Trason Beck
DEVILS LAKE — Brent Luehring had been expecting a lot more home runs on Wednesday.
On Thursday, he got his wish.
With reported winds of 37 mph for the Devils Lake Storm’s season opener, Coach Luehring said he thought he’d see four, five, maybe even six home runs on Wednesday. Instead, despite plenty of offense, there was only one bomb.
But on Thursday, with an only slightly slower wind speed of 29 mph, the ball flew out in accordance with Luehring’s prediction.
The Storm won Game 1 by a score of 10-5. Not only did their cleanup hitter Jackson Baeth homer, but so did Trason Beck and Beau Brodina. Then Mason Palmer hit a grand slam in Game 2, leading Devils Lake to a 13-3 victory.
Besides Baeth, none of the four home run hitters had sent one out in a game this year. For Beck and Palmer, it was the first of their careers.
“I think we saw the ball a little better today,” Luehring said. “I’m happy for Mason and Tra, both of them their first career home runs. It’s awesome. I’m glad they put good swings on it, and yeah, the wind might have carried them out, but both teams were playing that way.”
It was the second doubleheader sweep in as many days for the Devils Lake American Legion A team. The Storm improved to 4-0 on the young summer with Thursday’s successes.
“I feel like we played great,” Beck said. “After some errors against Valley City, we just started hitting the ball a little bit better.”
Game 1
The sloppiness that Devils Lake had to overcome on Wednesday carried into Thursday. Minot’s leadoff batter hit a bloop single, and catcher Beck caught him stealing. But a walk, a wild pitch and an RBI single against Parker Brodina put the Metros on the board. Then Beck made an errant throw on a soft dribbler, allowing Minot to go up 2-0 before the Storm had a chance to bat.
“We’re better than that,” Luehring said. “We’ve got better baseball in us defensively. We’ve gotta hit and play defense.”
Baeth tied it with one swing of the bat.
Baeth, Devils Lake’s most potent power hitter, hadn’t hit a home run recently. But with strong winds blowing out, he connected on one to the left-center field gap. It was a two-run shot to make it 2-2.
Minot went back up 3-2 with a run-scoring double in the top of the second. But Brodina struck out the next two, and Devils Lake once again tied it with a home run in the bottom half.
This time, the blast belonged to Beck.
“I was pretty surprised to see it go out,” Beck said. “I was rounding pretty hard to try and get on three because I did not think it was gonna go out.”
It was the catcher’s first home run of his high school career.
“I felt like I ran around the bases too fast,” Beck said with a chuckle.
Brodina worked around a leadoff error in the top of the third, setting up a four-run outburst from Devils Lake. Mason Palmer, who committed that error, doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Baeth and Brodina drew back-to-back walks — then Simon Beach, Will Heilman and Beck singled in succession.
Beach and Beck’s hits brought in runs. Beach was thrown out trying to score from second on a single, but a Minot error prolonged the inning and made it 7-3 Storm.
Brodina struck out three in a five-batter span, but a double put the Metros back in the run column in the fifth. The runner advanced to third on another error by Palmer, then scored on a sacrifice fly.
It cut Devils Lake’s lead to 7-5. Brodina still completed the frame with his ninth strikeout.
The Storm penciled in the exclamation point with a three-run blast from B. Brodina in the bottom of the fifth. He hit a fly ball slightly left of center field, and it just kept carrying.
“I thought Beau had one of the best high school swings I’ve seen all year,” Luehring said, “hitting that ball with two strikes the other way, left-center.”
That all but locked up the 10-5 victory. After B. Brodina briefly stole the spotlight, P. Brodina finished his outing by striking out two in a perfect sixth inning. It gave him 11 punchouts on the night. Only two of the five runs he allowed were earned.
“I thought early in the game, he struggled to throw his fastball a little bit,” Luehring said. “And then he kind of settled in. And we were able to settle in and throw everything else.”
Taydon Triepke recorded the final three outs, and the Storm started the evening with a victory.
Notable performances
Beau Brodina: 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R
Mason Palmer: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R
Jackson Baeth: 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
Trason Beck: 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
Parker Brodina: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K
Game 2
The Storm collected seven hits and a whopping 12 walks in a 13-3, five-inning rout.
And they essentially wiped the game away in the second inning.
Three straight walks to start the inning set the tone. Hunter Remmick was hit by a pitch, driving in the game’s first run.
The next two batters made soft outs to shallow left, as Devils Lake nearly failed to capitalize on the pitcher’s wildness. But Fausten Olson and Triepke drew back-to-back walks to make it 3-0.
Then Palmer showed up.
He gave the Storm their first hit of the game in style, blasting it to the sweet spot in left field where the wind was blowing out. It sailed over the fence for a grand slam. The Storm led 7-0.
On the mound, Devils Lake went with a bullpen game to limit pitch counts. Ben Larson allowed a leadoff single, but retired the next six in a brief two-inning performance.
The Metros got three back against Max Palmer in the third. They consistently hit the ball hard, and it could have been worse if not for a line-drive double play right into first baseman Remmick’s glove.
But with a slightly slimmer lead at 7-3, Devils Lake went right back to work in the bottom of the third. Two walks immediately loaded the bases with nobody out again, and Larson hit an RBI single. Easton Kraft was thrown out trying to score a second run on the play. But pinch-hitter Garrison Elfman drew a bases-loaded walk, and another pinch-hitter, Cayden McCarthy, singled in two more.
It was a rout again, with the Storm leading 11-3.
“Just nice to see everybody play and contribute,” Luehring said. “Be disciplined with some things. Don’t expand too much. Yeah, there’s some swings you want back, but that’s every game.”
Max Palmer had a much better fourth inning, sending the Metros down 1-2-3. B. Brodina also got an inning of work in; he allowed a one-out single but struck out two in a scoreless fifth.
Remmick added an RBI double in the fourth. Triepke led off the fifth with a double, and Mason Palmer wasted no time driving him in. That ended the game automatically due to the run rule. It gave Palmer five RBIs in the game, adding on to his grand slam.
The A team is back in action Monday at home against the West Fargo Aces at 5 p.m. The B team begins its season Friday in Cando at 5 p.m.
“We’re gonna be pushed next week,” Luehring said. “We know we gotta put it together.”
Notable performances
Mason Palmer: 2-for-5, 5 RBI, R
Ben Larson: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Easton Kraft: 1-for-1, 2 BB, 2 R
