Simon Beach/Photo by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — The Storm’s undefeated run in conference play was bound to end at some point.
Still, it would have been hard to predict just how emotionally taxing — exciting and heartbreaking in equal strides — that eventual loss would be.
Devils Lake won the first game of its doubleheader against Casselton on Tuesday, getting a complete game from Simon Beach in a relatively stress-free 5-3 win. But then the second game happened. It featured four lead changes, including go-ahead homers with runners on base for both teams. It also included three ties. Casselton had a lead as large as 8-3, and Devils Lake scored seven unanswered.
But the Haymakers ultimately got the last laugh. Despite a two-homer game from Beau Brodina, the Storm lost 11-10. With Tuesday’s split, they moved to 10-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
“They were really good last year, and they pretty much returned all nine starters from last year,” Devils Lake coach Brent Luehring said of the Haymakers. “We knew they could hit the ball, and they were gonna be aggressive.”
Game 1: Devils Lake 5, Casselton 3
Beach threw his second complete game this summer, taking just 83 pitches to handle this one by himself. An early offensive outburst was enough for Devils Lake, which held on to win despite a couple late Casselton runs.
Beach began the evening with a 1-2-3 first inning, which included a couple of strikeouts. He spotted his fastball well on the outer half. His command wasn’t quite so sharp in the second, when a pair of doubles put the Haymakers ahead 1-0. Still, Beach managed to strand runners on the corners to limit the damage.
For the Devils Lake offense, it was a singles party in the first two innings. Max Palmer, batting in the two-hole, got the Storm started in the first. With two outs, Jackson Baeth and Trason Beck — two of Devils Lake’s hottest hitters — both singled. But Palmer was thrown out trying to score, and the Storm came up empty-handed.
The hits kept coming in the second inning, and this time, they didn’t go to waste. Will Heilman, Ben Larson and Fausten Olson all managed to poke singles into various parts of the outfield, with Olson’s hit tying the game. Then B. Brodina, batting in his typical leadoff spot, hit a bloop that fell for an RBI double, jolting Devils Lake ahead.
And the rally didn’t stop there. Max Palmer knocked in two more with a double, collecting his second hit in as many innings.
All told, the Storm scored four runs on six hits to take a 4-1 lead. Through two innings, they already had nine total hits.
“We got on ‘em, didn’t let that kid get settled in,” Luehring said. “I think we did a good job hitting the pitches we wanted to hit, rather than hitting his pitches. Laid off his curveball a little bit down, and made him throw the ball over the plate.”
Casselton pitcher Jaxon Parker had some peculiar waves of success in his 2 2/3-inning outing. Between the second and third inning, he actually struck out three consecutive batters — all of the looking variety. He seemed to have found some command.
But then, after Larson fought off some pitches and worked a walk, Parker ended up walking three straight. And that ended his day on the mound with the bases loaded. Max Palmer didn’t have a third hit in him, though, and the Storm’s lead remained at three.
Beach, meanwhile, settled in after that shaky second inning. He retired nine straight, all on balls in play. The streak ended on a one-out single in the fifth, but a 6-4-3 double play got him out of the inning.
Devils Lake tacked a run onto its lead in the fourth, on a strange play where the third baseman dropped a popup but got the third out at third base. The Storm only had one hit after the seventh inning, but their early surge was forceful enough that they had a 5-1 lead with two innings to go.
Casselton responded by getting one back in the sixth inning on three consecutive two-out hits. But Beach stopped the bleeding there. He surrendered a leadoff solo homer in the seventh, but otherwise shut the door on the complete game and the 5-3 victory. He ended the performance with his third strikeout on another perfectly dotted fastball.
Notably, Beach didn’t issue any walks in his outing. He just kept pumping in fastballs, stayed composed, threw strikes and let the defense take care of the rest.
“That’s the thing about Simon. He’s not gonna overpower you, and he knows who he is,” Luehring said. “He’s confident in his abilities. He gets guys to hit his pitches. He’s never gonna strike out a ton, but he’s never gonna walk anybody, either. And he keeps our defense busy. I’m proud of him. He did a really good job.”
