Devils Lake capped a 2-0 day with an 11-1 win over Vermillion Post 1 on Friday.
The Storm (18-7) improved to 2-0 in the Clark Rotary American Legion Tournament, while Vermillion (8-10) fell to 1-1. Devils Lake scored nine runs in the sixth, and Brody Rainsberry held Vermillion without an earned run over six innings. The Storm managed to do all of their damage with just four hits, aided by eight walks. In fact, Devils Lake was outhit 5-4 despite the lopsided win.
Will Heilman led off the second inning with a double. He eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Rainsberry to give Devils Lake a 1-0 lead. The Storm added a second run in the third inning with the help of two errors.
Rainsberry struck out four through three scoreless innings to begin his day on the mound. The first two got on in the bottom of the fourth against him, with a single and an error by third baseman Ben Larson. Rainsberry struck out two more batters in the inning, but Vermillion got on the board with a two-out bunt single.
Rainsberry induced a double play in each of the final two innings to get through the rest of his outing. He totaled seven strikeouts and two walks while limiting Vermillion to five hits.
With the lead still at a tight 2-1, the Storm poured it on in the top of the sixth. And it all came with two outs. Vermillion starter Jack Moskowitz had pitched a solid game, with eight strikeouts and only two hits allowed over 5 2/3 innings. Most of the damage came against reliever Kellen Beach, who gave up six runs without getting an out.
After back-to-back walks, Rainsberry was hit by a pitch to drive in a run, and Cayden McCarthy hit a two-run single. Alex Hammond, Taydon Triepke and Max Palmer drew free passes to keep the merry-go-round in motion. Tayven Wiberg pinch-hit for Mason Palmer and hit a single that drove in three runs, blowing it open to 11-1.
Max Palmer, Hunter Remmick and Larson each drew multiple walks on the day. Three Devils Lake batters were hit by pitches.
The Storm have now won four in a row.
Their 2-0 tournament record ties them with Dell Rapids and Lennox Post 174 for the best in the tournament. Their next game is TBD as of Friday evening.