Photo by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — With an actual storm approaching, the Devils Lake Storm squeezed in some baseball on Monday.
The Devils Lake A team (13-6, 10-2) dropped a seven-inning contest to Grafton Post 41 (13-4), a strong Class B squad. The Storm rested a few of their regulars and shifted around the fielding arrangements throughout the evening. The teams started to play what was supposed to be a five-inning nightcap, but the heavy rain eventually came in, thus bringing the night to a premature end.
“We played a lot of different guys, tried to get some guys in,” Devils Lake coach Brent Luehring said. “We have a four-game stretch here with doubleheaders, so try to give them some sort of break.”
Game 1: Grafton Post 41 5, Devils Lake 2
Beau Brodina had an eventful outing on the mound plagued by wildness. In the first inning, he issued back-to-back walks, and a two-out single got Grafton on the board. Then two more walks forced in a run. It took him more than 40 pitches to finish the frame.
He walked the first batter in the second inning, giving Grafton five already in the first time through the order. Brodina was really struggling, even falling behind 3-0 on the next batter.
But, with disaster on the precipice, he started to find his form. He battled back for a strikeout, then went on to strike out the side. That gave him five strikeouts through an adventurous two innings.
Pitching for the Spoilers was Tony Villarreal, a name that should be familiar to Devils Lake fans. Villarreal was one of the best players on the Grafton basketball team, which the Firebirds battled in three competitive contests this winter — including the state semifinal game.
“We saw a pretty decent arm. Villarreal’s a pretty good Class B arm,” Luehring said. “I thought he was throwing pretty hard and got us off balance. They’re willing to throw a guy against you; it kind of shows the respect they have for you.”
Hunter Remmick, who entered the day batting .400 on the summer, stayed hot with a leadoff double in the bottom of the second. He was caught in a rundown on a fielder’s choice hit by Simon Beach, but Beach wound up scoring on a pair of errors. It sliced the deficit to 2-1.
Easton Kraft, who had a hit in Carrington for the Devils Lake B team earlier Monday afternoon, somehow made it back to town in time to enter in the third inning. He took over as the third baseman and cleanup hitter.
“We didn’t know if we’d even be playing tonight,” Luehring said. “Once we found out we were playing, we called Coach [Eric] Nygaard to talk to Easton about getting back. And Easton’s mom and dad were down there, so they drove him back.”
Brodina threw a scoreless third, collecting his sixth strikeout and sixth walk in the process. The Storm loaded the bases in the bottom half, bringing up Kraft with one out. He chipped in with an RBI groundout, tying the game at two apiece.
“He stepped on the field right away, and hit the baseball,” Luehring said.
But that tie was short-lived.
Brodina didn’t get an out in the fourth. He issued another leadoff walk, then surrendered a double and a single that put Grafton ahead 4-2. Max Palmer replaced him. The Spoilers scratched out another run on an RBI groundout, and jumped ahead by three.
Brodina’s final line was an interesting one: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 6 K. He induced some swings and misses when he could find the strike zone, but his command came and went in waves.
Luehring attributed his struggles to simply being rusty from not pitching much this year.
The game was quiet from then on, the score stuck at 5-2. An error helped the Storm load the bases in the fourth, but they couldn’t cash in. Villarreal wound up pitching a complete game for the Spoilers.
Palmer took care of things for Devils Lake, pitching four scoreless innings. He allowed a hit in each of the final three innings, but never let things spiral. It was another strong outing after his complete game in the Dakota Classic in Renner a few weeks ago.
“We probably should have started him,” Luehring said. “But we’d rather go fast to slow, rather than slow to fast. He does his job every time we ask him. He’s a good reliever for us.”
Game 2: Grafton Post 41 3, Devils Lake 1 (Not an official game)
Lo and behold, Palmer stayed on the mound to start the nightcap.
With rain imminent, hitters on both sides were swinging early in counts and making lots of contact. Palmer retired the first five batters he faced. Grafton poked a single to the right side for the game’s first baserunner, but Palmer ended the top of the second with a high, loopy curveball that dropped into the strike zone for strike three.
“Max wants to be on the hill,” Luehring said. “He’s not gonna shy away from it.”
The Spoilers finally got to Palmer in the third inning. Four hits brought in three runs. At the same time, rain started to fall, and people began evacuating the stands. The storm was creeping up closer and closer, but the Storm played on, at least for the moment.
Devils Lake had something going in the bottom half. The Storm drew three consecutive walks, and then Parker Brodina got them on the board with an RBI single. But a flash of lightning — which was preceded by audible strikes of thunder — forced the teams to call it a night.
Devils Lake didn’t have a chance to complete the comeback it was starting to mount. The second game essentially became void since it wasn’t an official contest.
So it was only one loss for the Storm, and a non-conference one at that. They’ll wrap up a busy stretch with a conference doubleheader on the road against the Fargo Post 2 Bombers on Tuesday. After Tuesday’s games, though, Devils Lake will finally get about a week of rest.
“It’ll be nice for the kids. It’ll be nice just for everybody to get a break,” Luehring said. “The last four days have been a grind… We’ve gotta bring energy. The Bombers are gonna push us. They’re a pretty good team… Hopefully we can get a couple, going into our little break here.”
