MANDAN — The summer of Devils Lake baseball is over.

The Storm fought until the end against Bismarck on Saturday at BNC National Bank Field, but they just couldn’t string enough together to stay alive. They tallied 14 hits, but they didn’t put enough together in sequence to overcome a four-run second inning.

Bismarck eliminated Devils Lake with a 4-3 win.

“Give them credit,” Storm coach Brent Luehring said. “They made plays when they needed to make plays with guys on. They got out of innings. And we just didn’t capitalize. We gave them four that one inning, and we didn’t field the ball that one inning, and it bit us again today.”

Ben Larson, starting on the mound in an elimination game for the second time this postseason, bounced back from the second inning to give Devils Lake a solid outing. He allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out five and walking zero.

But the Storm’s offense, despite recording more than twice as many hits as the Reps’, didn’t do quite enough.

Devils Lake got a pair of two-out hits from Mason Palmer and Jackson Baeth in the first inning. But Trason Beck couldn’t replicate his clutch knock from Friday, and the runners were left stranded in scoring position.

In the bottom half, Larson survived a leadoff single. He struck out two of the next three batters, getting the Reps to chase and spotting his fastball well on the outer half.

Parker Brodina swung at the first pitch he saw in the second inning, and muscled it into left field for a leadoff double. Devils Lake manufactured him home with a pair of bunts from Will Heilman and Fausten Olson. The Storm grabbed a 1-0 lead, but they left two more runners in scoring position.

Larson allowed another leadoff single in the bottom half. The frame seemed to have the makings of the first inning, as he retired the next two. But Drew Taylor hit a fly ball that sailed all the way into deep center, and the ballpark dimensions played a factor yet again in this tournament. Center fielder Olson was slightly slow to pick it up, and Taylor raced all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

With one swing, Bismarck took a 2-1 lead.

Another run scored after a single and a throwing error by Baeth. Then a rocket past Baeth brought home the fourth run of the inning. Nine batters came to the plate for the Reps, shooting them ahead 4-1.

But the Storm didn’t go away just yet. Baeth and P. Brodina both recorded hits in the fourth, and Hunter Remmick lined an RBI single. It ended a personal streak of five consecutive strikeouts for Remmick.

Devils Lake already had seven total hits through three innings, but it trailed 4-2. Hits were coming, but a full-fledged rally hadn’t broken out.

Olson led off the fourth inning with another hit, and Beau Brodina bunted him over to second. He reached third on a wild pickoff throw, and Mason Palmer hit a fly ball deep enough to drive him in. The deficit was now trimmed to 4-3.

Max Palmer, after drawing a walk, moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Pitcher Ryker Zietz was losing the zone a little bit, and Baeth hit a single up the middle after getting into a hitter’s count. But Palmer, representing the potential tying run, was gunned down at the plate.

So Devils Lake, despite nine hits and a reached-on-error, still trailed by one.

“Just one hit away,” Luehring said. “We had a guy thrown out at home. It’s just baseball.”

The fifth inning encapsulated what was holding the Storm back in this game. They recorded three consecutive two-out hits, including a soft chopper from Olson that loaded the bases. But B. Brodina grounded out to third, ending a massive threat. Devils Lake was now outhitting Bismarck 12-6, but the Reps still led 4-3.

Max Palmer led off the sixth with his second walk of the game. Baeth came to the plate with one out, already 3-for-3 in the game and having homered in this tournament. He narrowly missed a go-ahead two-run homer, sending it just foul to left field. On the very next pitch, he grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Such was the way of this game, where the Storm just couldn’t seem to get the big hit that they needed.

Larson kept them in it. He threw a perfect fifth, then got out of the sixth with a double play.

“They were an aggressive team,” Luehring said. “He adjusted. Started hitting his spots a little better. Mixed in the curveball. He did a great job. Kept us in it. Couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Devils Lake had its dangerous 5-6-7 hitters coming up in the seventh.

Beck led off with a single, and the threat was in motion. Cayden McCarthy courtesy-ran for him, as he often does. P. Brodina laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Bismarck opted to go the safe route at first base.

But McCarthy strayed off the second base bag. The Reps fired it over there, and they tagged his hand before he could get back. It was a mental baserunning blunder that put a dagger in Devils Lake’s comeback hopes.

Remmick was determined to not make the last out, fighting off multiple two-strike pitches and keeping the Storm alive with a single. After the five-strikeout streak, he finished the summer with three straight hits.

But the baserunning mistake loomed large. It all came down to Heilman, who popped out to second. Thus ended the Devils Lake season.

It also brings an end to Devils Lake baseball in general in 2024. The Firebirds had a strong spring in the EDC, and the Storm followed it up with a No. 1 regular season finish and a state tournament run.

It’s all over, until next year.

“I challenged this group and said, ‘We’ve gotta be the group that goes and wins a game in the EDC tournament,’ which we did,” Luehring said. “And then I said, ‘We’re gonna have a really good opportunity this summer to make the state tournament. And who knows what happens there?’ And they did it. They accomplished both goals we had.”

While Devils Lake will lose key players like Baeth and Simon Beach next year, the future is still bright. The Palmers, P. Brodina, Remmick and Beck are just a few of the players who will be returning. The B team had a solid season, too, making a run to the district championship game against a much older Cando team.

“I feel bad for our four 18-year-olds, but I’m excited for as young as we are, and having that B group play this summer and compete really well there,” Luehring said. “I think the future’s bright in Devils Lake for what we can do in the future. We’ve got a lot of good players, and we had a really nice season. I’m happy for everybody, and I’m happy for what they accomplished. They’ve never been here before.”

So the Storm players walked off the field, clearly frustrated with themselves for not getting it done, but still having a lot to be proud of in the strides they took with their performance this year. Some of these kids will transition to football now, while others will go on to college or whatever else they have planned in life. Many of them will be back next spring, and of course, next summer.

As for the coaching staff, Jeff Carpenter and Eric Nygaard have until next summer to get ready for another season coaching the A and B teams, respectively. Luehring will be back for both the spring and summer seasons. Assistant coach Dustin Brodina, meanwhile, has a state basketball title to defend as head coach in the winter. And Parker Schmid gets to continue building upon his young coaching career.

The busy cycle of sports will continue, but baseball in 2024 came to its natural end on Saturday. The sting of heartbreak is likely still fresh, as it often is any time a season culminates in something other than a championship.