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Dodgeville's nine year old Cal Ripken team learned a lot about the way baseball is played on their recent trip to the Ohio Valley Regional in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.
The Dodgeville team, made up of Dodgeville kids, faced all-star teams from Mattoon, IL, Scott County, Kentucky, and Connersville, Indiana in pool play and did not back down one bit. They also played Riley, Indiana in bracket play and lost a close one, 8-4.
In that game it was Reilly vs Riley as Sean Reilly pitched a complete game for Dodgeville, giving up only four hits and striking out two.  He also had one of Dodgeville's hits.
Tarron Bockhop had two hits in the game and Jayden Olson had one.
Pitching was the key to playing four games in three days and Dodgeville got some quality innings from several of the players.
Reilly, Trenton Reddell and Olson split the mound duties against Mattoon.
Dodgeville scored twice in the fourth. Dalen Rickard singled and Reilly followed with an rbi triple. Matthew Pittz then singled over the third base bag to plate Reilly.
Rickard baffled Scott County for three innings when the game was tied 3-3. When he reached his pitch count, Bockhop and Olson came on in relief.
Dodgeville took a 2-0 lead in the first when Chase Forsyth reached on a fielders choice and Rickard drove him in with a single. Pittz then singled for the second run.
Reddell walked to open the third, advanced on a single by Bockhop and scored on a Rickard single. Rickard finished the game 3x3, Bockhop 2x3 with Pittz and Charlie Keith both collecting singles.
Dodgeville had to play back to back and did not score against Connersville.
Forsyth, Reddell and Pittz all threw. For Pittz it was his first time on the mound all season.
It was a new experience competing in an 18 team tournament against state champions from the Ohio Valley Region. Two of the three fields used had grass infields and all three had portable pitchers mounds.
"That took some getting used and we spent the first game figuring things out," said coach Ryan Reilly. "It was a new experience throwing off a mound and the ball acts differently on grass."
"The second game we hung with a team that won a state title and left it all on the field. We were pretty tired going into our third game 15 minutes later."
Reilly, Pat Forsyth and Brian Bockhop coached the team and came away impressed with the quality of baseball played and the facilities.
"We had great cooperation from the parents who came to watch and got the kids to games and practices all summer," Reilly said. "They traveled well and behaved themselves the entire trip. The tournament director told the kids he was impressed with their conduct and there were no complaints about conduct. He said that he couldn't say that about some of the other teams.
"The kids got to see some of Kentucky and the beauty of Louisville," Reilly continued. "We had a hard time getting them out of the Louisville Slugger plant and museum. They have a love of baseball and it shows. They will try hard to do this again."
"The good thing was they all worked hard at the Regional and got better," said Reilly. "They are a fun group to coach and I can't say enough about how hard they try."
Dodgeville was one of three Wisconsin teams at the Regional. Also competing were Janesville and Stevens Point.
The Stevens Point coach, Bob Opiola, and Reilly knew each other from playing baseball at MATC in the mid 1990s.