BOTTINEAU — Riley Brenno-Quale had it working on Monday.
The Devils Lake senior right-hander tamed the Bottineau offense on its home field. His one-run, complete-game performance fueled the No. 1-seeded Storm B team (21-8) to a 5-1 victory over No. 4 seed Bottineau Post 42 at the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberyard in the first round of the District 3 Legion baseball tournament.
“Everybody worked together as a team,” Brenno-Quale said. “It was really nice to go out there and ride my defense, pitching. It definitely helped. Just leave it in the strike zone. If they hit it, then they’ll make plays for me.”
It was Devils Lake’s 10th consecutive win.
“We’re just a big family,” Storm head coach Parker Schmid said. “It feels like we just pick each other up, and always laughing and having fun. That’s what baseball’s all about, just having fun.”
Brenno-Quale went six up, six down to begin the game. He struck out back-to-back hitters in the opening frame.
Devils Lake did the bulk of its scoring early. Kitson Beck smacked a leadoff triple to right field, and Andrew Hammond hit an RBI single. In the bottom of the second, Brenno-Quale and Talan Gregory started the inning with back-to-back singles, and a pair of infield errors helped bring them in and make it 3-0 Storm.
Bottineau recorded its first hit with two outs in the third. Brenno-Quale had to contend with two baserunners in the fourth inning, but Beck turned a nice double play at second base to help him get out of it. He allowed only a two-out walk in the fifth.
“I was just relying on my defense, kind of,” Brenno-Quale said. “Put it in the zone, make them hit it because we’ve got a really good defense. We’ll be able to make plays. That’s, I think, the key for us.”
Devils Lake widened its lead with a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings. Henley Driessen led off the fifth with the Storm’s second triple of the game, and he scored on a wild pitch. John Molina added an RBI single in the sixth.
Bottineau got on the board in the sixth inning, with a two-out double by Rowan Cheshire struck to deep right field that the wind made further difficult to track down. Brenno-Quale worked around Devils Lake’s second error of the game to hold the damage there.
He completed his outing with a 1-2-3 seventh. He collected his third strikeout in the process.
Overall, Brenno-Quale allowed one run on four hits. He struck out three and walked two. He also had two hits at the plate.
“He did a good job filling up the zone and getting weak contact and just throwing strikes,” Schmid said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
This is the last go-round of Legion baseball for the recent Devils Lake graduate. He came up with some key contributions for the varsity team this past spring, and with a crowded A roster he ended up on the B team for the summer.
But it’s been a heck of a ride for him and this group.
“It’s been really fun,” he said. “It’s the most like a team I’ve felt we’ve ever had.”
With the victory, Devils Lake assured that it won’t have to play on Tuesday. The Storm’s next action is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Velva and Rolla.
“I think the kids will really like it. We can give them the day off,” Schmid said. “And hopefully they can get some rest and come back on Wednesday morning, and hopefully we’ll get another W.”
Brenno-Quale plans to go to the golf course on his day off.
“Hopefully I don’t play bad there,” he said.
Bottineau moved to a 5:30 p.m. game Tuesday in the losers’ bracket.
The No. 1-seeded Storm should be well-rested and raring to go when they get back to the field Wednesday.
“We’re the ones that everybody hates in this tournament,” Schmid said. “And we need to play like a one seed, go out there and dominate the game.”