Devils Lake Firebirds/Photos by Noah Clooten
As the 2024 season has progressed, the Devils Lake baseball team has continued to round into form.
I wrote about the team’s season eight games ago, back when they were 6-4. It feels like a lot has happened since then. At the time, after a shaky 2-4 start, they’d started to figure things out with a four-game winning streak. Since then, they’ve only continued to improve, winning seven of their last eight to lead the East Region in wins.
Here’s what’s been working.
The hits are starting to complement the walks
One of the biggest trends I noticed early on for this team was their propensity for drawing walks, despite struggling to get going in the hit column. The Firebirds had a sneakily productive offense despite a team batting average near .200 and a slugging percentage below .300.
But lately, the hits have been there, too. Devils Lake has raised its season batting average from .228 to .263 over the last eight games, and its slugging percentage from .297 to .349. Over the last 12 games, in which the Firebirds have gone 11-1, they’ve scored an average of nearly five runs a game in a pitching-heavy league.
Mason Palmer was perhaps the embodiment of this Devils Lake offense early on. He was hitting only .176, but with a 25.7% walk rate that gave him an OBP of .407. Since then, the Firebirds’ three-hole hitter has found his form and raised his average to .289, along with a .450 OBP.
Beau Brodina’s average has gone from .222 to .283. Fausten Olson’s has risen from .107 to .241, with three separate three-hit performances amidst this stretch of success.
The team is still walking, too — 15.4% of the time, in fact. It’s a gradual decrease from the 17.7% mark it had through the first 10 games. But with time, Devils Lake has shaped into a more well-rounded offense. It’s seen a few long balls, too; Jackson Baeth has three on the season, and Parker Brodina also smashed his first high school round-tripper recently. B. Brodina has been a table setter out of the leadoff spot, collecting three doubles and a triple while boosting the lineup with a .432 OBP.
Jackson Baeth continues to get better
One of the biggest reasons Devils Lake started to turn its season around after a 2-4 start was the emergence of Baeth’s bat. Typically the cleanup hitter of the squad, Baeth has the most natural in-game power of anyone on the team. He consistently hits the ball hard and far. And it’s starting to pay off.
It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who had a .150 OBP on the season-opening road trip. His season OBP, which includes those first six games, has been hovering around .500 lately. His three home runs have helped give him a slugging percentage over .700 and an OPS over 1.200. He’s walking more than he strikes out, too, which is always a good sign for a hitter. He’s even been intentionally walked twice.
Baeth has firmly established himself as the on-field leader of this team — the most dynamic and explosive presence at the plate. He’s a leader off the field, too, being a senior and a Division II baseball commit. He’s a hitter who pitchers are clearly scared of when he comes to the plate, and that’s an immensely valuable asset for Devils Lake to have.
The Firebirds have been executing small ball perfectly
It seems like almost every game now that the Firebirds make something happen with small ball in the late innings.
They’ve played some close games, and a big reason they’ve been able to win them is because of their clean fundamentals late in contests.
Devils Lake has been good at choosing the right moments to bunt. Max Palmer has executed several suicide squeezes perfectly, bunting it slightly down the third base line and allowing it to float in no-man’s land. Late-inning comebacks over Fargo North, Grand Forks Red River and Fargo South have been built this way. The Firebirds also put the ball in play against Grand Forks Central, forcing a disastrous Knights defense to field the ball, which led to a six-run first inning and a 12-0 win.
Small ball, at times, can be a risky game to play, especially in offense-dominated leagues. But high school games tend to be lower-scoring than other levels, and in Devils Lake’s case, its knack for bunting in runs has made a difference. It’s important to emphasize how consistently well-placed the Firebirds have been putting the ball; they’re not just giving away outs, but rather, making something happen by forcing fielders to make tough plays.
It has to be a fun time for Firebird baseball right now. They’ve beaten a handful of theoretically vaunted Fargo teams, including a doubleheader sweep over the three-time defending champion, West Fargo Sheyenne. This team is looking more and more like one that could make a serious run come postseason time.
