Now that Legion Field is in operation, and Lake Region State College is playing home games again, Laurence Arango has something that’s vital for a first-year coach: belief.
On Arango’s first two days at home in a Royals uniform, LRSC won three out of four in a series against the North Dakota State University club team. They wrapped up the set with a doubleheader split on Sunday, falling 6-3 in the first game but winning the finale 11-2.
“The first game was tough. We had our chances. We didn’t get it,” Arango said. “But we competed. And this game, we really came out and took it to ‘em.”
The squad still has things to improve, and more to aspire to, but Arango’s helping them get off on the right track.
He comes to LRSC with a long background in baseball. He was an associate scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the late 1990s. Hailing from New England, he played college baseball himself on the east coast. But he also got a degree in economics from the University of Connecticut, which led him to a different path entirely.
Until recently.
“I wanted to get back into baseball,” Arango said. “I’d gone into the business world, and the last few years I was in baseball again.”
He became the manager for the Stamford Thunder in the Babe Ruth League, and now he’s LRSC’s head coach. He brings an energized spirit to the program, along with a keen sense of fundamentals and baseball strategy, which have manifested in clean defense and aggressive baserunning so far in the young season.
“That’s my philosophy. We steal bases. We run. We play small ball,” Arango said. “That’s the kind of attack we do. That’s the kind of style of play I’m bringing here.”
Case in point was a squeeze play the Royals pulled off in the fourth inning of the second game. William Carson placed a bunt perfectly to bring in Ethan Weir, extending LRSC’s lead to 4-2 at the time.
The Royals have already stolen more bases than they did all of last season. They stole eight on Sunday alone.
They fell short in the first game of Sunday, in large part due to the three runs Simon Beach gave up in the first inning, and the runners LRSC left in scoring position in the second and third.
“There’s still a lot we can improve on and work on; hitting more in the clutch with men on base,” Arango said. “But we’re getting there. We’re gonna round into form, and I think we’re gonna be a tough team to beat as we get later in the month.”
Beach settled down after surrendering a home run in the first inning. But the Bison came back to scratch out a run against him in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, leaving him with an uneven line of 5 1/3 innings pitched, six runs allowed and nine strikeouts.
Beach is a Devils Lake High School alum playing for his hometown college team.
“Simon’s one of our leaders. He’s a great player. And he didn’t get to pitch his senior year in high school because of the field,” Arango said. “So to have him come out and start for us, that was important to me, important for the community. He’s a big part of the Devils Lake community.”
The Royals couldn’t get enough done offensively in the first game. But they got back at it in the nightcap, led by a five-run fifth inning in an 11-2 beatdown.
Nicholas Smith has been one of the hottest LRSC bats. He smacked a pair of triples and scored three runs in the victory.
“He’s very intelligent, very cerebral in everything that he does,” Arango said. “He’s one of our leaders.”
Kaeden Siwak has been hot as well, batting right behind Smith in the three-hole. He followed up Saturday’s walk-off with a couple more hits in Sunday’s win. The big blow came from Saturday’s hero on the mound, Hunter Brodina, who smashed a three-run homer to right field in an act of lefty-on-lefty crime. The shot gave LRSC a 9-2 lead.
It was actually Brodina’s cousin, Brady Omdahl, who started the second game on the bump. Brodina and Omdahl have deep bloodlines in Devils Lake as cousins of Beau, Parker and Tylie Brodina. Devils Lake boys’ basketball coach Dustin Brodina is their uncle.
Omdahl was solid for the first two innings before losing his control in the third. But Jacob Ripplinger was the pitching savior this time around, going the final 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
“Ripp’s got great command,” Arango said. “He comes in, and he does the job. He’s real relaxed. You can bring him in in a hot situation or cold, and he’ll do the job for you.”
A two-out rally in the sixth brought LRSC’s run total to double digits. Brodina recorded his third hit of the game. It capped a comfortable victory in the series finale for the Royals, sending them off the Legion Field turf for the first time in good spirits.
“We’re gonna build this program the right way,” Arango said. “We’re gonna play hard-nosed. Our guys are gonna be scrappy, working hard. This group right here is the first one, and we’re gonna continue to build it. We’ve got a great recruiting class coming in. So we’re very excited to represent this school and this community going forward.”
In these first two days, the Royals played with an emphasis on fundamentals and aggressiveness while picking each other up whenever something went wrong.
Arango has already imprinted his mark. But he’s far from finished here.
“It was a big move, 1600 miles,” he said. “But I’m very happy to be here. And I’m here for the long term.”
