Angie Mentink (She/Her)
by Jonathan Naumann (He/Him)
Angie Mentink has made history more than once. A former collegiate and professional athlete, and now a respected sports broadcaster, Mentink has paved the way for women in spaces long dominated by men. Whether its the front end or back end of the sports world. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, and moving all around the country before landing in the Pacific Northwest, she became one of the first standout players on the University of Washington’s inaugural softball team in the early 1990s. Her skill and leadership helped shape UW’s softball program into the powerhouse it is today.
While playing for the UW softball team, she set the school record for batting average with a .472 in her junior year. This record stands to this day. The standard batting average in Soft ball is around .250. Angie Mentink averaged .429 in her college career. This and her induction to the Husky Hall of Fame in 2001 cement her time in college as nothing short of dominant, consistent, and amazing.
After college in 1995, Mentink joined the Colorado Silver Bullets, the first all-female professional baseball team in decades, showing that women did not have to be shut out of the sport. Transitioning into broadcasting in 1998, she became a longtime analyst and reporter for ROOT Sports Northwest, eventually making history again as the first woman to serve as a full-time television analyst for the Seattle Mariners. This milestone was not only significant for regional sports media, but for gender representation in professional baseball coverage as a whole.
In 2022, while battling breast cancer, she continued to broadcast Mariners games and used her platform to speak publicly about her diagnosis and treatment. This act of transparency and strength brought visibility to a health issue that affects many and reminded audiences that strength doesn’t always look like silence or stoicism. Her choice to stay present and vocal during such a personal challenge was both vulnerable and incredibly powerful.
Mentink’s story matters not just because of her career milestones, but because of what they represent. She broke into male-dominated spaces, not by trying to be someone else, but by being exactly who she is: a confident, skilled, knowledgeable woman in love with the game. She reminds us that representation in media and sports is about more than just presence; it’s about visibility with purpose. For anyone watching her from a softball field to the broadcast booth, Angie Mentink shows that it is absolutely possible to rewrite the rules.