WILLISTON — Devils Lake had to battle through several mental hurdles en route to winning a state championship last Monday at Ardean Aafedt Stadium.
Each time it seemed like victory was on the horizon, there was a setback.
The Storm were nearly eliminated by the Fargo Post 2 Jets on the last day of the state tournament for the second straight season.
“I think the experience from last year, the kids remembered that,” Devils Lake coach Eric Nygaard said. “They remembered that Casselton game, and they remembered that Fargo game.”
Hurdle No. 1: Jets tag Mason Palmer early
Struggles on the mound have been almost unheard of for Palmer.
The only thing that’s held him back since last summer is some elbow pain. Performance-wise, he was nearly untouchable over the final three baseball seasons of his high school and Legion career. Between the last two summers and the spring of 2026, Palmer posted 1.30 ERA in 83 innings with 121 strikeouts and just 38 hits allowed.
So when Palmer faced a 3-0 deficit in the second inning of the first championship game, it was uncharted territory.
“He found the adversity right away, and he kind of worked through it,” Nygaard said. “I think it was just his pitches kind of kept over the plate.”
Palmer admitted to feeling some nerves, and also that he had to get used to the mound on a field he’d never pitched on. It didn’t help that the conditions were sluggish and drizzly.
Despite the shaky start, Palmer ultimately played his part just fine. He limited a high-powered Jets offense to two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out eight. He held Fargo scoreless after the second inning.
“We started just throwing a lot of offspeed pitches, a little bit lower, and I don’t know if we threw the same pitch back-to-back,” Nygaard said. “So I think that helped him to keep them off balance and stuff, too. So it was fun. I’m very proud of his effort. He battled hard.”
The issue that plagued Devils Lake in the first game reared its head from the other side of the ball as the game wore on.
Hurdle No. 2: Devils Lake runs out of chances in first game
The reason the Storm lost the first championship game was because they only scored one run while going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The final of those chances ended with Will Heilman hitting into a game-ending double play.
But Devils Lake didn’t let this issue linger into the second game. Nygaard recalled the players not needing much of a pep talk.
“I don’t know if we really had to say anything to the players. I think they kind of knew what they needed to do,” Nygaard said. “And that’s the fortunate thing of just having a longer season, too. The things we were coached, what we tried to get instilled in them as coaches, we could hear that same terminology. Hit the ball to the right side. Get good balls to hit.”
Palmer came out and hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the second game to get the juices flowing.
“We had to just capitalize on our scoring opportunities,” Palmer said. “I think the boys were just fired up, and we knew what we could do. We just had to go out and do it.”
Devils Lake’s hitters stalled in the second through fourth innings, but they picked it back up in the fifth. Massive RBI singles from Taydon Triepke and Max Palmer gave the Storm a 4-1 lead.
Devils Lake totaled 10 hits and four walks in the 8-4 win — just minutes after the team had fallen flat.
“We were getting the bats going towards the end of the last game, and I feel like we kind of carried that into the second game there,” center fielder Fausten Olson said. “The boys just knew that we had to come out and win because we didn’t want to go out on that loss.”
Brody Rainsberry recalled a shift in mindset for the second game.
He said: “I think that losing that first game definitely got us more fired up because we were thinking, ‘We really only have one shot left now.’ That first game, we were like, ‘Oh, we could lose, we have another chance.’ But that was final-final. And all these seniors, and even the non-seniors, wanted to end on a win there.”
Hurdle No. 3: Devils Lake lets late lead get away
The Storm ended up needing two heroic innings at the plate.
The first was the two-run fifth, extending their lead to a more comfortable but still not completely safe three runs.
After the Jets rallied for three in the sixth to tie the game, it was back to the drawing board.
“We all knew we had two games today, and if worst came to worst, we’d have another one,” Triepke said. “But we remembered who we were. Remembered we beat them before. We know we can beat them. They’re gonna come with a different pitcher. I mean, we thought we could win. We got our minds in it.”
Yet again, Devils Lake punched back.
Instead of folding and letting the momentum continue to spiral the Jets’ way, the Storm offense got back to work in the bottom of the sixth. They ended up rallying for four runs against a new pitcher. Ben Brodina and Triepke had huge hits, while Heilman worked the count and found a way to slice a back-breaking two-run single.
“Hats off to our players,” Nygaard said. “Nothing like scoring four in the bottom of the sixth, going into the seventh, to win it. So we put ourselves in that position and executed.”
Nygaard praised the team’s consistent at-bat quality.
“Throughout our lineup, too. Even the guys that didn’t get a chance to play, we have confidence in them,” he said. “And it was just a total team effort.”
Devils Lake’s grit was rewarded with the program’s first state Legion championship in 42 years.