WILLISTON — Hunter Remmick found out between championship games that he was going to pitch the final game of his Storm career.
He didn’t shy away from the moment. Despite limited innings this summer, and injury concerns that have hampered him, Remmick took the challenge head-on.
“We didn’t really know who was gonna pitch,” Remmick said. “But I said I wanted it, and went out and did my job, I feel like.”
Described as a big-time pitcher by longtime coach Brent Luehring, Remmick went out and gave Devils Lake one more big start. He did it in the biggest game of his career, and arguably the biggest game for Devils Lake baseball this century.
In his final year of Legion ball, under coaches Jeff Carpenter and Eric Nygaard, Remmick gutted out a five-inning, one-run performance to set the tone for an 8-4 win over the Fargo Post 2 Jets in the Class A state championship at Ardean Aafedt Stadium.
“All year long, he’s just kind of been tender with them, too, just for the fact that his arm was a little bit sore,” Nygaard said. “But he was the first one to light up [Monday] when he found out he was gonna pitch that second game. … He kept that ball in the lower part of the zone, and he got some key outs for us.”
Remmick’s experience and tenacity defined what was special about the 2026 Devils Lake Storm.
On a team full of grizzled Legion veterans, Remmick was one of three super-seniors. Certain college freshmen are able to play one more season of Legion baseball depending on when their birthday is. Remmick, Ben Larson and Fausten Olson were three of those college freshmen.
After spending their springs in college, the trio got one last run with the teammates they’d grown up with.
And boy did they make it count.
“It was awesome. I’ve missed playing with these boys,” Remmick said. “Obviously playing in college was awesome, but I’ve been playing with these guys my whole life, and it was great playing with them again.”
Remmick was primarily a pitcher this spring for Lake Region State College.
But returning to Legion ball allowed him to get back in the lineup. He usually played first base or DH’ed while hitting in the lower half of the order. Down the stretch of the season, he provided some thump out of the No. 8 spot.
Remmick hit .340 with an .830 OPS this summer. He was tied for the second-most doubles on the team with eight.
Remmick was self-critical of his performance.
“I actually started off pretty good, and then I started going downhill,” Remmick said. “I did mediocre, I’d say. … I felt fine hitting.”
A midseason downtick in production notwithstanding, Remmick was still a valuable piece of the offense. Most teams didn’t have the luxury of a No. 8 hitter with the kind of pop Remmick has.
Also returning to hitting was Larson, who was exclusively a pitcher for Mayville State University last spring. The fact that he was recruited as a pitcher is no surprise. In 2025, he posted a sub-2.00 ERA in more than 43 regular-season innings. His batting average, meanwhile, was .205.
But Larson continued to take batting practice at Mayville State. Despite not getting any official college at-bats, he returned to the plate as an entirely new hitter this summer. A home run in Sioux Falls sparked an explosive season at the plate, one where Larson hit .448 with a 1.256 OPS, both of which were team-best marks.
Larson, who’d never hit a home run before this year, tallied four on the summer. He reached base 57.8% of the time. He walked more than he struck out and was also hit by a team-high 14 pitches.
Larson credited Nygaard for his breakout at the plate.
“I owe a lot of it to Skip,” he said. “He changed most of my swing. And he helped me load my hands back so I’d be able to get on time better. And I just found a lot of barrels and was able to hit the ball.”
Larson also settled in on the mound and had a good summer, posting a 4.06 ERA in 37 2/3 innings. His biggest moment on the mound came in the state tournament, throwing seven innings of one-run ball to defeat the Jets.
As he’d done many times throughout his Devils Lake career, Larson worked out of jams to limit the damage. He admitted having to find a new release point around the fourth inning, helping him permit just one run after the Jets loaded the bases with no outs.
“I had to really dial it in,” he said at the time.
And he did. Larson guided Devils Lake to a pivotal 2-1 victory in the final start of his Storm career.
Olson, unlike Remmick and Larson, didn’t play college ball this spring. He was strictly a student at North Dakota State College of Science. So when he decided to return for his super-senior season, he had to get back into baseball shape entirely.
“It was definitely hard for the first month or two there, just trying to get my legs back in shape. And had some quad pain throughout the year,” Olson said. “But now it doesn’t really matter. So I’m glad I came back, and it was fun.”
Devils Lake limited Olson’s plate appearances early in the season. He would often be subbed out for Alex Hammond in the middle of games.
But he settled into a role hitting fifth, and by the time the postseason came around, he was playing full-time. Despite the aches and pains and having to wipe off the rust, Olson was his same old high-OBP self. He batted .268 with a .395 OBP. He walked more often than he struck out.
Olson, Larson and Remmick usually hit fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively, during Devils Lake’s championship run. The experienced trio lengthened the Storm lineup into the cohesive unit that it became.
They went out on a championship.
“I feel like throughout the season, our pitching was really what helped us,” Remmick said. “Our hitting was always good and consistent. And at the end, our hitting actually helped us. Got down, gave up some runs in the end, but our hitting really succeeded.”
Beyond the on-field impact, the three super-seniors were simply familiar faces who helped everybody feel comfortable.
Once they returned to the field, it was like nothing had changed.
“I’ve been playing with these guys since I started playing baseball, and it means a lot to me,” Remmick said. “Especially winning in our last game together, it was great.”
Strong leadership, friendship and camaraderie ultimately played a big part in this team gelling — to the point where it went all the way and won a championship. It was a group of kids who had close bonds and were all bought in on the same goal.
“They mean everything to me,” Olson said of his teammates. “That’s the reason I came back, is just the experiences with them, the hotel room stuff, playing baseball together. It’s just great. And we were there for each other every single step of the way, and we’ve been playing baseball for so long that it’s just — it’s awesome.”