Devils Lake will take the field at Ardean Aafedt Stadium in Williston on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to begin its 2026 state tournament run.
The Storm, the No. 1 seed from the East, are matched up with West No. 4 seed Williston to kick things off.
Legion baseball has a peculiar rule where the host team automatically advances to state. Williston lost two of its three games in the West tournament, yet made it to state anyway.
Devils Lake is 27-7 on the summer, having won 14 in a row. Williston is 16-18-1, having lost eight of its last nine.
The Oilers are coached by Mark LaCroix, who was recently hired as Lake Region State College’s new baseball coach. They played the Devils Lake B team in Devils Lake on June 10. Devils Lake won 7-2 in a seven-inning game before Williston won 16-2 in a five-inning game that followed.
Perhaps the most intriguing matchup for Devils Lake comes in the second round on Friday, should the Storm make it that far. They will meet the East No. 3 seed, the Fargo Post 2 Jets, assuming the Jets beat the West No. 2 seed Bismarck Senators on Thursday.
The Jets are the defending Class A state champions. Devils Lake handled them in the regular season this year, but they’re always a threat. Even their two games against the Storm were close: 4-3 and 6-4. They beat the West Fargo Aces, Park River Post 147 and Kindred Post 117 in the region tournament to get here.
Last year’s Jets eliminated Devils Lake on the final day of the state tournament with a 9-7 win. The Storm finished in third place. They could have a chance at redemption early in this tournament.
The tournament is double-elimination. The eventual champion will have to play at least five games, with a possibility for a sixth.
If Devils Lake and Casselton Post 15, the top two seeds in the East, each win their first two games, they would meet on Saturday. Devils Lake beat Casselton 3-0 in the region championship this past weekend. The Storm won 10-0 and 7-2 over the Haymakers during the regular season. Casselton was the No. 7 seed in the region tournament but won one-run games over the Post 2 Jets and Kindred to qualify for state.
Devils Lake has only lost three region games: two to the West Fargo Aces and one to the West Fargo Vets. Neither of those teams made the state tournament.
The tournament championship will be played on Monday, August 3, the final day of the tournament. If it is only the first loss for the losing team, a final deciding game will be played shortly thereafter.
State qualifiers from the East
No. 1 Devils Lake Storm
No. 2 Casselton Post 15 Haymakers
No. 3 Fargo Post 2 Jets
No. 4 Kindred Post 117 Vikings
State qualifiers from the West
No. 1 Valley City Post 60 Royals
No. 2 Bismarck Senators
No. 3 Minot Metros
No. 4 Williston Oilers