Fort Dodge is ready to return as the state softball tournament host after a brief hiatus.

Standing in the third-ranked (Class 4A) Dodgers’ way is No. 11 Sioux City Bishop Heelan.

First pitch in this Region 3 final is set for 7 p.m. on Diamond 1 at Rogers Park on Tuesday.

Last year, the Dodgers (37-4 overall) were denied a spot in the 4A field for the first time since 2017. Head coach Andi Adams’ squad has been driven to make amends ever since, playing like a team on a mission from day one in 2026.

High-powered Fort Dodge leads 4A in team batting by a whopping 49 percentage points at .431. The Dodgers are first in runs batted in, runs scored, hits, run differential, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while ranking second in home runs an OPS (on base plus slugging).

FDSH lived up to its billing in a regional semifinal at home last Saturday, wiping out MOC-Floyd Valley, 15-0 in four innings, to advance.

Five different Dodger regulars are batting .430 or better in junior Ellie Doster (.595), freshman Macy Wills (.495), sophomore Grace Nichols (.494), senior Teryn Rippentrop (.485) and junior Hope Alstott (.432). Doster, a catcher, has already set the program’s single-season record for RBI at 71. She has 12 home runs, and sits atop 4A with 19 doubles.

Nichols has eight homers and has driven in 53. Wills has three and 40, respectively.

Alstott has scored 65 runs, which is third in 4A. The three-time first team all-stater also has a class-best nine triples.

Rippentrop (23 stolen bases), Alstott (22) and senior Maeleena Meyer (21) have been FDSH’s most effective baserunners.

Sophomore pitcher Aubrey Alstott is second in 4A with 21 wins from the circle. After Saturday’s perfect game, Alstott’s earned run average is now below two on the season.

Alstott carries a 21-1 record into regional final action. Sophomore classmate and teammate Sydney Carver is 14-2.

Now the Dodgers square off with the Crusaders (32-8), who are winners in 14 of their last 15 ballgames. Eighth-grader Sophia Dannenbring leads all of 4A with a .712 batting average, along with eight home runs and 29 RBI. She forms a precocious tandem with Sophie Lane, another eighth-grader, who is hitting .388.

Senior Shannon Cleary (.451) and junior Eliana Ross (.378) are the other main offensive threats for the Crusaders, who rely on a pair of pitchers — junior Erin Fitzpatrick (16-5) and sophomore Alexandra Dannenbring (14-3) — to carry the workload.

Fort Dodge has advanced to state 20 times overall and 16 under Adams since 2002. The Hall of Fame head coach is 889-358 overall and 836-325 with the Dodgers, who are 301-71 since the start of 2018.

FDSH placed fourth or higher in 4A every season from 2020-23. Only one other Dodger group has finished the regular season with a win percentage of .900 or better: the state title squad of 2021.