 Born Angela Marie Marzetta in Norfolk, Virginia, Mentink grew up in a United States Navy family and attended multiple high schools, including Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, and Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina, before graduating from Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona in 1990.Playing at linebacker and wingback, Mentink was the first girl at Taft to letter in football.An outfielder, Mentink began her college softball career at Central Arizona College, earning first-team NJCAA All-American honors in 1992 and being part of two NJCAA national championship teams under coach Clint Myers.