DEVILS LAKE — The first year of the Laurence Arango era is nearly over.
The Lake Region State College baseball team wrapped up its regular season conference schedule on Sunday, falling in both games of a doubleheader against Dawson Community College (10-30, 7-17). After winning 19-0 in the first game on Saturday, the Royals ended up going 1-3 on the weekend. They finished conference play with a 4-20 record (9-29 overall), putting them in last place in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference.
“We started great Saturday,” head coach Laurence Arango said. “And then we lost the second game. We blew a late lead, which has been something we’ve been doing all year. We haven’t been able to hold the leads late.”
Saturday’s win was fueled by a 14-run sixth inning. Nicholas Smith had a three-run homer and an RBI walk in the marathon frame, while Hugh Montgomery notched a pair of RBI singles. Montgomery collected three hits and three RBIs in the game, which ended in six innings.
“He was wonderful,” Arango said of Montgomery. “We love him. He’s our leadoff hitter. He plays a great center field, plays hard, comes to play every day.”
The Royals had 13 hits and seven walks overall, and DCC committed six errors. Ronald Nelson threw six scoreless innings on the mound.
The second game on Saturday was a back-and-forth affair that the Royals fell on the short end of. The contest was tied 6-6 after five innings, and LRSC scored three in the top of the sixth but surrendered four in the bottom half to lose 10-9. Brady Omdahl had the go-ahead hit, and pitcher Lane Kinsella allowed a three-run double to tie it back up. The 10th Buccaneers run scored on a passed ball.
The Royals drew a whopping 10 walks in the game, including four by Montgomery. Marshel Herman also had two hits and a walk. Smith hit another home run, giving him two bombs and nine RBIs on the day.
“Nick is one of our leaders,” Arango said of Smith. “He’s very cerebral. Very smart player, intelligent, and plays the game the right way: hard-nosed. And the kind of way we want to build the program with, with those kinds of players.”
Sunday was the final day of regular season conference games, so the Royals honored their eight sophomores before the action. It’s been a grind for these players, who have had to overcome the challenges of playing college ball in a program that first-year coach Arango is trying to build from the ground up. Their schedule has involved numerous hours playing in the North Dakota cold and traveling around the vast state in buses.
“It’s hard when you have a coaching change from your first year to your second year, but they’ve stuck with it,” Arango said. “I’m proud of them. I’m glad we honored them today.”
They were quickly reminded how ruthless this sport can be. The first eight batters of Sunday’s game reached against starting pitcher Hunter Brodina. LRSC committed two errors behind Brodina, and he allowed eight runs before he was pulled, having only recorded two outs. Just four of the runs were earned.
“When I went to see him on the mound, he was throwing his good stuff,” Arango said. “He said, ‘Coach, they were just hitting it.’ The beginning of the game, they really just jumped us.”
Jacob Ripplinger stranded the bases loaded in the first, then calmed the damage in the second thanks to a DCC baserunning blunder. The Buccaneers tacked on two more in the third on an error and a sacrifice fly, after the inning began with a triple.
The Royals were an out away from getting run-ruled 10-0 in five innings. But Keegan Wade-Parker kept the game alive with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, and Montgomery added an RBI double. The game went on, with DCC leading 10-2.
An error led to one more Royals run in the sixth, which came in on a fielder’s choice. Ripplinger settled in during the middle innings before surrendering five hits and three runs in the top of the seventh. The Buccaneers won 13-3. Ripplinger allowed five runs (four earned) in 6 1/3 innings.
Then in the second game of the day and fourth of the weekend, the Royals battled early but lost 8-3. It was LRSC’s third consecutive loss after starting the weekend in such dominant fashion.
A catcher’s interference and an error put the Royals in a tight spot in the second inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. A ball got by catcher Brayden Ehnert, but he flipped it back in time for pitcher Jacob Warnke to tag out the runner trying to score. Arango let out an emphatic “Yeah!” and swung his arm excitedly.
Progress. It’s what this team has been striving for as this season has gone along. LRSC’s defense wasn’t always pretty on Sunday, but it executed a heads-up play to keep the game scoreless.
“Brayden always plays so hard,” Arango said. “He’s always diving around, giving his all. He’s got great heart, great determination.”
An inning later, Ehnert caught a runner stealing after an error. His highlight plays paid off, as LRSC capitalized on a DCC error in the bottom of the second to go ahead 2-0. The Royals were playing crisper, higher-energy baseball in the beginning of Game 2.
But Warnke, who’d kept the Buccaneers off the board through the first three innings, surrendered two runs on three hits in the fourth. It knotted the game back up at two apiece.
The Royals responded, as Brodina hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly to put LRSC up 3-2. But the Buccaneers struck right back with five straight hits in the fifth, including a go-ahead two-run homer. DCC soared to a 7-3 lead with a five-run frame.
As strong as the Royals played early in Game 2, they couldn’t sustain that success. A two-base error helped them load the bases in the seventh, but they couldn’t get anything across. They fell by five runs in the end.
“We do come out with energy,” Arango said. “Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t hit back when the other team responds. And we need to do a little better job with that… We have to be more resilient. When we fall behind or we have a bad inning, we have to just fight back.”
LRSC wraps up its regular season schedule with a pair of non-conference games at home against the University of North Dakota club team on Monday. Then, despite its struggles, it’ll have a chance to make a run in the playoffs.
“We’re looking forward to the playoffs,” Arango said. “I think people are gonna take us lightly, but I think we’re gonna come out there and really give our best, and give ‘em a good shot.”
