RENNER, S.D. — After a disappointing Saturday, the Devils Lake Storm headed towards the road to Omaha on a high note.
“It was nice, especially bouncing back after yesterday,” Devils Lake coach Eric Nygaard said on Sunday. “I think our kids’ mental approach to it, I think that’s the biggest thing we’re working on now, is the mental toughness. Working through failure-type stuff. But yeah, for the kids to swing the bat here — everybody got in. Everybody got an at-bat. So that’s kind of what these tournaments are for.”
Brody Rainsberry, Mason Palmer and Tayven Wiberg all homered as Devils Lake (4-4) won 14-2 in four innings against St. Peter in the last of four games of pool play in the Dakota Classic at Renner Ballpark. Hunter Remmick went 3-for-3. The team went 12-for-23 overall with seven walks.
“We’ve been hitting well all tournament,” Rainsberry said. “It’s fun going up there and knowing every kid on the team can hit the ball hard, and drive in runs and do their job.”
Devils Lake and St. Peter were the second-place teams from Sub-Pools B and A, respectively. Each team finished the tournament going 2-2. Only one of the six teams in the pool got to advance to the quarterfinals.
Super-senior Ben Larson handled things on the mound in his second start of summer. He allowed two runs (one earned) in four innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.
“He’s bouncing back, too,” Nygaard said. “One thing about him, though, I think [with] his college experience, he’s got to make those adjustments right away. So it’s good. It’s nice to see.”
Larson surrendered a solo shot in the first inning, though it could have been worse if not for catcher Ben Brodina throwing out a runner trying to steal third.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Devils Lake got a double from Will Heilman to put two in scoring position. Remmick drove both runners in with a double, jolting the Storm ahead. With runners on the corners and two outs, Rainsberry added a bunt single to make it 3-1.
Rainsberry said coach Jeff Carpenter had given him the squeeze sign.
“Just had to get it down, and it worked out,” Rainsberry said.
Two innings later, Rainsberry came to the dish after three straight singles to start the inning. He cracked one to right-center field that carried for a round-tripper.
“It felt great. Off the bat, I think I kind of knew it was gone,” Rainsberry said. “I missed the pitch before that, for sure. So I was just looking to drive the ball and do a job there.”
Rainsberry’s grand slam made it 7-1.
“He’s so versatile,” Nygaard said of Rainsberry. “He comes from Nelson County, and I think he’s kind of carried over some of the things he’s learned here over to his high school season and back, too. So it’s nice to see him in a groove with it.”
Larson stranded three singles across the second and third inning. St. Peter got one back on a two-out hit in the fourth. But Mason Palmer went deep in the bottom half, a two-run shot to extend the lead to 9-2.
It was Palmer’s third homer of the tournament.
“Those home runs they’re hitting, they’re line drives,” Nygaard said. “The wind’s blowing out to left, but we’re still putting some good swings on the ball. I think a lot of those might be in-the-gap type of hits, too. So hats off to our players. Their approach at the plate is awesome. Even [Saturday], we had opportunities to do the same thing. We just have to compete offensively with teams that are probably higher caliber.”
After allowing the Palmer homer, St. Peter starter Kyler Link walked two batters and saw his outing come to an end.
Wiberg, in his first at-bat of the day, greeted the new pitcher with a three-run shot to left field. It was Devils Lake’s third bomb of the day and eighth of the tournament.
This is, roughly, the same Devils Lake team that didn’t hit a single home run in 2025.
“I think just sticking with the process, like Skip says,” Rainsberry said of the team’s power surge. “Don’t go up there and try to hit a home run. Just try and drive the ball, and the rest will happen.”
With the Storm already up 12-2 and the bases loaded, Remmick came to the plate with a chance to do some more damage. But Devils Lake scored two runs on wild pitches, ending the game automatically by run rule before Remmick got to finish his at-bat.
With hot bats and a 2-2 record, Devils Lake’s showing in the Dakota Classic went better than 2024 but not as well as 2025. After more than a week off, the Storm got their summer in full swing and now have a better idea of where their team stands.
“We’ve got things to work on, most certainly, just to get ready for our own tournament, too,” Nygaard said. “We’ve got some things that we’d like to do. Defensively, Coach [Carpenter] is always talking about finding an out. Making that extraordinary out to get us off the field and get us hitting.”
The Storm will host a swath of home games in late June. They’ll be looking to eventually return to the state tournament, being held in Williston this year, where they came just short of a championship last summer.
“Last year, we had a lot of experience, but this year we have even more,” Rainsberry said. “And I think we’re looking to make obviously a deep run this year. And we’ve definitely got the talent to do that.”
First, Devils Lake will hop on the bus and go down I-29 to Omaha, Neb., for a College World Series game between West Virginia and North Carolina at Charles Schwab Stadium. The game is at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Former North Dakota State shortstop Jake Schaffner is one of the stars for North Carolina, but Nygaard said he wants West Virginia to win so the team can witness the postgame tradition of singing “Country Roads.”
“That should be fun,” said Rainsberry.
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