Hunter Remmick’s LRSC headshot (via lrscroyals.com).
Devils Lake alum Hunter Remmick’s college baseball career is off to a decent start.
The freshman right-hander was named the Mon-Dak Pitcher of the Week during Lake Region State College’s season-opening road trip.
The Royals came back to Devils Lake with a 5-20 record.
After starting the season 0-7 during February, they went 5-13 at the RussMatt Invitational in Florida from March 2-13.
Remmick pitched a gem on March 8. It was the second leg of a doubleheader against Schoolcraft College. The Royals won, 1-0, extending their winning streak to three games at the time.
Remmick threw a complete-game shutout. He struck out seven, walked five and allowed just three hits. He totaled 107 pitches.
In a relief outing earlier that week, Remmick struck out five over two innings while giving up two runs (both unearned). He was named the Mon-Dak Pitcher of the Week for throwing nine innings with 12 strikeouts and zero earned runs allowed.
A seven-run outing on the last day of the tournament hurt his season numbers a little bit, but Remmick owns a 5.02 ERA through his first 14 1/3 collegiate innings, spanning four appearances (two starts). He has 18 strikeouts, good for an 11.3 K/9 mark.
A fellow Devils Lake alum, Beau Brodina, has also played a significant role in the early going for the Royals. The sophomore has appeared in all 25 games for LRSC, amassing 78 plate appearances. That’s only five short of how many he had all of last season.
Brodina is batting a modest .246 but with a sparkling .436 OBP. He has more walks (15) than hits (14), along with five hit-by-pitches. He’s also stolen 11 bases while only getting caught twice. Brodina has consistently been near the top of the Royals’ lineup, often batting out of the leadoff spot.
Freshman catcher Trason Beck, the third Devils Lake alum on the team, has also gotten some solid reps. He’s appeared in 15 of the Royals’ 25 games, hitting .290/.405/.419 over 37 plate appearances.
After losing their first two games of the RussMatt — including a 20-2 beating by Frederick Community College — to fall to 0-9 on the season, the Royals got their first win on Wednesday, March 4. They beat Kalamazoo Valley Community College 13-1 behind an eight-run fourth inning and five strong innings from Rory Manns. Seven Royals recorded RBIs in the game, including Brodina and Beck. Jamison Nelson went 2-for-2, while Logan Dearborn hit a triple.
The Royals lost their next three games to fall to 1-13.
Their pitching has put up a cumulative 12.95 ERA over their first 25 games, the second-worst mark in the Mon-Dak. They also have the worst WHIP in the Mon-Dak at 2.58.
LRSC won three games, though, between March 7 and 8, culminating in Remmick’s gem. All three were one-run victories.
The Royals beat Minnesota North College — Vermilion 6-5 for the first win of that stretch. They walked it off in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Gabriel Mckinney. They had tied it up with a three-run seventh. Down 5-2, Beck, Donnovin Fiorentino and Dylan Vanderbunt all drew walks, with a Mckinney hit by pitch in there. Vanderbunt’s walk came with the bases loaded.
Sophomore Lucas Lyons tied it with a two-run single. Lyons was one of the best players on last year’s team. He’s gotten off to a relatively more modest start, with a .250/.351/.350 batting line thus far. But his clutch hit led to the Royals’ second win of the season.
A leadoff double by Carson Beaudin and back-to-back hit-by-pitches set the table for Mckinney’s walk-off.
Kade Maryniuk pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. He was credited with the win.
In the first game of the March 8 doubleheader against Schoolcraft, LRSC overcame a six-run second inning to win 11-10. Brodina reached base four times, with two hits and two walks, as the Royals scored nine runs over the final four innings, including five in the fifth. Lyons, Dearborn and Beck also had two hits each. LRSC drew a whopping 13 walks.
In the 1-0 win the same day, Lyons had the Royals’ lone RBI. He singled to drive in Brodina, who led off the bottom of the first with a hit by pitch. Remmick took over from there on the mound.
Now 4-13 on the season, LRSC lost its next three contests 16-2, 11-1 and 10-0.
The Royals’ final win in Florida came March 11 against Macomb Community College. After a 10-0 loss to start the doubleheader, they won 5-3 in the nightcap. They scored all five of their runs in the first inning. The first four batters all walked or were hit by a pitch. Dayton Christensen hit a two-run double, while Joesiah Ancheta and Fiorentino had sacrifice flies.
Lucas Stoll started the game, throwing four innings with three runs (two earned) allowed. Evan Clark pitched three scoreless innings to finish the game, allowing just one hit. He worked around three walks, throwing only 27 of his 54 pitches for strikes.
The Royals’ road trip culminated with losses of 15-4, 21-4, 22-9 and 13-10.
LRSC batters, collectively, have hit .234 so far with a .370 OBP. They have 143 hits and 105 walks. They’ve hit nine home runs.
The three Devils Lake kids are all having good seasons. Cando native Dane Hagler has not appeared in a game yet due to injury.
Dearborn has put up the best offensive stats of any hitter with enough plate appearances to qualify. He’s hitting .321/.449/.536 over 69 plate appearances. He has two home runs. Vanderbunt leads the team in home runs with three.
The Royals are in their second season under head coach Steve Anderson. In Anderson’s first year, they set a program record in conference wins, going 11-13 in Mon-Dak play. They went 14-33 overall.
The team is scheduled to host the UND club team on March 21 at 7 p.m., weather permitting.
The Royals will begin this year’s conference slate on March 28 at Williston State College. They’ll host WSC the next day, March 29, with a noon first pitch at DLYA Field.
