Hunter Remmick/Photos by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — Pitching was the name of the game on Sunday.
Fueled by complete games from Hunter Remmick and Mason Palmer, Devils Lake achieved a sweep on Sunday after splitting its last two conference doubleheaders. The Storm (13-5, 10-2) won both games against Fargo Post 2 (7-12, 2-6) by scores of 3-0 and 4-2, respectively.
Remmick threw a shutout, while Palmer limited the Jets to two runs.
“I’m happy, man,” Devils Lake coach Brent Luehring said. “To get four out of the six this week; probably could have been five, but for us to get four out of the six, I’m really happy… It’s been a lot of baseball in 18 hours here.”
Game 1: Devils Lake 3, Fargo Post 2 0
Devils Lake won 3-0, fueled by Remmick’s complete game shutout.
The right-hander brought a no-hitter into the fifth inning and only allowed two hits on the day. He struck out three and walked two. It took him only 85 pitches to get through the full seven innings.
“It’s awesome,” Remmick said. “I trusted my teammates to make plays behind me. And I don’t throw the hardest or get a lot of strikeouts, but my teammates make plays. Awesome effort.”
Remmick had good command of his pitches from the beginning. He retired the first seven batters he faced. The Devils Lake offense also went down 1-2-3 in the first inning, but it scratched out a run in the second.
Jackson Baeth worked out of an 0-2 hole to draw a leadoff walk, then advanced two bases on an errant pickoff throw. An RBI infield single from Palmer put Devils Lake up 1-0.
The Storm went on to load the bases, but Beau Brodina gave one a ride that was caught in right-center, limiting the damage.
The first baserunner against Remmick was a one-out walk in the third inning. He issued a leadoff walk in the fourth as well, but catcher Ben Larson caught the runner trying to steal. Through four innings, the Jets still didn’t have a hit.
Luehring and Remmick both expressed how they mostly relied on his fastball.
“We didn’t have to throw his curveball a whole lot,” Luehring said. “His fastball just had a little bit of bite to it and run to it. “
The Storm loaded the bases in the third, as Trason Beck and Baeth both singled. Larson hit one to a similar spot up the middle as Baeth’s single, but not quite as hard, resulting in an inning-ending double play.
Parker Brodina led off the bottom of the fourth with a hard double into the left field corner. He was thrown out trying to score on an E5 off of Fausten Olson’s bat. Olson wound up scoring, though, on an E6 from B. Brodina. So despite the iffy baserunning and squandered opportunities, the Storm led 2-0.
Remmick’s no-no bid finally ended on a two-out single in the fifth. He’d been cruising and inducing soft contact before then.
He allowed just one additional hit after that: a one-out single in the sixth. His own smartly turned fielder’s choice, where he threw the lead runner out at third, helped him escape the inning unscathed.
Devils Lake added an insurance run in the sixth inning for good measure, taking advantage of two free passes and another error. It was more than enough for Remmick, who set the Jets down 1-2-3 in the final inning with three ground balls.
Remmick continues to be a more understated yet key part of this summer ball team. This was his second strong pitching performance of the summer, following up a good effort he gave the Storm in the Dakota Classic a couple weeks ago.
“You know he’s gonna throw the ball over the plate,” Luehring said of Remmick. “He’s got a little bit of tilt with his high delivery, and kind of gets some down angle on it. Every game, he gets up there and does what we ask of him.”
Remmick also came into the day batting nearly .500 as a batter. He hit his first home run Saturday evening in Wahpeton.
“I’ve been seeing the ball really well,” Remmick said. “I try to get ahead in counts, so I know when a fastball’s coming.”
Notable performances
Hunter Remmick: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Trason Beck: 2-for-4
Parker Brodina: 1-for-2, 2B, BB
Game 2: Devils Lake 4, Fargo Post 2 2
It was Palmer’s time to shine in this one. He allowed two runs in a complete game effort, striking out five while walking three.
Early on, though, missed opportunities continued to hamper the Storm offense.
They had a trio of free passes with two outs in the first inning, but they left the bases loaded.
The Storm loaded them up again in the second on a pair of hit batsmen and an Olson bunt single. This time, they blew the opportunity in a much more creative fashion. B. Brodina appeared to hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Remmick. Fargo got a rundown going between first and second, and Olson tried to score. He was tagged out in the face by the catcher at home plate.
However, the Jets appealed at third, claiming that Remmick left early. And they won. So the run was taken off the board, and the inning was over. The Olson play didn’t matter one way or another. It was still a scoreless tie.
Palmer picked up where Remmick left off on the mound for Devils Lake. He retired the first four batters with a pair of strikeouts. He went on to keep the Jets scoreless over the first four innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four.
After back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the third, the Devils Lake offense got off the schneid. Larson hit a well-placed sacrifice bunt, and the first baseman couldn’t field it cleanly, allowing Larson to reach and Beck to score.
Then P. Brodina added a two-run single. It was suddenly 3-0 Devils Lake.
“We just did enough,” Luehring said. “We had some guys on third base and didn’t capitalize. But the pitchers did their job, kept us in it. And the defense made plays.”
Fargo’s first runs came in the fifth. A baserunning mistake gave Palmer some help, but a walk and two singles still got the Jets their first run in either game. Then an RBI triple to right field narrowed the Storm’s lead to 3-2, with the batter pumping his fists and roaring as he reached third base.
Palmer got an enormous out to keep Devils Lake ahead. Shortstop Will Heilman made a stop on a hard ground ball and made the throw to first in just enough time. The Storm stranded two runners in scoring position, keeping the one-run advantage.
Devils Lake added an insurance run in the sixth inning on two more infield errors. Palmer took it from there, rebounding from his shaky fifth to shut the door in the sixth and seventh. The only baserunner in the final two innings was an error.
“Mason does what Mason does,” Luehring said. “He overpowered some kids. He had that one bad inning where he kind of flattened out, but right back on it in the sixth and the seventh, and dictated. You’re never gonna count him out.”
Sunday’s action ended a busy stretch of conference games, though Devils Lake still has another doubleheader on Monday. The Storm will play a pair of non-conference games against Grafton Post 41 starting at 5:30 p.m.
“Grafton’s got a nice team. They’re a high level B team,” Luehring said. “So it’ll be fun. We’re playing good baseball. It’s good to play good teams.”
Notable performances
Mason Palmer: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Parker Brodina: 1-for-3, 2 RBI
Ben Larson: 1-for-2, BB
