The Devils Lake Legion B team had a big day with the bats.
The Storm scored 34 runs across two games on the road against Rugby Post 23 on Monday. They won 19-6 — a seven-inning game shortened to five by run rule — and 15-8 in the scheduled five-inning game.
The B team has now won eight consecutive games and sits at 19-8 overall under first-year head coach Parker Schmid and first-year assistant coach Jackson Baeth.
In the commanding 19-6 win, every Devils Lake starter reached base, with eight of the nine reaching base at least twice. The Storm scored six in the third, seven in the fourth and five in the fifth.
Cleanup hitter Easton Kraft went 3-for-4 with a walk, including an RBI double that got the scoring started in the first. Devils Lake had two baserunners but didn’t score in the second inning, and the first two batters made outs in the third.
Kraft kept the inning alive.
His single led to an error, which led to a two-run single by Riley Brenno-Quale. Rugby walked four batters in a five-batter span as Devils Lake broke it open to 7-0. Isaac Kraft had an RBI single amidst the rally.
Jaxon Strong had the ball on the mound, working through 4 1/3 innings on 95 pitches. He allowed six runs (three earned) on three hits and six walks. Rugby put up three-spots in the third and fifth inning. Strong didn’t have his best control of the strike zone, but he did more than enough for Devils Lake to win by run rule.
Each team made four errors.
Isaac Kraft had a three-run triple amidst the seven-spot in the fourth inning. Andrew Hammond, Easton Kraft and Strong had run-producing hits in the five-run top of the fifth that put the game away.
The Storm had 12 hits and 12 walks.
Devils Lake rolled right along into the second game with a seven-run first inning. Already up 3-0, shortstop John Molina hit a grand slam. Once again, every Storm starter reached base.
Jasper Leiphon handled things on the mound. He threw all five innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out seven. He totaled 104 pitches.
At the plate, Leiphon and Mack Elsperger each tallied two doubles. Elsperger had a three-hit game. The Storm had nine hits and seven walks total, scoring in every inning.
Devils Lake hosts Park River Post 147 on Wednesday, July 15 before concluding the regular season with the remainder of a rain-postponed game against Bottineau the next day.
The district tournament is set to be held July 20-22 in Bottineau.