Third in a series of 7
 
Part 1: Shortstop Taylor Hoke (Feb. 16, 2015)
Part 2: First Baseman Emily Osborn (Feb. 24, 2015)

MSUB SPORTS – When freshman Megan Dettling first stepped foot on campus as a student at Montana State University Billings in the fall of 2014, she entered as a promising pitching recruit for the Yellowjacket softball team. The right-hander from Sparks, Nev., was expected to be a contributor to the program right away, but coming in as the lone pitcher in the freshman class she lacked a close companion at her position to share the beginning of her college experience with.
 
Taking Dettling under her wing from the beginning has been senior pitcher Jessyka MacDonald, who recognized the wide eyes of the freshman and easily placed herself in Dettling's shoes. "I have just always thought of her as a bigger sister and a leader," Dettling said regarding MacDonald. "I just want to follow in her footsteps this year so that for the next three years I can lead by example like she does."
 
The fact that MacDonald entered her freshman season with a pair of companions at the same position is perhaps the reason she sympathized naturally for Dettling. Along with senior pitchers Mary Grace Bywater and Jessica Campbell, MacDonald has shared the last four years in the Yellowjackets' program and developed into one of the best ever at MSUB.
 
Midway through the 2015 season MacDonald ranks sixth in career strikeouts (274) and wins (23), seventh in complete games (20), eighth in innings pitched (265), and ninth in earned run average (3.95). The numbers do justice to the contributions MacDonald has made to the program over her four seasons in navy and gold, and they are something for younger pitchers with a world of potential like Dettling to strive towards.
 
"Megan has a ton of potential and I am excited to see where she goes," MacDonald said. "I hope that she works hard at everything and always pitches her best."
 
In addition to the milestones MacDonald has accomplished, it is the example that she sets within her composure and presence on the mound that is of most valuable in the eyes of her peers. "The way that Jessyka looks when she's on the mound shows how much confidence she has," Dettling said. "That's the kind of confidence I want to have when I'm her age."
 
It is a level of confidence and self-esteem that is showing now more than ever when MacDonald steps into the circle, but it is a trait she began acquiring and developing well before her time as a Yellowjacket.
 

HOW THE WEST WAS WON
 
Thirty years after first taking command as the head softball coach at Billings West High School, Ed Kriskovich has plenty to reflect upon and a lifetime of Golden Bear highlights running through his mind on repeat. Today, his team is the reigning Montana Class AA state champions, after a 3-2 win over Missoula last May that gave him his third state title since becoming the head coach.
 
While last year's championship remains fresh in Kriskovich's memory, the first two he won hold a special place in his heart, signifying a much deeper connection through the game of softball. In 1989, it was Kriskovich's daughter, Kelly Hogan who helped Billings West interrupt a five-year string of championships won by Billings Senior and take home its first-ever crown.
 
More than a decade later, it was MacDonald in the circle as a high-school junior who pitched her grandfather's team to another state title with a 4-3 win over Charles M. Russell. Early on in the game, MacDonald helped her team snag the lead as she and now-current Yellowjacket teammate Caryn Perrigo manufactured a run with back-to-back hits in the first inning. Then with MacDonald pitching to the final batter of the game, it was a ground out to Perrigo that ended it and clinched the championship.
 
"Caryn threw that ball over to first and when it was caught that was the best moment of my life," MacDonald said with a smile. "For my grandpa it was really cool for him to win it with another relative."
 
"It was kind of surreal, with my daughter playing second base on our first championship team and Jessyka pitching on our second," Kriskovich said. "It's exciting, that doesn't happen to very many people in their lifetime."
 
Not much had changed within the coaching style of Kriskovich between the state titles, as consistency proved to be the most resilient aspect of his coaching acumen. Perhaps being able to lean on someone in his family when the state title was on the line had something to do with it too.
 
"He was hard on Jessyka just like he was hard on me, but we both had that go hard or go home mentality," Hogan commented on Kriskovich. "He is an excellent coach who knows better than anybody what it takes to have a winning team. I think that's where Jessyka first learned to always keep her spirits up and always stay positive."
 
MacDonald's senior year, she proved her athletic excellence by tossing a perfect game in the state semifinals. She also displayed her mental toughness and composure when the Golden Bears lost to Butte in the state title game, marking the end of her prep career and the beginning of her next chapter.
 
BECOMING A 'JACKET
 
"From what I remember we became instant best friends. We get along so well because we are kind of the same person – laid back and goofy personality wise. I couldn't get along with her any better." Senior pitcher Jessica Campbell on senior Jessyka MacDonald.
 
