Meet the Coaches

Donna Newberry
Head Coach

Donna Newberry begins her 34th season as head softball coach at Muskingum College as the all-time career wins leader in NCAA Division III with 817 victories.

During her tenure, she has become known as one of the most knowledgeable and successful leaders in the game and claimed Muskingum’s first National Championship in 2001. For all her accomplishments, Newberry was selected for induction into the 2008 class of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

She has compiled a 817-370-1 (.689 winning percentage) overall record and an amazing 318-62-1 (.837) slate in the Ohio Athletic Conference, including 17 overall conference championships.

Newberry’s teams have been nothing short of spectacular the last eight seasons. Muskingum has posted an overall record of 340-55 (.861), including a 159-10 record (.941) against all OAC schools and earned the right to host the OAC Tournament by finishing atop the regular season standings in seven of those years. Muskingum has swept through the OAC regular season and tournament, and earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Regional Tournament in nine of the last 10 years.

In 2007, the Lady Muskies ranked eighth in the nation in doubles per game (2.11), 10th in fielding percentage (.969), 18th in slugging percentage (.508) and 25th in win/loss percentage (.766).

In 2006, Muskingum ranked second in the nation in doubles per game (2.19), third in winning percentage (.885), sixth in fielding percentage (.971) and seventh in batting average (.354).

In 2005, the Muskies ranked third in Division III in fielding percentage (.975), fourth in slugging percentage (.523), sixth in doubles per game (1.96) and seventh in batting average (.346).

In 2004, Muskingum ranked fifth in the nation in winning percentage (.860) and fielding percentage (.971), sixth in slugging percentage (.497) and eighth in home runs per game (.74).

In 2003, Muskingum led all Division III teams in total hits (456) and total bases (644). The Muskies also ranked third in winning percentage (.894), sixth in fielding percentage (.973) and ninth in ERA (1.01).

In 2002, the Muskies led all Division III teams in home runs (48) and doubles (97). Muskingum also ranked second in the nation in fielding percentage (.971), second in slugging percentage (.550) and fourth in winning percentage (.833).

In 2001, Muskingum won the league and NCAA Central Region tournaments. At the NCAA Division III Championships, Newberry’s Lady Muskies powered their way past No. 1 seed Central (Iowa) Dutch to claim the Division III National Softball Championship.

Newberry has led the Lady Muskies to the OAC tournament every year since its inception in 1985 and to the championship game 20 times, including 10 straight appearances from 1997-2006. In those 20 appearances Muskingum won the OAC title 16 times.

On the national level, she has led the Lady Muskies to 17 NCAA regional appearances, including nine straight from 1998-2006, and seven NCAA Division III World Series appearances in ’92, ’98, ’01, ’03, ’04, ’05 and ’06. Newberry’s peers have selected her for OAC Coach of the Year honors 10 times.

Newberry graduated from Glenville State (W.Va.) College in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. She earned her master’s degree in physical education from Ohio University in 1974.

In addition to serving as head softball coach, Newberry is the assistant athletic director and an assistant professor of health and physical education at Muskingum. She previously coached the Lady Muskie field hockey and women’s basketball programs. Her 403 victories in basketball make her the only women’s coach in NCAA Division III history to win more than 400 games in more than one sport.

Each summer, Newberry leaves the Muskingum campus for an educational experience. She says the purpose of her journeys is to help her become a wiser person through gaining an understanding of the world. Her journeys during the summers of 1999 and 2000 were to Guyana, South America, where she has taught the sport of softball to the natives. Some of her other destinations have included trips to Colorado for Outward Bound, the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs, Calif., and to Alaska to live with the Koyukon Indians.

Natalie Layden
Assistant Coach

Natalie Layden enters her second season as an assistant coach for the Muskingum College softball coaching staff.

Layden competed at Elon University and was a three-year letterwinner for the Phoenix. Prior to arriving in New Concord, Layden served as an assistant coach at Queens University of Charlotte and was on the coaching staff of the National Pro Fastpitch Akron Racers. She also was the head coach of the 19-and-under Farmville Sting and coached at the University of North Carolina softball camps.

She was recently inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame for volleyball, basketball and softball. Layden received her bachelor's degree in physical education.

John Ritts
Pitching Coach

John Ritts enters his first season as pitching coach for the Muskingum College softball coaching staff.

Ritts is the former head softball coach at Franciscan University and pitchng coach at Waynesburg University. He has 18 years of softball coaching experience and is the founder of the Junior High Spring Softball League in the Ohio Valley.

Ritts has attended more than 130 college coaching clinics and has presented clinics for more than 10 years. His former players have gone on to coach at both the college and high school ranks.