Ben Larson/Photo by Noah Clooten
FARGO — The Storm weren’t expecting to be in this position.
Coming into the Class A East Division Tournament as the No. 1 seed, they found themselves already playing for their season on Friday at Jack Williams Stadium. After a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Valley City Post 60 on Thursday, they went up against the No. 4 Fargo Post 2 Bombers, still looking to reawaken their offense and get going in this postseason.
“We weren’t expecting to lose at all,” Devils Lake pitcher Ben Larson said. “I think we were too hot over our heads right away. We kind of just bonded as a team; we went out to eat, and we regrouped and talked it over. It’s not just gonna be a pushover. We gotta work for everything.”
And much of that offensive sluggishness carried into Friday. Their scoreless drought extended to 10 innings before they finally scratched out a run on a squeeze play.
The hero, though, was Larson. With offense at a scarcity, Larson needed to be great, and he was. He gave Devils Lake six scoreless innings, holding steady with Fargo’s Caden Nelson. Larson’s superb pitching performance fueled the Storm to a tight 1-0 victory, advancing them to a state qualifier game on Saturday.
“I’ve been waiting for a big moment just like this for a while now,” Larson said. “And it felt good to finally execute it. I’m glad to have them behind me making plays, and all the stuff they do. I’m glad they were hitting the ball well. And I’m glad about the squeeze. I’m glad that worked.”
Larson gave up a leadoff infield single in the first inning, and Fargo manufactured the runner over to third. But he perfectly placed an offspeed pitch on the inside part of the plate for an inning-ending strikeout, stranding the potential go-ahead run on third. He worked around a two-out walk in the second, ending the frame with another looking strikeout.
The Devils Lake offense, though, was still in a rut. The hitters picked up where they left off on Thursday, swinging early in counts and making weak contact in the first inning.
The Storm had a massive scoring chance in the second. Trason Beck was hit by a pitch, and Taydon Triepke ran for him. Parker Brodina lined a single up the middle, and the runners advanced on a misplay by the center fielder.
Devils Lake had two in scoring position with nobody out.
But Triepke was thrown out trying to score on a squeeze play where Will Heilman couldn’t get the bunt down. Hunter Remmick and Heilman both struck out, leaving Brodina on third.
With the game still scoreless, Larson continued to keep Devils Lake in it. The Bombers drew some deep counts against him, but he threw a 1-2-3 third, getting through the inning with his pitch count at 50.
He allowed a one-out single in the fourth, and a Max Palmer error on a potential double play ball got Larson in his stickiest situation yet. Still, despite numerous foul balls, he stayed composed. He located his pitches well, and he ended the inning with a lineout to Palmer.
“I’ve coached Ben for three or four years; he’s won a lot of games for us,” Storm coach Brent Luehring said. “I never, ever doubt what kind of kid we’re gonna get when you get on the mound. He competes. He’s never gonna overpower anybody. He mixes locations. He just did a great job.”
Offense remained hard to come by for Devils Lake. At one point, six straight batters were retired.
Jackson Baeth broke the streak by fighting off a one-out single in the fourth. Then Beck hit a ground ball to third where the Bombers tried to turn two, but Baeth beat out the throw at second, and by then it was too late to even get Beck at first. Both runners were safe.
It was a huge break for Devils Lake. To make matters sweeter, Nelson made a wild pickoff attempt into center field, allowing the runners to move into scoring position.
But with the infield in, P. Brodina chopped out to short. It was just low enough for the fielder to extend his arm and grab it. Remmick struck out for the fourth consecutive time, dating back to Thursday, and once again, Devils Lake got nothing.
“I don’t know, man,” Luehring said. “You don’t want to try to reinvent the wheel this late in the year, but I don’t know. We’ve gotta do something different. Maybe we won’t hit tomorrow before the game. I don’t know what the answer is.”
Larson issued a pair of walks in the fifth inning, prompting a brief mound visit. Then he surrendered a single, loading the bases with one out. Fargo now had a prime scoring chance.
But he weaseled his way out of it on just two pitches. The first was chopped to third, and Baeth got the force out at home. Then a flyout to right field ended the frame, with the Bombers and Storm still knotted up at zero.
“Mentally, I was just trying to hit my spots, and a few things that were wrong with my mechanics that I was really focusing on,” Larson said. “Correcting them right away or earlier in counts; trying to get ahead, and I did and I got out of it.”
Fausten Olson got things going in the bottom of the fifth with a one-out walk, and B. Brodina dropped in a hit on the next pitch. Olson got to third on a misplay by the left fielder, and Brodina moved up to second on the throw.
Then Devils Lake executed a perfect squeeze play. Max Palmer laid down a bunt, and Brodina sprinted home. The Storm argued that Palmer was safe at first, but Baeth was quick to remind the dugout, “We scored a run!”
Luehring said that he told Palmer before the play, “We have to squeeze the first time he’s down in the count.” And he felt that Palmer was the right guy to get the bunt down.
And it worked.
Larson, pitching with a lead for the first time, came back out with authority. He fired a quick 1-2-3 inning, his cleanest frame since the third. He finished the top of the sixth with his pitch count at 101.
“Having a run definitely helps a lot,” Larson said. “The confidence went way up, and we performed.”
The Storm weren’t going to take any chances, though. For the seventh, they brought in Mason Palmer, who is likely to pitch in Saturday’s elimination game. Luehring said it’ll either be him or Remmick.
Palmer struck out the first batter, then labored a bit with a one-out walk. But he induced a line-drive double play to his twin brother Max, getting the final two outs on one swing.
Devils Lake could finally relax. It pulled out the 1-0 win, and stayed alive another day.
The Storm now have a noon contest to prepare for on Saturday. They’ll play the loser of Friday’s matchup between No. 2 Wahpeton 20 and the No. 3 West Fargo Aces. This one is essentially for all the marbles, as the winner secures a spot in the state tournament, while the loser goes home. The winner of the noon game will play again at 5 p.m. to compete for the No. 3 seed at state.
But the important game, right now, is the noon game. Devils Lake can breathe a little easier having a win under its belt now, and it’ll look to keep the momentum riding into Saturday.
“We got our mojo back,” Larson said. “We’re gonna show up and compete tomorrow.”
