DEVILS LAKE — The 2025-26 North Dakota High School Male Athlete of the Year put on a show Monday at DLYA Field.
Mason Palmer was recently recognized by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association as the top male athlete in the state over the last school year. It honors Palmer’s excellence in baseball, football and basketball. The award was announced on June 19.
“It was really awesome. I couldn’t be more happy about it,” Palmer said. “I’m so grateful for everybody in my life to help give me that award, all the coaches, my parents, my brother, always trying to get me to be the best I can in every sport. And all the hard work paid off. I’m just really, really grateful to receive that award.”
Football and basketball are in Palmer’s past, though he finished his career with one state championship in each. He established himself as an all-state baseball player this spring, and he hasn’t slowed down against summer Legion competition.
Palmer absolutely obliterated the baseball on Monday.
He went 7-for-8 with a walk, three home runs, a triple and a double between two games of a doubleheader against the Grand Forks Post 6 Royals, who compete in Class AA.
“What an awesome day for him,” Devils Lake coach Eric Nygaard said. “Very happy for him. … We had some runners on base, too, in front of him. And it was comforting to know that he was up.”
Palmer singled in the first inning of what ended up being an 18-10 win.
He homered in each of the next two innings — a solo bomb and a three-run shot.
His postgame comments mirrored what was apparent to any onlooker: “I felt like I could get to any pitch. I felt like I could just hit it really hard.”
Palmer’s fourth at-bat came in the fifth inning, with two runners on base after Max Palmer drew a walk. Mason rocketed one to the right-center field gap, and he raced all the way to third base for a two-run triple.
An inning later, he had a chance at a cycle. He needed a double.
Instead, with the score already 16-9, he crushed one to left field for his third bomb of the game. He added a bat flip for good measure.
It was a windy day, with the conditions contributing to seven home runs between the two teams in that game alone, but it was still a monster day for Palmer.
“The wind was blowing out, so I think that mentally helped me, thinking I could lift the ball more,” he said.
While he ran out of innings for a cycle in the first game, he settled for a doubleheader cycle after doubling in the first inning of the second game.
Grand Forks understandably pitched around him in the third inning. His leadoff walk led to a 10-batter, five-run inning for Devils Lake. He came up to bat again in the frame and finally made an out, grounding one to shortstop. He got back in the hit column with a single in an eight-run fourth inning.
Palmer reached base eight times in nine plate appearances on the day.
His season numbers are now video-game-esque. He’s batting .472 with a .524 OBP and an even 1.000 slugging percentage. Having an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.000 makes you a star, let alone 1.000 just for your slug. His three-homer day gave him six on the summer in 63 plate appearances. He has a team-high 22 RBIs despite missing the first four games while on vacation.
Palmer is also, of course, known for what he can do on the mound. He’s only made one start this summer, though.
“I was dealing with some elbow pain, and I had to get an MRI and stuff,” Palmer said. “But nothing was torn, so that was good.”
Palmer made his first pitching appearance since June 12 on Monday. It was a low-pressure, single inning, coming in to get the final three outs of a game Devils Lake was leading 15-2.
It went a little shakily, with two doubles and a run, but Palmer still struck out two in the inning and shut the door on a run-rule victory fueled largely by his own bat.
“So this is just like a recovery, a few innings to get me back in the swing of things, and try to work my way up to where I was,” Palmer said.
When he’s healthy, Palmer is Devils Lake’s most dominant pitcher. He allowed just six earned runs in 33 spring innings while striking out 49. In his lone start this summer, he struck out 12 over five innings with no earned runs. Last summer, he had a sub-1.00 ERA with more than 11 strikeouts per nine innings and threw a perfect game in the Legion state tournament.
He said he’s feeling better now. The Storm now await his hopeful return to full strength on the mound.
“He had a little tenderness in his arm,” Nygaard said of Palmer, who can work his fastball up to 90 miles per hour. “He was working with some medical doctors. And it’s kind of a feel thing for him now, so nothing structurally alarming to it. We just want to caution him a little bit.”
Having accomplished so much already, Palmer is soaking in these final games with his high school teammates. Before long, he and Max will be suiting up for the Jamestown Jimmies.
The next hurdle on the path to a state title is a tournament in Clark, S.D., on Friday and Saturday. With unfamiliar opponents, Palmer said they need to approach it like they approach anything else.
“I think the competition is pretty good. We’re gonna see probably some good arms and some good hitting teams,” he said. “And I think we’ll be able to compete down there. But it’s gonna be hard, like every game. So we’re gonna go out and do our best.”