DEVILS LAKE — West Fargo Horace has been a thorn in Devils Lake’s side over the last few years.
The Hawks, who have only had varsity baseball since 2023, eliminated Devils Lake in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. In 2024, Horace was considered an underdog, but it beat a strong Devils Lake team with the help of a home run by some freshman named Cason Borchardt.
Two years later, that isn’t just some freshman.
And Horace certainly isn’t an underdog.
The Hawks have been terrorizing the Eastern Dakota Conference this year to the tune of a 15-1 record. They handed it to Devils Lake on Friday with a pair of run-rule wins.
And Borchardt sure didn’t disappoint.
Borchardt, now a junior, is committed to continue his baseball career at the University of Oregon. For me, watching him play baseball in Devils Lake was two worlds colliding. I graduated from Oregon in 2023, and I got my first real reps as a sports reporter covering the Oregon baseball team. I covered every single home game in person my senior year, and I traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., to cover the Ducks’ Pac-12 tournament championship.
I scrolled through old rosters and found that Borchardt will be the first North Dakota-born player to play baseball for Oregon in the modern era (which began in 2009) — possibly ever, but that would take a lot more digging to be 100% sure of.
So, as the rain poured down on the end of a lopsided doubleheader that saw Borchardt record four hits and three home runs, I scurried my way into the Horace dugout for a quick chat with the future Duck (who will likely experience many rainy days like that in his future).
Borchardt’s explosion at the plate Friday was nothing new. With three home runs in the first three innings, he now has 10 on the season. By the end of Friday, he raised his season OPS to 1.485. He showcased a smooth, simple left-handed swing that generates a ton of natural power.
“The whole season, just going out there with the same approach,” Borchardt said. “Just going out there trying to hit the ball hard to get it to the guy behind me because I know that they can do their job, too.”
And that they can. It wasn’t just the Borchardt show on Friday; Horace totaled seven home runs and 31 hits.
But Borchardt does stand out a little. He committed to Oregon, a major Division I university, back in September 2025 after hitting .402 as a sophomore.
“I think it helps a lot,” Borchardt said of committing early. “I can just go out there and don’t have to worry about what coaches are in the stands or things like that. I can just go out there and play for the team.”
Borchardt said that Jack Marder, Oregon’s longtime hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, texted him on August 1 — the first day that it was permitted for teams to do so.
“And then after that, I just loved everything about that school and loved everything about the coaching staff,” Borchardt said.
Shortly thereafter, Borchardt went on an official visit to Eugene, Ore. Mark Wasikowski — who’s been the head coach there since my freshman year in 2019 — picked him up and brought him to his house for dinner. Borchardt joined a couple of other recruits in meeting Wasikowski in person for the first time.
“It just felt like a great place to be,” Borchardt said. “It felt like home right away.”
The next day, he got to attend a football game at Autzen Stadium. He described the atmosphere as “insane.”
Autzen is known as one of the rowdiest college football stadiums in the country, though its official capacity of 54,000 is small compared to some of the other top venues. One can expect essentially every single one of those seats to be filled, however, plus thousands more in standing-room-only. That’s why you can routinely find Autzen on “loudest college football stadiums” lists.
“Just the Oregon culture, seeing it there, all the fans that they have — everybody from the students to the parents, fans just around the area, it was really awesome to see,” Borchardt said.
While on his visit, Borchardt got to hang around the coaches and tour the top-notch baseball facility.
In Oregon, Borchardt will be entering a program that has made the NCAA tournament in five consecutive seasons, and is well on its way to a sixth. The Ducks have fairly consistently been ranked in the top 25 nationally. They’ve hosted a regional twice this decade and have been to Super Regionals twice. In 2023, they hosted a Super Regional and were two outs away from the College World Series.
Wasikowski has led the way at the helm of the program — and he’s done it by consistently finding strong recruits from around the country. Borchardt is one of the latest.
“Right as I first met him, he’s a super good guy, awesome coach,” Borchardt said of Wasikowski. “He does anything for his players and just wants them to be super successful. So he’s awesome.”
While North Dakota isn’t historically known as being a hotbed for national baseball talent, the Fargo area has been getting some attention in recent years. In 2024, Fargo Davies standout Drew Rerick pitched in Devils Lake. Rerick was on MLB draft lists and now pitches for the University of Oklahoma.
Rerick was also recruited by Oregon and has Devils Lake ties. He’s a cousin of current Devils Lake baseball and football player Will Heilman.
Borchardt and Fargo South’s Caden Nelson are the current standouts at the top of a particularly strong junior class. Nelson is committed to Texas A&M. The group also includes University of Illinois Chicago commit Jack Tooke (Mandan) and Nebraska commit Jacob Willardson (Grand Forks Red River).
“The last couple years, it’s been awesome to see that,” Borchardt said. “Caden Nelson to Jack Tooke, to everyone going to the bigger schools — it’s really bringing North Dakota baseball on the map.”
One thing that makes Borchardt unique is that he’s planning to both hit and pitch at Oregon. Most players at that level end up picking one or the other.
“I don’t really know which one I want to do,” Borchardt said. “Just thankful that the coaches there gave me the opportunity to go there and try to do both. So just gonna keep trying to do that as long as I can.”
In addition to his 1.450 OPS at the plate, Borchardt has a 0.92 ERA on the mound this season. In 19 2/3 innings, he’s amassed an absurd 38 strikeouts compared to just one walk.
Compared to his sophomore year, his batting average is down but his ERA has significantly improved. Borchardt’s top reported velocities have “only” been in the high 80s, but he still has plenty of time to get better and stronger in the latter half of his high school career. The fact that he’s a lefty carries some value in its own right.
“There’s always something to improve on,” Borchardt said. “So I’m just trying to get 1% better each day, whether it’s in the weight room, on the mound, at the plate.”
Borchardt also works on his game in the summers with the Minnesota Blizzard, a travel program that attracts a wide array of talent.
Borchardt’s rapid progression has made him a nationwide talent with room still to grow.
“I think every coach has helped me along the way, from my Blizzard team in the summers, these high school coaches — each one of them has had a really big impact on me and the player I am today,” Borchardt said. “So I’m just thankful for that.”
For now, he’ll keep mashing and dominating with the Hawks.
If the Firebirds see him again in the postseason, they’ll have a good sense of what they’re dealing with.
“I think what I like most is the chemistry that we have,” Borchardt said of his 22-3 Horace squad. “Most of the guys on this team, we’ve been playing together for the last three or four years. So just to see everyone develop and how much better everyone’s gotten every single day, I think that’s really awesome to see. And just excited for what’s left the rest of the year.”
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