Brent Luehring/Photo by Noah Clooten
RENNER — The Storm exceeded their entire run total for the tournament in just the first inning of Sunday’s game.
They opened their matchup against the Harrisburg Maroon with a five-spot, leading to a 7-2 win in their final game of the Dakota Classic at Renner Ballpark. Devils Lake finished with a 1-3 record on the road trip and 8-3 overall.
“I think you look back, you could have said we could have won all four games, to be honest with you,” head coach Brent Luehring said. “It’s great to get a win. The kids are gonna go to the [College World Series] game tonight. It’s good to build off something for the week; we’ve got a lot of conference games coming up here.”
Luehring had been planning to start Ben Larson on the mound, but he said Larson was still slightly sore after his last outing. Instead, Larson started at second base while Max Palmer got a chance on the bump. Palmer has made some relief outings for the Firebirds and Storm this year, but doesn’t usually get stretched out very far.
He had little issue with it on Sunday, though. He threw a complete game, allowing just two runs (one earned) on two hits with six strikeouts.
“There’s nobody more confident in him than himself,” Luehring said of Palmer. “He’s more of a middle relief guy for us; kind of a change of pace… I was hoping for four innings, and he gave us seven.”
Harrisburg started Jonah Knuth, a lanky right-hander with a funky three-quarters delivery. The arm angle might have been tough to pick up on, but it didn’t matter much as Knuth was throwing it all over the place. He issued four free passes (three walks and a hit by pitch) amidst the first five batters. His third wild pitch of the inning allowed Palmer to come home with the first run of the game.
Both of Knuth’s first two outs happened to be strikeouts, though, and he was an out away from escaping the inning with just one run. But Hunter Remmick, Easton Kraft and Fausten Olson all came up clutch with two-out hits. The inning spiraled quickly to 5-0 in favor of Devils Lake.
“Walks, whatever, passed balls; it don’t matter. We’ll take any runs we can get just to start getting some confidence,” Luehring said. “I thought the kids were pretty disciplined. The kid [Knuth] was kind of all over the place, and the ball slid off the plate, so I was just telling the guys, ‘If it’s inside, it’s probably gonna be a strike. If it’s outside, you gotta let it go.’”
Overall, Knuth threw 47 pitches, only 22 of which were strikes. The Storm could breathe a little more easily before Palmer even took the mound, considering they only posted run totals of two, one and one, respectively, in the first three games.
“The first inning, we took advantage of the walks; we were just trying to put it together,” Palmer said. “Our young players came through and hit the ball great for us.”
Palmer’s shakiest innings were the first two. He issued a walk in each frame. He balked in a run in the first inning — something that plagued him in the EDC tournament. Two errors in the second inning — one from Larson and one from Palmer — and a double got Harrisburg another run. A line-drive 6-5 double play was huge in helping Devils Lake hold on to the 5-2 lead.
After that, Palmer settled in nicely. Granted, there was nearly a game-tying three-run homer in the third that the wind took foul. But Palmer went on to retire eight in a row at one point. He didn’t allow any hits after the third inning.
“At first, I couldn’t really find the zone,” Palmer said. “But as the game went on, my arm started getting warmed up, and I started finding the zone a lot easier, mixing speeds. Not giving them fastballs right down the middle.”
Devils Lake, meanwhile, didn’t having any hits between the first and seventh innings. After an outburst in the first, relief pitcher Gabe Long issued nothing more than a few walks over a five-inning span.
The top of the sixth ended on a looking strikeout of Palmer. He had already flung his bat to the dugout thinking he’d drawn a walk. It was the second straight day he disagreed with a call. Third baseman Jackson Baeth displayed his leadership qualities from the dugout, though, as he shouted, “That was right down the middle! Get back to the dugout!”
Palmer started pumping some heat in the final few innings. He’s not typically a big strikeout pitcher, but he punched out two batters in the fifth, and he ended the sixth inning with his sixth strikeout.
“I don’t know if he’s getting stronger or what,” Luehring said.
Palmer briefly exchanged words with the Harrisburg dugout before walking off the field. Once again, the Storm had to persuade Palmer to get back to the dugout, as he was teetering dangerously close to getting ejected. The umpires convened with Luehring before the next inning commenced.
“I don’t like if people chirp me,” Palmer said. “So I stand my ground, and I’m not gonna let them diminish me.”
Devils Lake’s first hit since the first inning was an RBI single by Baeth in the seventh. It followed walks to Mason Palmer and Trason Beck. With two outs, Larson singled to keep the inning alive, and Kraft drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 7-2.
Max Palmer finished it off from there. He set the Maroon down 1-2-3 in the final frame. He threw exactly 100 pitches overall, with 62 strikes.
So the Storm got back in the win column, coming away from this unfamiliar road trip with a win, at least. They’re still undefeated in conference play.
“We weren’t a full roster by any means, not having Parker and Beau [Brodina] here, but we got a lot of guys in,” Luehring said. “It’s just nice to play different teams. You’re just out here having fun. You’re just playing baseball.”
And now the team gets to enjoy an evening in Omaha, Nebraska, as it watches Tennessee take on North Carolina in the College World Series. Luehring and most of the adults are going home, but the kids get to kick back for a little bit and enjoy some high quality baseball.
“They’re gonna see a dandy,” Luehring said. “I’m happy for ‘em. I wish I could go. They’ll have a lot of fun… I’m jealous. It’ll be great for ‘em. I hope I get home before, so I can watch the game, see if I can see them on TV.”
It’s roughly a two and a half hour drive to Charles Schwab Field, where Tennessee and North Carolina are scheduled to play at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
“Very excited,” Palmer said. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun.”
