The Dover High School Varsity Softball team had a remarkable 2025 season, finishing as Division 3 State Champs. During the regular season, they were 21-3, taking tough losses to Parkersburg South, Lake, and Steubenville. However, they were able to put aside their losses to come up with a 12-game winning streak to lead them into a State Championship.
To start the tournaments, on Wednesday, May 14th, the Lady Tornadoes battled Tri-Valley at home and defeated them 1-0 after a passed ball in the 7th inning. Dover pitchers Kara Lint and Jenna Molk threw a combined perfect game. Kara pitched 5 innings with 13 strikeouts, and Jenna came in to pitch 2 innings, striking out 4.
In their next game, they took on that team across the river on Monday, May 19th. The game was at home again for a 4-3 dub that took 12 innings. It all came down to a small mistake with what some thought would be an interference, but Dover ended up getting a run across the plate in walk-off fashion.
Then, the Lady Tornadoes traveled to Harrison Central High School to play Sheridan for the district championship on Wednesday, May 21st. The Lady Tornadoes came through with a 1-0 win with back-to-back doubles in the 5th inning by Ariana Immel and Madi Bantum.
That next week they battled Hoban at Alliance High School, the winner would move on to the regional championship. As we know, the Lady Tornadoes made it past this time 2-0. The runs for this game came by long balls from Olivia McCue and Jenna Molk. Pitching was strong for Dover as Kara struck out 15 in 5 innings and Jenna sat down 4 in 2 innings.
Their next game was set for a Friday, but it ended up getting rescheduled for Saturday, May 31st. So on Saturday, they played for their chance to go to state. The last time Dover Softball went to state was in 2008. In true Dover fashion, the Lady Tornadoes defeated Bloom-Carroll in a 6-inning 13-2 game. Dover had 4 home runs this game, 1 each by Charlie Reese, Jenna Molk, Olivia McCue, and Susie Peltz. Dover had another strong pitching performance by Kara and Jenna.
On the big stage at Firestone Stadium, Dover had to face Western Brown on June 6th. The game started out 0-0 for the first 5 innings until Madeline Fockler got on base from a little blooper hit to the shortstop. Then Jenna Molk hit a double to score Fockler to break the stalemate. The 6th inning turned into a big 6-run inning for the Lady Tornadoes. Ariana Immel helped in the 6th inning with a 3-run no-doubter over the center field fence. This gave the Lady Tornadoes a momentum nobody could take away. In the 7th inning, they were able to get another run across the board and shut down Western Brown to secure their ticket to the State Championship game.
On Saturday, June 7th, the Dover Lady Tornadoes competed for the Division 3 State Champion title against Holland Springfield. Their game got slightly delayed as the game before went to 9 innings to break a tie. During this delay, everyone was informed that they had broken the attendance record at Firestone Stadium, which was set as the Dover fans were arriving.
To start the game, Jenna Molk hit a home run on the very first pitch at the bottom of the 1st inning. This gave Dover a 1-0 lead early on. In the first 3 innings, the Lady Tornadoes were able to get 1 run across the board in each inning, which gave them a 3-0 lead. Kara Lint pitched the first 4 innings with 8 strikeouts, and Jenna Molk finished the game with 3 strikeouts in 2 innings. The 4th inning was scoreless, but they made up for it by scoring 2 in the 5th inning from a double by Avery Contini. Then, to start the bottom of the 6th inning, Susie Peltz made it to third base from an error. Susie scored when Ariana hit a grounder to right field. Madeline Fockler singled to get on base for Jenna Molk to hit a 3-run home run to put the Lady Tornadoes up 9-0. Now the tensions were rising. The sudden feeling of realization sank in, knowing that with only one more run, they would win. Olivia McCue was up next, and she delivered with a double to get on base. Then, with 2 outs, Avery Contini was up. With a base hit, she could end the game early, making Dover the State Champs, and she did.
For the first time in Dover’s History, the Lady Tornadoes brought home a Division 3 State Championship for softball. What an excitement!
