The Devils Lake B Legion team wound up settling for second place in the District 3 baseball tournament.
The No. 1-seeded Storm fell 9-5 to No. 2 seed Velva in the championship on Thursday at the Lumberyard in Bottineau. Devils Lake would have needed to win twice, anyway, to advance to the state tournament. The Storm’s 2026 summer ended with a record of 22-10 under first-year head coach Parker Schmid and first-year assistant coach Jackson Baeth.
They made five errors accounting for three unearned runs.
It was Devils Lake’s second loss to Velva in this tournament.
Having already used a swath of pitchers, Hayden Wolf was next in line for the Storm. He threw five innings on 100 pitches, allowing nine runs (six earned) on seven hits and six walks.
After Jaxon Strong’s RBI double started the scoring in the first inning, Velva rallied for three off of Wolf.
Henley Driessen got Devils Lake one closer with an RBI double in the third. With two outs in the top of the fourth, John Molina and Isaac Kraft drew back-to-back walks. Molina stole home to tie the game, and Kitson Beck — who had a 3-for-4 day — hit a single to put Devils Lake ahead 4-3.
But Velva stormed back ahead with five in the bottom of the fourth. Devils Lake made three errors in the frame.
Wolf allowed a pair of two-out hits in the fifth that scored a run, then induced a lineout to conclude his outing. Jasper Leiphon threw a scoreless inning of relief.
The Storm got one back on an RBI single by Kraft in the top of the sixth, but they left two runners on base in the seventh as their comeback efforts fell short. Velva pitcher Kason Larson threw a complete game on 99 pitches, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and three walks.
Velva heads to the state tournament in Lisbon with a 23-8 record.