DEVILS LAKE — Meet your No. 1 seed Devils Lake Storm.
They might not have gotten things done the easy way, but they won two games against Park River Post 147 on Friday. They really only needed to win one to clinch the top seed, but they scored seven runs in the final inning of the night to head into the postseason as winners of 11 straight.
“We got the one we needed,” said Friday night’s walk-off hero, Will Heilman. “But just to put two on them would be a statement game, and that’s what we did.”
Aside from the wild walk-off antics, here are some additional takeaways from the action.
Don’t count out this offense
Offense has fueled this team from the beginning of the summer. The Storm came in with a team batting line of .344/.452/.499. It’s a deep, cohesive group that can’t be taken lightly.
Take that second-game comeback, for example. After taking advantage of some early Park River errors, Devils Lake went down scoreless three innings in a row. The Storm regained their form quickly and put seven two-out baserunners together, including six hits.
But it’s not just the hits. A power surge has defined this team. Heilman’s leadoff homer in the seventh inning was the team’s 16th of the summer after hitting zero all of last year.
“From what Skip [Nygaard]’s been teaching us, we’re all just keeping it simple and keeping the approach of hitting it up the middle,” Heilman said. “And we’re putting barrels on balls.”
Some lefty-on-lefty crime for Taydon Triepke
Triepke has become this team’s leadoff hitter. He showed why in the first game on Friday, a 5-1 win, reaching base all four times as he went 3-for-3 with a walk.
What was especially impressive was that he did it against a lefty as a left-handed batter. And not just any lefty, but Jacob Solseng, who’s committed to Mayville State.
“It was kind of fun to see the one he hit, I think up the middle, and pulled it,” Nygaard said. “He pulled it the first time, and then that second baseman had moved way over, and then he hit it up the middle. So he was just finding holes. He’s really been a consistent player for us.”
Will Heilman completes fantastic regular season on the mound
It’s unquestionable that Heilman has been the team’s most reliable starting pitcher this summer.
Yes, the guy who hit a home run and a walk-off single in the same inning can also fling it pretty effectively as well.
“Park River, they really push the ball to the right side. And he kind of pitched through that,” Nygaard said. “And we used all three of his pitches, which was great. It’s nice to have those pitchers with three or four pitches that will keep them off balance.”
Heilman pitched a complete game to lead the top-seed-clinching effort in Game 1. The only run he allowed came on a solo bomb by Tucker Omdahl. He struck out five while limiting Park River to six hits and one walk.
Heilman has allowed just five earned runs in a team-high 34 innings this summer.
“I’ve been able to throw all three pitches for strikes,” Heilman said. “And just not walking guys is probably the biggest thing.”
Heilman has only issued seven walks, good for 1.85 per nine innings.
“Just trying to start ahead, throw strikes and let the defense work behind me,” he said.
Devils Lake makes some lineup and positional adjustments
The Storm have recently been sporting a lineup that features Hunter Remmick down in the eight-hole and Fausten Olson batting fifth. That’s roughly a one-for-one swap.
Remmick, despite a brief slump, still came into the day batting .373 with a .916 OPS. Olson’s at-bats have been fairly limited, but he still came in with a .420 OBP.
“Those two were kind of struggling at the plate, and we wanted to get them maybe more in fastball counts,” Nygaard said. “And just switch things up to see if they hit better in those positions.”
The Storm have also been having Tayven Wiberg play third base recently. He’s more of a natural second baseman, with the ability to fill in at shortstop or corner outfield.
Nygaard attributed the change to Brody Rainsberry dinging up his ankle.
“With Brody out, we kind of thought, you know, Tayven’s had some experience there,” Nygaard said. “Between Ben Larson, Tayven Wiberg and Brody, they can play that position pretty well.”
The Storm still have to lock down the fundamentals
Friday’s late heroics overshadowed what had been a really sloppy game by Devils Lake. The team made four errors that completely changed the dynamics of the middle innings, letting Park River score 11 unanswered runs.
While they were able to come out with the win, it wasn’t an ideal way to play. If it happens again, the final story might be different.
“We started making mistakes,” Nygaard said. “Once tournament starts, we can’t have that.”
Team is happy with where it stands ahead of tournament time
Ultimately, the Storm can’t complain too much after winning 11 straight and clinching the No. 1 seed.
The region tournament is being held from July 22-25 at Starion Bank Field in Fargo.
While offense has led this team all summer, Nygaard noted that the pitching improvement has sustained the success. The team ERA has gone from above 6.00 to below 5.00.
“Our pitching has been super good the last half of the season,” Nygaard said. “In the last month or so, we’re getting some really quality pitching.”
The squad is ready to roll into the playoffs.
“A lot of confidence,” Heilman said. “We’ve just got to keep working hard and bring it into the tournament, and have a good week of practice.”
Added Nygaard: “I feel really good about it. I think the kids feel good about it.”