Notable performances
Simon Beach: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Max Palmer: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Jackson Baeth: 2-for-4
Beau Brodina: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB
Game 2: Casselton 11, Devils Lake 10
Calling the nightcap a “back-and-forth game” probably doesn’t do justice to how wild it was.
In the beginning, it was all about each team trading runs and one-run leads. It was 3-3 after three innings. Then Parker Brodina had a disastrous fourth inning that seemed to sink the Storm, but they fought back valiantly. B. Brodina hit a dramatic go-ahead three-run homer. But, with Devils Lake one out away from winning, it surrendered a go-ahead two-run homer.
“Yeah, hell of a game,” Luehring said. “Awesome job.”
The Haymakers struck first against P. Brodina with a couple of two-out baserunners in the first inning.
But the Storm struck right back, tying the game on a Baeth sacrifice fly after a pair of walks. Beck hit what should have been an inning-ending groundout, but the first baseman couldn’t hold onto it, and Devils Lake took a 2-1 lead.
Brodina threw a perfect second inning, but he allowed a run in the third. After a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt, he surrendered a two-out single that tied it at 2-2.
The pendulum kept swinging. The Storm answered back with a run in the bottom of the third to retake the lead, as B. Brodina was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a Mason Palmer single.
It only took one batter for Casselton to tie it back up in the fourth. P. Brodina surrendered a leadoff long ball to make it 3-3.
The Haymakers went on to load the bases with still only one out. And Brodina nearly wiggled out of it, inducing a fly ball that was just shallow enough to not score a run.
But a bases-loaded walk put Casselton back ahead. After a tight game up to this point, the gap widened quickly, as Brodina gave up a grand slam to the cleanup hitter. Devils Lake suddenly trailed 8-3 after a six-run inning.
Yet, just when it seemed like Casselton might have knocked the decisive blow, the Storm responded right back — this time with a four-run frame. B. Brodina smacked a two-run homer to the opposite field for his second long ball of the summer. Then both Palmers walked, and Baeth lined a two-run double into the left field corner.
The deficit was back to one. It was an 8-7 score, and 6-4 in just the fourth inning alone.
“I think the way we hit the ball that first game…you’re just not out of it,” Luehring said. “We competed. We got back into it.”
Then B. Brodina stepped to the plate in the fifth.
With runners on the corners and two outs, Brodina was trying to cash in and complete the comeback. He did that and then some. With his fluid, compact swing, he sent one over the fence to a similar spot as his last home run. The three-run homer shot Devils Lake ahead 10-8, and Brodina had two homers in the last two innings.
“I think those are just taking the ball where it’s pitched,” Luehring said of Brodina’s bombs. “Hitting it in the right direction, and doing a good job of not missing. One of those was a two-strike swing, and he hit that ball a long way, so can’t complain. He did his job.”
Left-hander Taydon Triepke took over for P. Brodina after four innings. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 fifth. He allowed a run in the sixth on two hits and a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to 10-9, but still collected two more strikeouts in the frame.
Triepke got the first out of the seventh on just one pitch. But despite Triepke cruising, Devils Lake opted to go with its closer, Baeth, for the final two outs.
The first batter reached on a hard grounder that got by Larson, who’d switched places with Baeth at third base. It was ruled an error. Then, with the Storm merely an out away from winning, a fly ball sailed out of the yard for a go-ahead two-run homer.
It was yet another lead change. Casselton led 11-10, and this time, it didn’t relinquish the lead.
Perhaps in poetic fashion, the final out came down to B. Brodina with a runner on first. He’d homered in his previous two at-bats. Alas, he didn’t have a hat trick in him. The Storm had to settle for their first conference loss despite a heck of a battle to get there.
Notable performances
Beau Brodina: 2-for-3, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB, HBP, 4 R
Jackson Baeth: 2-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI
Ben Larson: 2-for-3, HBP, R
Taydon Triepke: 2.1 IP, 2 H, R, 0 BB, 4 K
