CANDO — Devils Lake and Rugby were in a standstill.
The Storm struck first, and Cayden McCarthy didn’t allow a hit through three innings. But Rugby Post 23 tied it with two in the fourth, and Devils Lake was struggling to capitalize upon its plethora of chances.
A three-run sixth inning separated the Storm.
Devils Lake, the No. 5 seed, edged out Rugby Post 23, the No. 4 seed, in the first round of the Class B, District 3 tournament on Monday. The Storm won 8-5, surviving multiple Rugby comeback attempts. McCarthy pitched six solid innings with eight strikeouts, while Jaxon Strong went 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch and a difference-making three RBIs.
“We grinded through that one,” Devils Lake coach Eric Nygaard said. “A win’s a win, especially at this time of year.”
McCarthy helped give himself a lead before he ever took the mound. Ben Brodina and Tayven Wiberg led off the game with back-to-back walks, and McCarthy’s bunt single loaded the bases with one out. Strong knocked an RBI single, and Talan Gregory added a sacrifice fly to put Devils Lake up 2-0.
McCarthy struck out the first two batters he faced and retired the first five overall. He went full on the first batter, but located some pitches well to shut down the top of the Rugby order.
He issued his first walk in the second inning. But he didn’t let the inning spiral, putting it to bed with his third strikeout.
“The fastball was going good at the start,” McCarthy said. “And then the curveball; only threw it a couple times, but it was working.”
Devils Lake had another scoring chance in the third inning, loading the bases with two outs on McCarthy’s second hit, an error and a walk. But Mack Elsperger grounded out to short, keeping the lead at two.
The fourth inning was where McCarthy ran into trouble. It started with an uncharacteristic error by third baseman Easton Kraft, which McCarthy followed with a four-pitch walk. Rugby connected for its first hit, a deep double that drove in a run. A potential second run was thrown out at the plate. But the tying run scored anyway on a wild pitch, making it a brand new ballgame at 2-2.
McCarthy labored through two more baserunners before finally ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
The Storm loaded the bases again in the fifth. Kraft, the three-hitter who was having a rough performance on his birthday, redeemed himself with a one-out single. Back-to-back hit batsmen gave Devils Lake a prime opportunity to reclaim the lead.
But Gregory couldn’t get it deep enough this time, which brought up Elsperger in yet another big spot. He was overpowered in an efficiently quick strikeout. It was tough luck for Elsperger, who came up with two outs and multiple runners in scoring position in each of his first three at-bats.
“We had to do a lot of soul searching,” Nygaard said.
McCarthy bounced back in the bottom of the fifth to keep it tied. He allowed a one-out single, but Kraft made a nice snag and helped turn an inning-ending double play. McCarthy also collected his sixth strikeout.
Then in the sixth, yet again, the Storm loaded the bases. They’d already left the bases loaded twice, including just an inning prior.
This time, it didn’t go to waste.
Kraft hit a sacrifice fly that gave Devils Lake the lead. Strong added some insurance, knocking in two more with a single that made it a 5-2 Storm advantage. It gave Strong his second and third RBIs of the day.
“Jaxon did a very nice job,” Nygaard said. “He even bounced back; we were looking for a bunt from him in the middle part of the game, and I think he came back with a base hit, too. So he did well. Team effort though.”
Rugby got one back in the bottom half on a double, a wild pitch and a balk. McCarthy, with his pitch count reaching triple digits, saw his command waver a bit. He walked two more batters, and the runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. A single could have tied the game back up.
But McCarthy was able to bear down. He ended the inning — and his outing — with a strikeout. It was perhaps the biggest out of the game thus far.
Overall, McCarthy allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits. He struck out eight and walked five. He threw a whopping 116 pitches.
“His fastball was good,” Nygaard said. “If he can get his fastball to spot that up, and use his offspeed pitch to get ‘em out — yeah. He threw a lot more pitches than I thought today, but he grinded it out.”
It was the second straight strong outing for McCarthy, going back to his performance for the A team in Williston last weekend. McCarthy was hampered by walks during some of his outings for the B team during the regular season. He said he’s stopped wearing an arm sleeve as part of a change to his routine, which has helped him out.
“My arm was feeling really good at the start,” McCarthy said. “And then it started getting hotter. But it was fun.”
Devils Lake scratched out three more runs to extend its cushion in the seventh. After back-to-back walks, Brodina bunted in a run, and another scored on a wild pitch. Wiberg knocked in the third run with a sacrifice fly, making it an 8-3 Storm lead.
Strong, whose bat had led the day thus far, took the mound for the final inning. Despite entering with a five-run lead, he got himself into a sticky situation. Rugby collected RBIs on a double and a groundout, cutting the lead to 8-5. Strong permitted a trio of free passes, which loaded the bases with the potential tying runs.
And he fell behind 3-0 on the next batter. But somehow, some way, he escaped trouble. Kraft made a nice play to end the game, missing a tag but making a quick throw to first base for the third out.
So that secured the three-run victory in the first round of the tournament. It advances Devils Lake to a matchup with the No. 1 seed and host, Cando Post 79, later Monday evening. Wiberg will start on the mound after throwing a two-hit shutout in his last performance.
“He’s wanted to throw against these guys for a couple weeks now,” Nygaard said. “So yeah, we’ll see how it goes. But offensively, we’ve gotta hit better and make plays behind him.”
