Devils Lake moved into first place in the Class A East with one region doubleheader remaining.
The Storm (20-7, 11-3) won both games of a doubleheader against Wahpeton Post 20 (15-16, 3-11) on Tuesday in Wahpeton. Meanwhile, Park River Post 147 lost a pair to Fargo Post 2, allowing Devils Lake to take over the Aggies’ spot.
Park River sits at 10-4 in region play ahead of Friday’s region finale. The West Fargo Aces already concluded their region schedule at 11-5, putting them momentarily in a virtual tie with Park River.
Friday’s scenario is simple: Devils Lake needs to win at least one game to clinch the No. 1 seed. A sweep or a split would do. If Park River wins both games, however, then the Aggies would be the No. 1 seed and Devils Lake would drop all the way to third since the Aces own the tiebreaker, having swept the Storm earlier this season.
Here’s a look at how Devils Lake got it done on Tuesday. The Storm won 7-0 and 2-1.
Dominant pitching in both games
Pitching couldn’t have gone much better on Tuesday.
Cayden McCarthy twirled a gem in Game 1. He pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 13 while allowing just three hits and two walks. He threw 104 pitches (65 strikes).
McCarthy struck out the side in order to end the game.
He came into the game with a summer ERA of 4.30 (per nine innings) and lowered it to 3.30. His SO/9 on the season went from 7.8 to 9.9. At 30 innings, he’s thrown more this summer than anyone on the team.
Then in Game 2, Mason Palmer did his best to match McCarthy. He allowed just one unearned run in a complete game, fueling the Storm’s 2-1 victory. He struck out 12, walked three and allowed only three hits.
This was particularly important given that Palmer’s health was up in the air as recently as a week ago. He threw an inning on July 6, his first pitching appearance since June 12. Monday’s game was just Palmer’s second start of the summer.
But it appears he’s back to full health. He threw 102 pitches (72 strikes). Having him at the top of his game is huge for this team with the postseason approaching.
The lone run against Palmer scored on a passed ball in the first inning, tying it at 1-1 at the time. Palmer had given up two singles earlier in the inning.
He went on to only surrender one hit the rest of the way.
Offense good enough to get the job done
For most of this summer, Devils Lake’s offense has been ahead of its pitching. Tuesday wasn’t the Storm’s greatest day with the bats, scoring in two innings of each game, but it was enough to reward the great performances on the mound.
In the 7-0 win, Devils Lake did its scoring in bunches: three runs in the third inning and four in the sixth.
Max Palmer drew the first blow with an RBI single in the third. Hunter Remmick and Taydon Triepke had gotten on base ahead of him.
Remmick was moved down to eighth in the order despite coming in with a .363 average and .880 OPS. He had a productive day, going 2-for-4 with three walks between the two games. Fausten Olson was moved ahead of him. Olson’s playing time has been fairly limited, but he’s been productive in the at-bats he’s gotten, coming in hitting .300 with an .808 OPS. He ended up going 0-for-6 on the day.
Will Heilman gave Devils Lake some breathing room with a two-out, two-run double to make it 3-0.
The Storm bats went quiet until the sixth, when Ben Larson led off with a double. Larson, despite being recruited as a pitcher over a hitter at Mayville State, has had a monster season at the plate. His 3-for-3 performance increased his OPS to 1.378 after the first game.
Triepke came through with a two-run single. Each Palmer added an RBI, with a groundout by Max and a single by Mason. The 7-0 lead gave McCarthy plenty of wiggle room, though he didn’t need it.
Mason Palmer, however, didn’t get as much run support. The Devils Lake offense went just 4-for-24 in the second game and scored only one earned run.
The Storm got on the board in the first inning as Heilman reached on an error, scoring Max Palmer.
Tied at 1-1 through four, Devils Lake manufactured a run in the top of the fifth to inch ahead. Brody Rainsberry singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Storm had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh but couldn’t tack on any insurance.
It was still just enough to support the dominant outing by Palmer.
Massive games on Friday
The Storm are one win away from securing a No. 1 seed going into the region tournament.
And they should have Heilman, their best pitcher this summer, available. He last pitched on Saturday in the Clark Rotary American Legion Tournament, leading Devils Lake to a championship victory. Heilman was named the tournament MVP.
As mentioned above, losing both games would push Devils Lake all the way down to the No. 3 seed. It would behoove the Storm to make sure they get at least one win on Friday.
Sunday’s non-region slate against Minot was canceled, so Friday will be the finale of the regular season.
The region tournament is set for July 22-25 at Starion Bank Field in Fargo.
B team update
The B team was originally scheduled to host Park River on Wednesday and New Rockford on Thursday.
The Thursday games were canceled, with Devils Lake instead opting to complete its rain-shortened game against Bottineau that day.
But now both Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled due to Devils Lake’s opponents either having injured players or not enough players.
Barring any other last-minute changes or additions, that will conclude the regular season for the Devils Lake B team. The Storm enter the district tournament with a 19-8 record, having won eight in a row.
A bracket for the tournament, set for July 20-22 in Bottineau, will be shared when available.