FARGO — For most of the season, Devils Lake has been shifting pitchers around based on matchups.
With all four primary starters available for Tuesday’s Eastern Dakota Conference tournament opener, No. 7 seed Devils Lake went with Cayden McCarthy to take on No. 2 seed Fargo South. McCarthy is essentially the No. 3 starter in the rotation. He pitched well against the Bruins on April 24, allowing one run over six innings.
“I thought he’d been throwing the ball pretty well. Beat ‘em earlier in the year, and just kind of playing matchups,” Devils Lake head coach Brent Luehring said. “It’s one of those deals where we’re gonna have to win two games no matter who we throw first. So do you win one right away, or do you win the second one? … Just kind of riding the hot hand.”
Despite sweeping South (18-9) in that April 24 matchup, the Firebirds’ EDC woes carried over from last season in a 7-1 loss on Tuesday at Starion Bank Field. Devils Lake went the first six innings without scoring, extending its postseason scoreless streak to 23 innings dating back to 2024.
The Firebirds (11-10) ended that eyesore of a streak with a seventh-inning run to at least capture some momentum heading into the rest of the double-elimination tournament. They narrowly avoided a third consecutive playoff shutout.
“We just kept talking about chipping away,” Luehring said. “Whatever we have towards the end of the game’s got to lead us into Friday.”
For the first two innings, McCarthy fought neck-and-neck with Bruins star Carson Shiek. He went six up, six down, with the first five retired via fly balls. McCarthy took just seven pitches to get through the first inning and nine to get through the second.
“I thought Cayden was throwing the ball pretty well there,” Luehring said. “They weren’t really squaring him up.”
The Firebirds’ best scoring chance in the early innings came in the top of the second. McCarthy walked and Taydon Triepke singled with nobody out. But Jaxon Strong, courtesy-running for McCarthy, was picked off second base as Easton Kraft whiffed on a bunt attempt. Kraft and Alex Hammond struck out as the rally evaporated.
“And then the momentum kind of shifted to them,” Luehring said.
South recorded its first two baserunners with a single and a walk in the third inning. The big blow came from leadoff hitter Henry Schrum, who walloped a mammoth home run to left field, putting South up 3-0 in a flash. McCarthy had been fly ball-heavy through the first two innings, but this one had some extra juice on it.
The first four Bruins reached against McCarthy in the fourth, with two singles and two walks. An out on the basepaths ended the inning.
All told, McCarthy was charged with six runs on five hits and three walks in four innings of work. He struck out two.
After an efficient first two innings, he ended up throwing 68 total pitches. That leaves some pitches in the tank for him to potentially throw later in the tournament.
“We feel like we can almost bring all four guys back to try to win two games this weekend,” Luehring said.
With Strong pitching in relief, South added a run on a solo shot by Texas A&M commit Caden Nelson, making it 7-0. Strong worked around two walks in the sixth inning to keep the score there.
One of the only bright spots for Devils Lake offensively was Mason Palmer, who led off the seventh with a double and reached base three times in three plate appearances. He came around to score on a single by McCarthy, who drove in Devils Lake’s first EDC tournament run since 2024.
Shiek finished the complete game on 101 pitches. He struck out nine, walked two and allowed one run on four hits.
“Since his freshman year, he’s been one of the better arms in our league,” Luehring said. “Veteran pitcher; settled in and kept us off balance. And did a really good job keeping our lineup down.”
The Firebirds will now have to fight off elimination twice if they want to advance to their first baseball state tournament since 2010.
Luehring indicated that Mason Palmer will start Friday.
“We like going to Mason round two,” he said, later adding, “We think Mason’s gonna throw it pretty well.”
Devils Lake matches up with No. 6 seed Fargo Davies, which lost 13-4 to No. 3 seed West Fargo on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for approximately 1 p.m. Friday at Jack Williams Stadium in Fargo, though the entire schedule is subject to change with rain in the forecast.
“It’s win-or-go-home the rest of the way,” Luehring said. “Trying to give our seniors another opportunity to play, and after Friday, hopefully give them another opportunity to play. And then once you get to Saturday, you’re one game away from hopefully a state tournament.”
Luehring noted that No. 5 seed West Fargo Sheyenne upset No. 4 seed Grand Forks Red River on Tuesday. If Devils Lake wins Friday and Sheyenne loses to No. 1 seed West Fargo Horace in the semifinals, that could make for a relatively favorable matchup on Saturday, considering Devils Lake handled Sheyenne a lot better than Red River during the regular season.
“I feel like if we can get our bats rolling…I think we can go and compete against anybody,” Luehring said. “You play matchups, and everybody gets to that third day — who knows who’s gonna have the best arms left to basically try to get a win to go to state?”
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