West Liberty owns two of the top players in the conference and ran roughshod through the competition during Day 1 of the MEC softball tournament on Friday.
But even owning the league’s top overall player and pitcher, not every game will be your day. The Hilltoppers found that out Saturday afternoon when South Division champion took down the Hilltoppers in the championship bracket.
West Liberty now must defeat the winner of Frostburg State and Notre Dame, later today. A win there and the Hilltoppers (32-15) will advance to Sunday’s championship game opposite the Yellow Jackets. There, head coach Herb Minch’s club will need to defeat State twice to win the title.
Earlier this week, West Liberty nearly swept the regular season awards for the conference, with Kat Donzella being named Player of the Year while Mackenzie Amend claimed Pitcher of the Year honors.
The battery mates were also teammates at Wheeling Park during their high school careers.
If there was any doubt either Donzella or Amend deserved their respective honors, both put any doubts to rest with their performances in Friday’s Day 1 of competition.
When interviewed for this story, West Liberty coach Herb Minch noted he was a little concerned about how well W.Va. Wesleyan was playing. The Bobcats faced his Hilltoppers in the opening round, and finally healthy, entered the game with the confidence borne from sweeping West Liberty on the hilltop, back on April 18.
How did Minch’s two MVPs respond? In Amend’s case, all the 6-foot junior right-hander did was fire the MEC’s first no-hitter, striking out 11 and coming one walk away from a perfect game in the 3-0 win.
And just who drove in those three runs you ask? If you guessed Donzella, you’d be correct. The junior jacked a solo shot in the fifth inning to break the scoreless tie. One inning later, she produced a little two-out lightning with a two-run double.
Makenzie Amend 
Kat Donzella
Katie Beeman 
Annie Patterson
Consistent Pitching and Hitting
West Liberty capped the first day with a 5-0 shutout of Fairmont State. This time, it was outfielder Katie Beeman—who earlier saved Amend’s no-no with a diving catch—who provided the offense.
Beeman ripped an opposite field two-run homer, again in the fifth, to give the Hilltoppers their final two insurance runs.
Sophomores Annie Patterson and Riley Bennington combined on a six shutout in the circle. Safe to say West Lib has the top pitching staff in conference.
Amend leads the MEC in ERA with 1.41. Patterson, another first-team all-MEC selection along with Beeman, is second in 1.56. Bennington, a Wheeling Central product, is nine at 3.14 and is eighth in strikeouts at 77 despite only 66 innings of work.
“It’s a great opportunity when you have three pitchers you could start on any given day and have the opportunity to win,” Minch said. “Riley even got Pitcher of the Week once. Annie was the one out of the gate for us as we tried to keep Mack fresh for when we hit the heavy part of the schedule.
Offensively, it’d be quicker to list the categories Donzella doesn’t lead the MEC in as opposed to ones she does. Simply put, she’s having one of the single greatest offensive seasons in MEC history.
Sometimes Minch stands back in awe at what his catcher can do at the plate, knowing he may never see this type of season again.
“You hardly ever see someone that dominating. She’s almost that once-in-a-lifetime player,” Minch said. “I haven’t seen anybody as physically gifted. She’s the strongest on the team, the fastest, and has the mind sent and demeanor to play the game.”
She hits for average, for power, and also leads the team in steals. Her RBI total would likely be higher if not for Donzella spending this season atop the batting order, a slight change from her usual slotting in the three or four spot in the order.
“Her response was ‘okay,’” Minch recalled. “She shrugged her shoulders and said let’s go. She doesn’t show a lot of emotion and is about as even keel, level-headed as you’ll find.”
Defensively, Donzella leads the MEC in players thrown out attempting to steal.
Staying Humble and Ready
For Minch, it’s another memorable season in a career full of them. On April 11, the Hilltoppers’ road win against Concord gave the longtime coach his 500th career victory. He too was honored by the MEC, claiming his second straight Coach of the Year honor.
The last time he won the award, the Hilltoppers won the 2019 MEC tournament championship and finished as runner-up at the regional tournament in 2019.
The majority of that team returned for this season, but that didn’t’ allow Minch to think this tournament was his team’s to lose.
“I was talking to another coach on the way down, and he said ‘hey, this is your tournament,’” Minch admitted. “And I told him to stop it; I didn’t want to hear it.”
Minch knows that while his team is talented, it’s capable of being beaten. It has been beaten. He noted there are four or five teams capable of claiming that MEC championship, and if his team wants to hoist that trophy again, it will need more big performances from Amend, Donzella, and their teammates to bring it back to the hilltop.
Saturday’s first matchup proved Minch’s point. The Yellow Jackets scored four runs off Amen on three hits. It’s the third time she’s allowed four runs in a game this season. In all her other appearances, she’s allowed five runs total, four of which were earned.
It’s crunch time for West Liberty now. Can the Toppers’ advance to Sunday’s finale and then take two from W.Va. State?
