No field. No problem.

Just over a week before the start of this softball season, new Dover coach Matt Peck was unsure about his team.

The Lady Longhorns had just taken part in a preseason festival at Watonga and things did not go well.

“It’s going to take a lot of work,” Peck said.

Now, almost a month into the season?

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” admitted Peck.

However, there’s now much more room for optimism.

Dover entered last week with a 7-3 record and when Monday’s coaches’ rankings were released, there sat the Lady Longhorns at No. 17 in Class B.

It’s the first time a Dover softball team has been ranked since the OSSAA instituted the rankings.

“The girls have bought in on playing together and being there for each other,” Peck said.

It also doesn’t hurt that he’s got some talent to mold.

Seniors Kamry and Karly McNulty weren’t eligible to play as juniors after transferring from Hennessey.

Now they’re the pitcher and shortstop and also bat leadoff and second, respectively, in Dover’s lineup.

“They’ve been big voices on the field,” Peck said. “With them being seniors, they lead by example and make sure to hold others accountable. That’s very good for me to have that.”

Batting cleanup and fifth in the order is another set of twins: Katelynn and Karlee Harviston.

The sophomores “were really raw at the beginning of the season, but they’ve picked it up for us,” Peck said.

Sandwiched between the twins is freshman Madison Goodwin, who Peck said “is a big stick for us.”

Another freshman, Hadlee Bryan, follows the Harvistons in the order.

“She’s made strides mentally,” Peck said. “I can tell each day she comes to practice she’s more locked in and she’s continued to get better.”

That meat of the order helped Dover to four wins in five games before an 11-3 loss at Hennessey on Tuesday night.

Prior to the defeat, the Lady Longhorns knocked off Prue 8-0 and Mounds 10-0 to earn a spot in the championship game of the Oilton Invitational.

School officials said they believed it was the first time a Dover fastpitch team reached a tournament final.

Whether the Lady Longhorns are able to win the title has yet to be determined.

Rain delayed the title tilt against Olive and it’s been rescheduled for Sept. 2.

Win or lose that game, Peck said the team may have several strides to make, but has made up a ton of ground already this season.

After the Lady Longhorns went 1-3 at that Watonga festival, Peck said they “hit the reset button.”

They played days later at a team camp in Pioneer.

“We went in with a completely different mindset,” he said. “And our camraderie has gotten better.”

Peck was a standout athlete at Cimarron High School and was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2006 MLB Draft.

He opted to play collegiately and spent two years at Cowley County before finishing up at Oklahoma State University.

Peck has spent several years working with local youth teams and last season was a part of the Kingfisher High School baseball staff as the Jackets reached the 4A state tournament.

Toward the end of last baseball season, the Dover softball offer came his way.

He didn’t pass it up, though his softball coaching experience was slim.

“It was very challenging at first,” he said. “But I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Peck said he’s working on all aspects of the game from the simplest of things like playing catch to larger tasks like learning “how” to win.

“I talk about how we don’t just play catch,” he said. “We do catch training where you’re gripping the ball for a four-seam fastball right out of your glove as soon as you catch it. There’s always something to get better at.

“We don’t let any throw go wasted.”

Peck said he’s in the midst of trying to reverse a trend of “bad body language.”

“One of the things we’re working on is playing with a lead,” he said. “Multiple times we’ve been up - even big - and given up a couple runs. Even though we might still have a big lead, our body language has been terrible. They’ve acted like they were losing.”

Peck said he’s attempting to instill in the team members they “can play through that adversity.’

“They’re starting to figure that out,” he said.

The Lady Longhorns backed it up.

After the mistake-filled loss at Hennessey, Dover bounced back Thursday with two wins at Cimarron.

The Lady Longhorns beat the host team 12-1 and then Oklahoma Bible Academy 9-8.

The team is now 9-4 on the season.

Making Dover’s early start more improbable is the fact the Lady Longhorns have no home field.

Dover is in the process of building a brand-new soft ball complex, but it won’t be finished until after the season.

“I tell them the odds are against us,” Peck said. “Every game is away. We have to practice on the baseball field when the baseball team isn’t using it.

“Those are more things we have to overcome.”

But so far, so good, despite the more recent setbacks.

But it’s not just about wins and losses for Peck, who is married to the former Krista Bullis, who played in four basketball state championship games for the Lady Longhorns.

“It’s more than just playing softball,” Peck said. “I tell them it’s about impacting people, bringing people together, bringing the school together and all the players’ families together.

“That’s what it’s all about.”