Devils Lake picked up two statement wins on the road Friday.
The Firebirds (5-3, 5-3) went down to Starion Field in Fargo and swept the Fargo South Bruins (6-4, 5-3), who began the day in second place. South was the preseason No. 2 in the Eastern Dakota Conference, while Devils Lake was the No. 7.
Devils Lake had split all three of its conference doubleheaders before Friday, with a loss in the opener each time. Cayden McCarthy and Ben Brodina guided the Firebirds to a 2-1 victory in Friday’s opener. Riley Brenno-Quale set the tone in the nightcap, and the bats got going as Devils Lake completed the sweep with an 11-3 beatdown.
Devils Lake, Fargo South, West Fargo and West Fargo Sheyenne now all have 5-3 EDC records, as of Friday. Grand Forks Red River is right there, too, with a 4-2 conference record. West Fargo Horace leads the way at 8-0.
It’s a virtual tie for the Nos. 2-6 teams in the EDC, as of Friday. The top eight will make the EDC tournament.
Game 1: Devils Lake 2, Fargo South 1
McCarthy’s strong start fueled the opening victory.
The junior right-hander allowed just one run over six innings. He struck out four, walked three and limited South to five hits. He threw 75 pitches (46 strikes).
It was McCarthy’s second go-round as Devils Lake’s No. 3 starter. In his first start, he shut West Fargo down for three innings before allowing seven runs in the fourth. This time, he bent but did not break as he completed six quality frames.
The Firebirds got all their offense in the top of the first inning. Brodina came up clutch with a two-out, two-run single to give Devils Lake a 2-0 lead. Taydon Triepke and Mason Palmer had gotten on base ahead of him.
South starter Evan Felber settled in to throw four innings, with just those two runs allowed. Devils Lake recorded three hits against him.
Skyler Burkhardt came out of the bullpen for South and threw three hitless innings, scattering four walks. The Devils Lake offense drew six walks total but couldn’t get a rally going after the first inning.
South got on the board with two outs in the sixth. Tate Barnacle hit a run-scoring single to cut Devils Lake’s lead in half.
McCarthy didn’t let it spiral. He induced a groundout to third baseman Max Palmer to end the inning, keeping the 2-1 lead intact.
With McCarthy’s pitch count at 75, Devils Lake opted to go to Brodina for the seventh. It was a tight situation to begin with, made all the tighter after Burkhardt led off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Brodina issued a walk, but he got a key second out with a fielder’s choice at third base. Texas A&M commit Caden Nelson, who’d already recorded two hits on the day, stepped up with runners on first and second.
Nelson drew a five-pitch walk. It was Brodina’s second of the inning. And it loaded the bases with two outs, putting Brodina in a near-maximum-stress situation.
Brodina took two pitches to retire cleanup hitter Brander Hilmert, who went 0-for-4. Hilmert grounded into a fielder’s choice at second; Tayven Wiberg threw to Mason Palmer to lock down the final out of the contest.
Brodina only threw eight strikes out of 17 pitches, but he did enough to hang on and get the save.
It was just the second varsity pitching appearance for Brodina. In the first cycle through the rotation, he was the No. 4 starter. This time around, Devils Lake had McCarthy and Brodina pitch in the same game with Brenno-Quale getting the Game 2 start.
Game 2: Devils Lake 11, Fargo South 3
Brenno-Quale’s varsity pitching debut went about as well as one could have hoped.
Pitching against the second-place team in the EDC, he retired the first 11 batters he faced. That included the A&M-committed Nelson, who flew out to center field. Brenno-Quale threw four strong innings overall.
His streak ended on back-to-back homers by Nelson and Carson Shiek with two outs in the fourth. By then, Devils Lake had already scored seven runs.
Those two homers accounted for the only runs Brenno-Quale allowed.
The right-hander was remarkably efficient. He threw just six pitches in the first inning and 24 through three innings. Even after giving up two homers in the fourth, his pitch count was still at 36. He struck out two batters and didn’t issue any walks.
With Brenno-Quale pitching, Brodina moved behind the plate to play catcher.
The Firebirds’ offense scored three runs in the first and four in the third. Will Heilman reached base five times, collecting two hits, three walks and three RBIs. Mason Palmer had three hits and a walk. Devils Lake drew seven walks in the first five innings.
The Firebirds added two in the fifth on a single by Heilman. They scored two more in the seventh with RBI singles from Brodina and Triepke.
Triepke pitched the final three innings for Devils Lake. He surrendered South’s third home run — a solo shot by Sith Egan — but otherwise shut the door for the three-inning save.
Triepke struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh. He collected four strikeouts in his outing.
Devils Lake not only swept Fargo South but put an exclamation point on the day with a well-rounded, commanding victory that nearly got into run-rule territory.
Schedule update
Devils Lake’s doubleheader against first-place West Fargo Horace, previously scheduled to be played in Horace on May 8, has been moved to Devils Lake on the same day.
That means Devils Lake’s last 10 games of the regular season will be at home.
The Firebirds travel to play Fargo Davies (4-6, 2-5) on Tuesday, April 28 — and that will be their final road doubleheader of the season.
Leave a Reply