Daniels Dodd family enjoying the MLB ride

Aug. 13—Mark Dodd doesn't know the answer to this particular question that has gnawed at him in recent years. Even if he has thought repeatedly about it. In his sleep, no less. Picture this setting. It's late October. The Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin football team Dodd has coached to 102 wins and 16 playoff appearances since 2007 is playing in a Friday night playoff game. Doesn't matter whether it's at the Blue Devils' home venue, Payton-Moss Field, or on the road. That detail isn't all that important. But this one stands out. Because at the same time, his son Dylan, is pitching in the World Series with the Atlanta Braves. Starting on the mound, no less. "I used to have this recurring, sort of nightmare, of that situation," Mark told The News-Gazette last week. "That would wake me up where I'm sitting there having to make a decision. I never knew what my decision was because I'd wake up before, but that's how I woke up." The situation could still transpire this fall. The 20th BHRA football team under Mark's direction is expected to have another strong season when the Blue Devils kick off in less than two weeks on Aug. 22 at Oakwood. And Dylan is still pitching with the Braves. Even if the 28-year-old left-hander is no longer a starter in the Braves' rotation like he was when he made his MLB debut in 2023 with the Braves, he has an important role with a franchise currently leading the National League East that is trying to win its first World Series title since 2021. Dylan carried a 3-1 record with a 2.17 earned run average into Thursday's off day for the Braves after Atlanta's 6-3 victory against the New York Mets on Wednesday night at Truist Park. Thursday is one of just three off days this month for Atlanta — before the Braves start a weekend home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. The past three months have seen Dylan come into his own with the Braves. And have seen the Braves start to use him in more high-leverage relief situations. Dylan didn't start the 2026 season with the Braves, instead spending the first few weeks with the Class AAA Gwinnett Stripers, but since a return from the 15-day injured list in mid-May because of left thoracic spine inflammation, he has become a key cog first-year Braves manager Walt Weiss can turn to out of the bullpen. He has made a career-high 34 appearances and already thrown a career-high 37 1/3 innings in what is his fourth season with the Braves. A season that will likely culminate with another postseason appearance for the organization, but one in which Dylan could actually contribute. He finished the 2025 season with the Braves, posting a 1-0 record with a 3.60 ERA in 28 relief appearances and 35 innings pitched, but the Braves finished 76-86 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Dylan didn't end the 2023 and 2024 seasons in the majors, doing so in the minor leagues. Which is what also makes his success in 2026 even sweeter. He never flourished as a starter, making seven starts in 2023 and going 2-2 with a 7.60 ERA. His only appearance in the majors the following season marked his first relief appearance when he threw two innings and gave up two runs on four hits during an 8-5 home loss against the Brewers on Aug. 7, 2024. His 2024 season featured more lows than highs. Dylan went 2-7 with a 5.35 ERA with the Stripers, with 20 of his 25 appearances coming as a starter. "I believe that was just the time where he was just honest with himself about things he was good at and things he wasn't," Mark said. "His role as a starter, honestly, it just wore on him and wore him down. By the middle of June, he was throwing 90 mph and his body was aching all the time. That was a real good eye-opener for him about how he could make it as a pro. The bullpen has been a godsend for him." Dylan has increased his velocity out of the bullpen while he relies heavily on a sinker that averages just below 94 mph, up almost two ticks from when he threw a four-seam fastball as a starter around 92 mph. It has helped him strike out a career-high 40 batters so far this season, with opponents hitting a paltry .148 against him as he has compiled 11 holds and one save. Mark, who also coaches the BHRA baseball team, and his wife, Thea, have spent time in Atlanta, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago this summer watching Braves' games. "That's our best time of the day, honestly," Mark said. "Whether he throws or not, we just love our time doing that together." The normal routine of when Dylan would pitch as a starter is long gone. He's now firmly a reliever with the Braves, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2021 MLB draft after Dylan's college career took him first to Kankakee Community College and then to Southeast Missouri State. The stop in Cape Girardeau, Mo., is where his pitching ability developed even more — he won the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2021 — after his hitting ability stood out more during his high school career with the Blue Devils. "He'd gone through three years of up and down and up and down," Mark said. "You get excited, and then you get heart-broken. He's had some success and some failure. This year, we've really seen him mature, and he's really settled in to how he's going to be successful. He's stayed true to that. It's just really, really fun. It's never dull or routine for us. When we hear he's warming up, our heartbeat really starts going. "You're just still torn as a parent. You want him to do so well, and you're so scared he won't. You're just living right in the middle." The coaching side of Mark comes out, too, when Dylan is on the mound. Whether he's in the stands at a Braves game or watching on TV. "I like the television view better because I can see what his pitches are doing better," Mark said. "We honestly don't really like going anywhere to watching the games in a crowd because I'm like a coach calling his pitches and saying it out loud. My wife is praying. That's just what we do." The success of Dylan with the Braves is one aspect to his story. But the other aspect is the MLB reliever who has pitched this season at venues like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Camden Yards, Petco Park and a variety of others used to play his high school games in places like Bismarck, Danville, Georgetown, Hoopeston, Potomac and Westville, among others, throughout east central Illinois. That part of his story isn't lost on current BHRA seniors like Liam Parish and Vince Lane. "It just reminds us that the sky is the limit," said Parish, a top running back for BHRA who emerged this past season as a top pitcher for the Blue Devils, as well. "You put in the work, there's so much opportunity out there. Never stop working hard, stick to your goals and good things can happen." "Any kid can do it," added Lane, a starter for the Blue Devils on the offensive line and defensive line. "It's just how hard you work and how much effort you put into it." Music to the ears of a veteran, Hall of Fame football coach like Mark Dodd. Who could still have to juggle his October a bit depending on his football team's playoff run and the Braves' potential playoff run. "We'll cross that bridge when it comes," Mark said with a grin.