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A Maple Leaf’s connection to World Series glory

Nov 06 2025

It’s the early morning hours of October 28, 2025. Goshen freshman softball student-athlete Molly Klein has just taken a quiet walk around campus and returned to her dorm. She has too much energy. Finally, around 6:00 am, she is able to get to sleep. She is skipping her class the next day, but her professor doesn’t mind at all. In normal circumstances, this wouldn’t make sense. But it is more reasonable knowing that Molly’s brother just became the winning pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a wild 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series.

Molly with her sister-in-law Carson and brothers Will and Sam Klein

Let’s rewind a few hours. With the series tied 1-1, the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays were playing Game 3 in Los Angeles. The game was tied 5-5 after nine innings, and the teams moved on to extras. The innings kept adding up, but the number of available bullpen pitchers was only diminishing. The Dodgers went to Emmet Sheehan for 2.2 innings, then to future MLB Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to get an out – the last appearance of his illustrious career. Next was Edgardo Henriquez for two innings, and then, for the top of the 15th inning in a game still tied 5-5, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to Will Klein.

Molly was watching the game, but as the extra innings went on, she was considering going to bed. After all, she had class the next morning. Will had only been added to the Dodgers’ postseason roster before the World Series, so it wasn’t likely that he was going to pitch anyway. It wasn’t likely that Game 3 of the World Series would go to 18 innings either, but here we are.

“My mom was like, ‘Will’s one of the only two pitchers left in the bullpen they have,’ and I was like, okay, I guess I’ll stay up. Maybe he will go in.”

Molly stayed up, and Will went in. And stayed in. With a limited bullpen by that point, Roberts kept returning to Klein inning after inning. The red-bearded 25-year-old who was acquired by the Dodgers from the Mariners less than five months earlier ended up throwing 4.0 innings on the game’s biggest stage, not allowing any earned runs and just one hit while striking out five and walking two. Finally, in the bottom of the 18th inning and a little before 3:00 am Eastern time, Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off homer for the Dodgers, giving them a 2-1 edge in a series they would eventually win in seven games, and making Klein the game’s winning pitcher.

Molly was viewing the game on her phone before watching on TV with some friends in another dorm. “Everybody was going crazy. My phone instantly started blowing up,” she recalled. “I still can’t process it. I’ve known him my whole life, and he’s pursuing his dream.”

We need to go back much farther to see the lasting impact baseball and softball have had on Molly’s life and the Klein family. The first time she was out of the house after she was born was for a baseball game, if that tells you anything about the sport’s influence on her. Both of her older brothers played baseball. Will competed in college at Eastern Illinois and her brother Sam competed at Ball State. “Growing up, I went to all their baseball games in high school and in college. They were definitely an inspiration to keep pushing myself,” she shared. “I knew I wanted to go to the college level. If they could do it, I could do it.”

While she played volleyball, soccer, and other sports, softball was the route she eventually landed on. It was kind of hard not to pick softball. At Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Indiana, Molly earned all-conference honors three years in a row as well as honorable team all-area. She was on the varsity team all four years and was the team captain for two. She also earned awards for mental attitude, service, being a difference maker and outstanding performance in world language, in addition to being on the academic honor roll.

She discovered she wanted to work as a deaf and hard-of-hearing teacher, hopefully at the school where her mom, Brittany, teaches. At Goshen College, she would be able to play softball, attend a small school like she wanted, and pursue the program she wanted to major in, elementary and special education with a minor in deaf studies. “I told my brothers I was going to Goshen College, and they were so proud of me,” Molly said. “That’s amazing to hear from your brothers who have done amazing things.”

The life of a major leaguer is a wild one. And after Will’s World Series performance, it only got crazier. Molly texted him, letting him know she loved him and was proud of him. He responded, but it was one of many messages to respond to. After he had gone through them all, there were many more. Yet the two were able to talk over the phone more recently to catch up on so much since Molly had arrived at Goshen and Will had found fame. “It was nice. It was a long phone call because we were catching up on everything.”

Christmas will likely be the next time the Kleins get back together in person. Then, come mid-February, it will be Molly’s turn to make waves as she debuts at Goshen College.

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