VERONA, Wis. (WMTV) - Wisconsin native Ben Rortvedt is catching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, a milestone years in the making for the former Verona Area High School standout.

“Oh, from the time that he was this big, his first word was ball,” his mother, Kim O’Leksy said of her son’s earliest days.

Rortvedt grew up outside Madison, attending Verona Area High School in Verona, Wisconsin. Drafted in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins, he developed into a valued catching prospect.

“From this big, he said that he was going to be a baseball player, a professional baseball player. And I would always say, you need to have a backup plan. And he would say, there are no backup plans,” O’Leksy recalled.

His former high school coach, Brad D’Orazio, said

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