“Play Ball”: 50th Edition Of Iowa State Softball Tourney In Fort Dodge

On Monday, eyes around Iowa’s sports scene will be focused on Fort Dodge. For the 50th straight year the Iowa State Softball tournament will call Rogers Park in Fort Dodge home. That means people and teams from all over the state will be in Webster County to see if their version of the dream becomes reality? 40 teams total, 8 in each of the 5 classes will compete and at the end of the week 5 will stand as State Champions. There is plenty of local flavor in the 50th edition, as #1 Fort Dodge will be in the 1st game of the tournament Monday. They take on a quality  #8 Bettendorf  team in the 5A Quartefinals. The two teams are similar in offensive production throughout the season, as Fort Dodge is in the top 10 for almost every team offensive category and Bettendorf is there as well. Dodgers are #1 in Iowa in team batting average, Bettendorf is number 4. The Bulldogs also are 2nd in team home runs with 35 on the season while Fort Dodge is not among the leaders in team home runs. The difference could well be the pitching of Dodger Soph. Jalen Adams who is 2nd in Iowa in wins in the circle with 18 and in the top 15 in strikeouts. Bettendorf’s overall pitching numbers are quite as good as Fort Dodge’s pitching numbers. Fort Dodge is making their 11th appearance at state under Coach Andi Adams and this year marks the 3rd consecutive trip. Coach Adams says that this group having been there together twice before has now changed the expectations for this year’s team.

You can hear every pitch of the Dodgers State Tournament run on “Sunny” 99.7 and here on our website  starting Monday at 11 AM as they take on Bettendorf.

Other area teams that are making appearances at the 2020 Iowa State Softball Tournament include Humboldt, Algona, Newell-Fonda and Ogden. Humboldt is the #4 seed in class 3A and they are in action in prime time Monday a 7:30 1st pitch vs Mt. Vernon. The Wildcats feature one of Iowa’s top pitcher in Ellie Jacobson and one of Iowa’s most feared power hitters in Kendall Clark.  Humboldt Coach Doug Van Pelt’t program is making their 4th appearances in 5 years and he says coming to fort Dodge for state never gets old.

Algona will open up the action Tuesday for area teams they are the 6 seed in Class 3A. They will do battle with 3 seed Williamsburg at 1 PM on Tuesday . Algona features arguably the best two-way player in Iowa in Kam Ehterington. She is #1 in batting Average and On Base Percentage in Iowa and is tremendous as a pitcher with an era of under 1. Algona is making back-to-back appearances at state after making it for the 1st time in school history last year. Coach Todd Van Otterloo’s says this 2nd time around he feels his team will be more comfortable on the big stage.

In Class 2A Ogden is in the State Tournament, they also hold a regular season win over Humboldt one of just 2 losses for Humbold ton the year. That tells the quality of team that Ogden has, they come in 19-3 on the year. Ogden has earned the 3 seed they take on Mount Ayr the 6 seed Tuesday at 5 PM. In the Tuesday nightcap for area Class 1A’s #2 seed Newell-Fonda will be in action taking on 7 seed Lisbon at 7 PM. The Mustangs are 18-2 on the year with one of those losses coming to Fort Dodge in a 6-1 game earlier in the season. It will be a bit of a homecoming for Newell-Fonda head coach Courtney Darrow who played for Coach Andi Adams at Fort Dodge.