Dover shows up strong, leaves with state championship
AKRON – Just like back in December when Indian Valley won a state football championship, Tuscarawas County showed Ohio it has the best fans in the state on Saturday night when Dover won the Division III state softball championship at Akron Firestone Stadium.
The Crimson Tornadoes won in a mercy rule-shortened, 6-inning game 10-0 over Holland Springfield. OHSAA Director Media Relations Tim Stried addressed the crowd after the game.
“In 2008, the OHSAA softball tournament came to this stadium, and I’m proud to say I’ve been here for all of them, and this is the loudest, most electric crowd…” Stried said before his voice was drowned out by the cheering crowd.
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Dover High School Principal Brooke Grafe said she was overwhelmed as she looked over the sea of Crimson in the stands as she handed out awards to the players.
“Oh my gosh. Just amazing,” she said. “Talk about electric, and our students who showed up. We had a huge student section… That’s a core memory for the girls that were on the field and the community that was in the stands and for the students who were there to witness it. That will be something we will talk about for decades to come.”
Athletic Director Tim McCrate agreed.
“I think we had about 3 or 4 fans for every one of Springfield’s,” he said. “I was very proud of our community to come out and show the support that they typically do.”
Dover Head Softball Coach Hannah Duff played in the state tournament while at Strasburg High School and now is a state championship winning coach in her second season. She said she has never seen anything like the crowd at Saturday’s championship game in Akron.
“I looked at Coach Mo (assistant coach Jimm Morris) in the middle of the game and I told him, ‘This is the most I’ve ever seen at one of these games,’” she said. “I felt the crowd’s energy. When we went out for warmups and they kind of erupted, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ I was a little nervous it was going to be overwhelming for the girls, but they went out and they handled it absolutely perfect.”
The Crimson Tornadoes softball team joins the 2014 girls golf team, 1995 girls track team, and 1929 and 1933 boys basketball teams as OHSAA state champions from Dover High School.
Watch the Dover softball tournament run on the Big Z Sports YouTube Channel.
Photos from the Dover HS Athletic Department Facebook page.