The summer after MacDonald's senior year, her deadline for selecting a college was fast approaching with her decision hanging in the balance. Moving away from home and pursuing her career in Utah or Washington was appealing to MacDonald at first, but ultimately she elected to head to the east side of Billings and suit up for the Yellowjackets.
 
"She was actually one of the last signees of the year and didn't commit until July," remembered MSUB head coach Lisa Allen. "We spent a lot of time talking to her and kept in contact while she was making her decision. We were all so glad she made the decision to stay in Billings."
 
Moving to the NCAA Division II level provoked a sense of nervousness in MacDonald, even with the success she had experienced at the high school level. When the Yellowjackets won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA West Region Championships, MacDonald quickly differentiated the atmosphere from anything she had previously experienced.
 
"It felt like you were playing a new level of softball, and it was something I had never been a part of before," MacDonald commented on playing in the regional in Seaside, Calif. "The team we had then made it that much better. We had great senior leadership and people we really looked up to."
 
MacDonald got her first taste of the college playoffs, tossing 2/3 of an inning in relief in MSUB's 12-4 loss to No. 6 Cal State Monterey Bay. MacDonald earned the appearance by putting her potential on display earlier in the year, striking out 11

batters and allowing just one earned run in a complete-game 3-2 loss to Western Washington on March 6, 2012.
 
"From the beginning we expected Jessyka to do well," Allen said. "She has been really good at finding a way to still get a good result for our team even when she isn't having the best days. When she is on the mound, the team looks to her to dominate our opponent with strikeouts or other good results our defense can handle easily."
 
The success she experienced her freshman year, along with missing out on the GNAC Championships the last two years, has impacted MacDonald in terms of her leadership and approach to the game. "Being in this program has really taught me to be more of a team player," MacDonald said. "In high school I was the only pitcher but now I cheer on the other pitchers and am supportive and happy for them. It has helped me become the leader that I want to be later in life."
 
The two that she has grown most accustomed to cheering for, Bywater and Campbell, have combined with her to make a strong trio of core senior leaders. "They all gravitated towards each other when they came in together as freshmen," Allen said regarding her senior pitchers. "They knew they had four years together to make this team what they wanted, and to do whatever they needed to do to become better pitchers."
 
Now as a senior, MacDonald reflected on how being in the program has impacted her and shaped her into the mature pitcher she is today. "As a female wanting to coach later in life, the experience of working with Boomer and Bekah (Gasner) has been really good for me," MacDonald said regarding MSUB's head coach and pitching coach. "We have done a ton of team building and mental training, talking about who we want to be as people and how we want people to perceive us. That will definitely help in the long run being out in the real world."
 
With aspirations to become a dental hygienist, MacDonald will graduate with a degree through the health and human performance department at MSU Billings and hopes to remain close to home as she pursues her career. "I will apply to hygiene school by next year, and I definitely want to stay in Montana," MacDonald said. "I would love to live or work in Red Lodge, somewhere like that would be my dream job."
 
RETURN OF THE MAC
 
Each time MacDonald toes the rubber at Avitus Group Stadium this season, the loud speakers will blare out the anthem of her arrival: Mark Morrison's "Return Of The Mack". It started last season, when the nickname she had adopted so her teammates could distinguish between her and Campbell was brought to life by former Yellowjacket Rosie Harrington.
 
"Rosie wanted it to be my song, so starting last year they played it when I came out to the circle in the first inning," MacDonald said with a smile. "People on the team started calling me 'Mac' when I got here because Campbell and I had the same first name."
 
While the name Mac is a convenient alias, what it represents will remain within the program well after its owner graduates. It suggests a passion for the game, the sense of competition, and striving to remain composed and tough no matter what adversity stands in the way. "I hope that the love for the game never dies within my teammates and future players in the program," MacDonald said. "I hope they never settle and always want to perform to the best of their ability."
 
From the time she idolized her brother John as a child and desired to follow in his footsteps athletically, to leading Billings West to a state title, to returning to the circle now as a senior Yellowjacket, MacDonald has only ever called one house in Billings home. Her family around her has been the biggest line of support, with her grandfather as her coach and her parents encouraging her to pursue athletics.
 
"My parents have been behind me in my sporting career my whole life and I honestly wouldn't be the person I am today without them," MacDonald said regarding her mother Christie and her father John. "My Aunt Jan is my number one fan and hasn't missed a home game in forever."
 
As the MacDonalds convene at the ballpark to watch Jessyka's final season this spring, they'll witness the accumulation of a lifetime of preparation in every pitch. To them it will be a feeling of satisfaction and pride as she mows down opposing hitters, whether starting in the first or coming on in relief.
 
To her teammates, like Dettling, it will represent a sense of potential, a living resemblance of what they will undoubtedly strive to one day be.

Next: Part 4, Mary Grace Bywater, RHP