Dickinson delight: Blue Hawks capture first ever Frontier Title

Almost two years ago to the date, Dickinson State sophomore Ava Jahner was given the ball to pitch in the state championship game against Bismarck High at Bravera Field.

Sporting the Dickinson High black and orange at the time, she’d go on to pitch a complete game to lead the then Midgets to an 8-2 victory and another state title.

And in 2026, on that very same field, she’d be given the ball again with the stakes at their highest, this time by DSU manager Kristen Fleury.

And while maybe it wasn’t the most glowing stat line of her standout sophomore season, it was enough to get the Blue Hawks over the edge in a 5-4 victory over Bellevue to capture their first Frontier Conference championship in school history.

“Ava is a dog,” Fleury said. “I tell her that all year. We knew she played in some big games, winning a state championship on this field when she was in high school. We knew any of the kids could take the moment, but we went with her.”

Jahner, a Gatorade Athlete of the Year at Dickinson High and a Trinity High School graduate, was a hot commodity after the game, with friends, family, and teammates all eager to get a moment and a picture with her.

“This was awesome,” Jahner said. “You can really feel the love in Dickinson, especially with softball. Everyone out there watching us is rooting for us and they truly love our team, and we just try to give back to the community as much as we can because they’re awesome for us.”

Jahner finished the game going all seven innings, allowing three earned runs alongside two punchouts.

But a few more runs almost made it into that total.

In the first inning, the Bruins hit what looked like a three-run home run, but the second runner failed to touch home plate, resulting in two of the three runs coming off the board. After that blip in the first, Jahner put things into cruise control for then on.

“She was incredible,” catcher and Frontier Conference Player of the Year Brooke Lijewski said. “She was doing what she needed to do. Sometimes they’re going to hit, and that’s OK. She put them on their heels, and that was all we could ask for from her.”

And in the fifth inning, it was Lijewski putting the Bruins on their heels – their left fielder specifically. With the Blue Hawks down 3-2, she hit a no-doubter over the wall in left-center field, giving DSU a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.

She finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBIs to go alongside solid work behind the dish.

But Bellevue continued to battle. Down 5-3 in the seventh, they pushed across one more run to make it 5-4 with a runner on first and two outs.

But on a slow dribbler to third, Kiley Hubby made the throw to first to end the game.

“It was one of those things that as soon as it got to Hubby, I just knew,” Lijewski said. “I wasn’t even running to back up – it was more to go celebrate.”

After the game, the on-field celebration featured Frontier Conference championship T-shirts with the tune of “Dixieland Delight” pouring through the Sanford Sports Complex, along with a Gatorade bath for coach Fleury – who just so happened to be wearing a dark, waterproof Blue Hawks jacket, rendering the dump practically useless.

“There is no better place than Bravera Field,” Fleury said. “For us to do it here – it’s a special place that we built, and to see all the people come out and support them and what they do, there’s no better place to do it.”

The Blue Hawks end their Frontier Conference season at 40-12 and currently ride a 24-game win streak as they head into the NAIA National Championships next week.

“It’s great to be in Dickinson,” Jahner said. “Our community is so great at DSU. Just to be able to do it with my team – I love all those girls. We have quite a few seniors and we’re going to miss them so much, so getting one more week with them is going to be really special.”