After more than a week off, the Devils Lake softball team returned to action at home on Tuesday. The Firebirds had gotten off to an adventurous start, starting the season 0-2 but fighting back to even their record at 2-2. They fell 16-11 to Fargo Davies (1-1) to return to the losing column, as 13 runs in the first three innings were too much to overcome.
Calin Boline started in the circle. She was a big reason Devils Lake won those two games, but she couldn’t handle the Fargo Davies lineup with quite the same amount of ease on Tuesday. She allowed three runs in the first, six in the second and four in the third. All the runs in the first two innings came with two outs.
The Firebirds, meanwhile, scored one in the first and one in the third. Julia McIvor had an RBI single, and Tylie Brodina recorded an RBI triple. But they found themselves in a deep 13-2 hole after three innings.
Brodina took over for Boline with one out in the fourth. The Mustangs rallied for two more two-out runs, extending their lead to 15-2.
But the Firebirds battled back with a seven-spot in the bottom half. Madison Harris, Livia Nelson, Taylor Leben, Callie Schneider, Brodina and McIvor all had RBI hits in the rally. The outburst made it a game again at 15-9.
Brodina settled in. She worked around a leadoff single in the fifth, then got out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the sixth.
The Firebirds tacked on another couple of runs in the bottom of the sixth, as McIvor hit an RBI double and Boline added an RBI single. It was a four-run game.
Fargo Davies notched an insurance run in the seventh on a passed ball and an error by the third baseman. Brodina still finished the final 3 2/3 innings of the game, allowing no additional damage.
The Firebirds couldn’t rally in the seventh, though, as their comeback efforts came up just a little short. It was a slugfest win for Fargo Davies, coming out on the better side of a game that featured 36 hits and 27 runs.
McIvor and Schneider each had three hits for Devils Lake. McIvor and Brodina both recorded three RBIs on the day.
The Firebirds are staying busy with another home game on Thursday, this time against Shanley, and then a road game on Friday against Valley City.
