RENNER, S.D. — Creighton Prep has a program that sent two recent players to the University of Nebraska.
As the first-place team from Sub-Pool A, it was likely going to be a tough matchup for the Storm.
And it was.
Creighton Prep (13-3) put up nine runs on seven hits in the second inning, rolling to a 16-4 win over Devils Lake (3-4) in four innings at Renner Ballpark. The Storm were the second-place team from Sub-Pool B. With the loss, they fell to 1-2 in this year’s Dakota Classic.
Ben Brodina got the ball for Devils Lake and surrendered a two-run homer to Liam Smithberg in the first inning. He stranded the bases loaded, but then allowed eight consecutive baserunners after getting the first out in the bottom of the second.
“They certainly can hit, that’s for sure,” Devils Lake coach Eric Nygaard said of Creighton Prep. “Ben found that out right away, too, that they hit the ball where it’s pitched. Tough to get ‘em out. But you’ve still got to go out and compete. Can’t give them walks or hit-by-pitches. You’ve just got to compete and see how effective we can be.”
The ninth and final hit Brodina allowed was a scorching liner off the umpire. There was a brief umpire injury delay, but he was able to shake it off pretty quickly.
Brodina left with Devils Lake trailing 7-0. Taydon Triepke took over and was greeted with a grand slam by Pierce Wagstaff.
The Storm hitters led off the game with back-to-back doubles, but they didn’t score in the first inning, in large part due to a pickoff at third base. They got on the board via a wild pitch in the third. But they left the bases loaded after two straight walks from Cayden McCarthy and Fausten Olson.
Down by 10 entering the fourth, the Storm didn’t go away quietly. They rallied for a three-spot on two hits, two walks a hit batsman. Each Palmer had an RBI, while McCarthy lined a two-out RBI single to cut the deficit to 11-4.
Devils Lake collected five hits and six walks at the plate.
“Offensively, I thought we did well,” Nygaard said. “There was definitely chances [where] we left runners in scoring position. … They gave us opportunities, we just have to capitalize on that.”
Creighton Prep walked it off with five in the bottom of the fourth. The tournament had a run rule of 12 after four innings.
Creighton Prep totaled 15 hits and five walks.
The loss assured that Devils Lake will not be able to win the six-team pool.
The Storm will wrap up their tournament with a 9:30 a.m. game on Sunday against St. Peter, the second-place team from Sub-Pool A.
“I’d like to see us just bounce back,” Nygaard said. “And pitching-wise, I think today we noticed that our pitching staff needs to be consistent as well. So let’s limit the walks, then keep the defense busy as much as we can.”