DEVILS LAKE — Hardly anybody has beaten West Fargo Horace this year.
With key games approaching Monday and Tuesday, Devils Lake opted not to use its top pitchers against Horace on Friday. Mason Palmer and Will Heilman will instead pitch Monday or Tuesday, against either Grand Forks Red River or Fargo North.
Max Palmer and Jaxon Strong started Friday.
“In years past, we’ve probably been better against them when we went soft rather than hard,” Devils Lake head coach Brent Luehring said. “They seem to handle our velo in years past. But this year, it really didn’t matter what we would throw at them, I don’t think.”
Horace (21-2, 15-1) won 11-0 and 15-5 — both run-rule victories — to sweep the doubleheader over Devils Lake (9-7, 9-7) at DLYA Field.
The Hawks tallied seven home runs, including three by University of Oregon commit Cason Borchardt and two by Brody Strahm, a relative of MLB pitcher Matt Strahm. Horace totaled 31 hits on the day.
The losses dropped Devils Lake from fourth to sixth in the Eastern Dakota Conference.
“Like we told the kids, we’re kind of playing the long game here,” Luehring said. “I think they’ve kind of separated themselves from everybody else. So we’re kind of trying to plan our arms for next week, and hopefully we can get three or four [wins]. It may give us a chance to host at EDC next week. So, tip your hat to them. They’re a very talented team. They’re pretty deep, and they’ve got a lot of guys who can put the bat on the ball.”
Game 1: Horace 11, Devils Lake 0 (5 innings)
Borchardt, one of the top prospects in the Dakotas, performed as advertised. He crushed three home runs in the first three innings, including a grand slam, as Horace run-ruled the Firebirds in five innings. He went 3-for-4 with six RBIs overall.
The bombs were Borchardt’s eighth, ninth and 10th of the season.
Borchardt led off the game with probably the weakest of the three homers. He used his natural, smooth swing to power one over the left-center field wall, aided by the strong wind.
“Changeup, down and away, kind of caught it off the end a little bit,” Borchardt said. “So I was hustling down the bases, and just thankful it got out.”
The next two were hit with a little more authority.
After Palmer issued back-to-back walks that loaded the bases, Borchardt swung at the first pitch and catapulted it over the right-field fence. He added a bat flip to boot.
Horace batted around in the third inning, adding five runs to make it 10-0. Toby Retterath and Borchardt both homered in the frame. Borchardt’s third bomb was to straightaway center.
Altogether, Palmer was tagged for 10 runs on 10 hits in three innings. He threw 76 pitches.
Strong entered in relief and held the Hawks relatively at bay between the fourth and fifth. Strahm hit a double that led to a run in the fourth. That was the only blemish on Strong, who stranded two hits in the fifth. He also retired Borchardt on a fly out to shallow left-center.
Devils Lake only had one hit of its own, a double by Mason Palmer in the first inning. Left-hander Austin Ohleen struck out five over four scoreless innings.
Game 2: Horace 15, Devils Lake 5 (6 innings)
Devils Lake got a homer, a double and four RBIs from Will Heilman in the nightcap, but Jett Collins hit a walk-off RBI single to secure the 10-run victory for Horace in the bottom of the sixth.
Collins, Cooper Fuchs and Cameron Stahl all had three-hit performances to lead the Hawks.
Heilman’s two-run double in the top of the first gave Devils Lake a brief 2-0 lead.
Strong, who pitched the last two innings of Game 1, got the ball for Game 2. In the first inning, he struck out Borchardt and Strahm, but he also allowed a solo homer to Collins and a two-out, two-run single to Stahl.
In the second, Fuchs hit a three-run double and Strahm hit a two-run homer to make it 8-2.
Heilman smacked a homer in the top of the third, cutting the deficit to 8-4. It was Heilman’s second home run of the season and of his high school career. Mostly a singles hitter last year, Heilman’s power game continues to progress rapidly.
“He put a lot of work into his body,” Luehring said. “And when he gets his hands through the ball and it’s on time, good things usually happen.”
Horace posted its second consecutive five-spot in the bottom of the third. The Hawks batted around for the second straight inning as well. Collins and Fuchs had RBI hits, while Strahm hit his second home run in as many innings. It was 13-4 when the dust settled.
Devils Lake scored on a single by Riley Brenno-Quale in the fourth, but a double play halted the rally.
Strong’s evening on the mound ended after three innings — five total between the two games. He threw 97 pitches overall, with 75 in Game 2.
Brenno-Quale held Horace off the board in the fourth and fifth, but Horace tagged him for four hits in the sixth to walk it off. Borchardt hit a sacrifice fly, and Collins singled to end it.
Up next
Despite Friday’s lopsided losses, Devils Lake still has a decent resume that includes a sweep of second-place Fargo South.
“We think a lot of teams are gonna finish around .500,” Luehring said. “So if we can stay three or four games above, I think that’s gonna give us a shot at maybe that four seed.”
Devils Lake’s final two opponents will be Red River (10-4 EDC) and North (7-9 EDC).
“We’re gonna try to hold off Mason and Will and Ben [Brodina] and Cayden [McCarthy] for Monday and Tuesday, and hopefully we can come out and play better,” Luehring said.
The Firebirds could very well see Horace again in a potential postseason matchup.
The Hawks eliminated Devils Lake each of the last two years.
“The momentum just starts trickling in the wrong direction, and they’re so good that it’s hard to stop when they get rolling,” Luehring said. “You throw one of our guys that we like to go with, and you’d like to think it’d be more competitive. It comes down to matchups, too. It’s an extremely aggressive team, so you’ve got guys that can mix three pitches and throw them for strikes, you feel a little better on things.”
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