Fort Dodge softball coach Andi Adams believes that in order for her players to fully embrace the future, they must pay respect to the program’s historic past.

The Dodgers will honor the school’s first-ever softball squad before a season-opening doubleheader at Rogers Park on Monday. At least five players from the 1971 team will be in attendance to throw out the cermeonial first pitch on Diamond 1 a little before 5 p.m.

“It’s an incredible honor for us to bring Fort Dodge softball’s past to life like this,” Adams said. “Our girls love learning about the history of the sport, especially here. They want to be a part of that legacy, and the best way to write their own chapter is to first understand what the players and teams before them accomplished.

“It brings great perspective to the traditions we’re trying to maintain.”

Legendary Dodger baseball leader Ed McNeil was actually the head coach of the ’71 ballclub, which played in the fall and qualified for the state tournament. Rogers Park became the home of the championships a year earlier, in 1970, and has served as tourney host ever since.

McNeil was inducted into the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Softball Hall of Fame in 1988. As a Hall of Fame baseball coach, McNeil finished with a record of 539-285. The baseball field at Dodger Stadium bears his name.

McNeil coached a handful of sports at FDSH from the mid-1960s until 1990. The Dodgers were state baseball champions in 1969 and silver medalists in 1989 under his direction.

The 1971 Dodger softball team included Kathy Guetzlaff, Rochelle Netland, Dianne McCabe, Juanita Marsh, Pat Johnson, Annette Dillon, Pat Askelson, Darci Chalstrom, Rhonda Hauge, Roxanne Castagnoli, Karen Peterson, Pat Grace, Laura Leege, Fran McCormick, Linda Salvatore, Kim Hearn and Carol Vasbinder.