Two games are all that stand before the eighth-ranked (Class 4A) Fort Dodge softball team and a return trip to the state tournament.

The Dodgers (26-12 overall) host Waverly-Shell Rock here Saturday night at Rogers Park in the 4A, Region 8 semifinals.

First-pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Earlier this week, the Go-Hawks (17-8) knocked off Mason City to advance, 9-0. The other side of the regional will see No. 9 Western Dubuque (29-11) take on Charles City (17-14).

Winners of both semifinals square off on Tuesday with the highest remaining ranked team hosting for a spot in the state field.

Fort Dodge, co-champions of the Iowa Alliance North, are paced by sophomore Ellie Doster, who is hitting .435 with 38 RBI, 13 doubles, three homers and two triples. Classmate Hope Alstott is batting .443 with 57 runs, 12 extra-pase hits, 18 RBI and 45 steals.

Senior starters Meah McCaleb, Ashlyn Wills and Lucy Porter have a combined 68 RBI with 63 runs scored and 87 hits on the year. Porter is 17-6 with a 2.93 earned run average and 121 strikeouts in 114-plus innings.

Waverly-Shell Rock is led by senior Megan Heyer and junior Natalie Beck. Heyer is hitting .412 with 25 runs scored, 13 RBI and six doubles while Beck has scored 18 runs, driven in 16 and hit 11 extra-base hits.

Inside the circle will be eighth-grader Harper Morrison, as she owns a 2.54 earned run average with 216 strikeouts over 129-plus innings.

The Dodgers have won all four meetings between the two schools since 2014, with the last coming in 2022 and resulting in a 12-0 win three innings. Porter struck out seven of the nine she faced that day as a freshman while McCaleb and Ashlyn wills joined her in the lineup.

Heyer and Jillian Diercks were both starters for the Go-Hawks.