State, and Concord’s Anthony Stehlin Jr. Stehlin, along with Shepherd’s Jared Carr, are the only multiple-time selections on the team.
Former Hilltopper Comes Home
Seger Bonifant, a former All-American for the West Liberty men’s basketball team, was named the athletics director at Hiland High School in Berlin, Ohio recently.
Bonifant, a two-time national player of the year, was also an all-Ohioan while helping lead the Hawks to back-to-back Ohio state championships in 2011 and 2012.
He now returns to where it all started to help lead the next generation of Hiland athletes to continued statewide success.
Note: The MEC Notebook highlights the top news and notes from around the Mountain East Conference.
