DEVILS LAKE — Bismarck Legacy was the top pick in the West Region in the preseason coaches’ poll. It was the second pick in the state.
Not a problem for Devils Lake.
The Firebirds swept a doubleheader over the Sabers on Saturday, improving to 5-4 overall and 3-0 in their first homestand of 2024. After an 11-run showing on Friday, their offense continued to produce with hits and walks galore.
“When you play teams that you know are competitive, you gotta match that competitiveness,” head coach Brent Luehring said. “And you know that, from watching them warm up, how serious they take things. We were right there, right away from the beginning. We didn’t flinch.”
The Firebirds entered the day with a .348 team OBP despite only a .193 average — fueled by 37 walks compared to 31 hits. But they did quite a bit of both on Saturday, combining for 16 hits and 11 walks. They won 8-5 in a back-and-forth first game, then cruised to a 5-0 win in the second game.
“It was nice to see the hit column,” Luehring said. “I think we’re starting to see it a little better.”
Game 1
Beau Brodina, getting the start on the mound, nearly put himself in a deep hole. The first six pitches he threw were balls. But he settled down, inducing a soft fly to right that resulted in an unconventional 9-6 fielder’s choice. Catcher Trason Beck caught a runner stealing for the second time in as many days, and Brodina got through a scoreless first.
Jackson Baeth stayed hot in the bottom half, putting the Firebirds up 2-0 with a double to the center field wall. It was his fifth consecutive time reaching base to start the homestand. He drove in Fausten Olson and Mason Palmer, who both reached on free passes.
“When we get guys in front of him, he’s confident,” Luehring said of Baeth. “He’s got a goal to break the RBI record this season. Our former assistant coach kept on telling him, ‘You gotta break it by your senior year.’ Well, we’re gonna hopefully get a chance to give him an opportunity.”
The Sabers got one back in the second inning on a run-scoring groundout — following a single, a walk and two stolen bases. But Brodina struck out two of the next three batters to strand a runner on second and keep Devils Lake up 2-1.
The Firebirds drew three more walks in the bottom of the second — this time from Taydon Triepke, Brodina and Palmer. Palmer entered the day with a walk rate above 30%, and he walked in each of his first two plate appearances. But Baeth finally made an out with the bases loaded, hitting it hard and getting robbed by a good snag from shortstop Cooper Miller.
Bismarck scratched out two runs to take the lead in the third. Harrison Johnson hit a leadoff single, stole two bases and scored to tie the game on a groundout. After the third stolen base of the inning, a two-out single put the Sabers ahead 3-2. Beck ended the frame with his second caught stealing of the game.
“Trason’s always gonna be a kid that works harder than ever,” Luehring said. “I mean, he’s gonna outwork everybody. He’s not gonna say a word to you. He just shows up every day and you know what you’re gonna get out of him, which is awesome.”
Then in the bottom half, Beck doubled to put two in scoring position. Triepke laid down a nice bunt to tie the game back up. Max Palmer nearly gave Devils Lake the lead, but was robbed on a leaping catch by the left fielder.
The Sabers loaded the bases in the fourth, as Brodina hit two batters and walked another. Behind 3-1 in the count with only one out, Brodina pumped two fastballs to get a called strikeout. But he couldn’t quite get out of trouble, surrendering a two-out, two-run single to put Bismarck back up 5-3.
Brodina’s day on the mound ended after four innings. He allowed five runs on five hits, four walks and two hit batsmen while striking out three.
Bismarck starter Andrew Jablonski came out after 3 1/3 innings. He walked five, hit two and didn’t strike out anybody, but he left with the lead.
The lead didn’t last long. Left-hander Hayden Emter finished the fourth inning cleanly, but gave up four straight hits to start the bottom of the fifth. Baeth singled, Ben Larson doubled, then Beck and Will Heilman each had RBI hits to knot the game up at five apiece. The third run of the inning came in on a double play, with Heilman getting caught between second and third.
Still, Devils Lake shot back ahead, 6-5.
Triepke took over for Brodina on the hill. He threw a perfect fifth inning and worked around a leadoff walk in the sixth.
“He’s a straight fastball guy,” Luehring said. “We’re working on some offspeed stuff, but he’s just really not comfortable with it yet… You know he’s gonna throw it over the plate.”
Brodina walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth, then came in on a triple that Olson knocked past the right fielder. It was Olson’s third hit and first extra-base hit of the year.
Another run came in on a throwing error, and Devils Lake led 8-5.
Triepke finished the game off, striking out the final two batters after an error. The sophomore left-hander didn’t allow a hit in his three innings of work.
Game 2
Devils Lake’s Hunter Remmick and Bismarck’s Brodey Rykowsky traded zeroes through the first three frames. Remmick struck out a batter in the first inning and induced a 6-4-3 double play in the second.
Then the Firebirds scored five in the bottom of the second, a frame that started and ended with a Beck flyout.
Max Palmer got the scoring started with a nice opposite-field double. Heilman and Triepke both singled in the inning, and Palmer knocked them in with two outs.
Palmer joined Olson in collecting his first extra-base hit of the season on Saturday.
“They probably haven’t had quite the season they want to yet,” Luehring said. “But at the same time, I think you know that they’re gonna get quality at-bats, and they’re working their tail off to get themselves right.”
Two batters later, Palmer’s taller twin brother, Mason, hit an RBI single. Baeth added another run on a loud double into the left field corner, and Larson snuck one through the left side to make it 5-0.
Remmick kept the Sabers off balance. He avoided a one-out single in each of the third and fourth innings, striking out three in the process. Second baseman Max Palmer made a nice play reaching and spinning around for the first out of the fifth, and Bismarck got a two-out infield single but nothing more in the frame.
“I think the big thing with some of these guys that haven’t had a lot of varsity experience is knowing that you got a varsity defense behind you,” Luehring said. “And knowing if you put it in play, there’s a pretty good chance it’s gonna get caught.”
Two more double plays — one in the sixth and one in the seventh — helped Remmick finish off the complete game shutout. It was a luxurious win to wrap up the doubleheader sweep, with all the runs being scored in the second inning.
Devils Lake looks to keep rolling on Monday at 5 p.m. with a home game against Fargo North.
