Mason Palmer (Photos by Noah Clooten)
Firebirds return to full practices
Last year, the Devils Lake baseball team felt like it surprised some people.
Ranked No. 9 in the preseason EDC coaches’ poll, the Firebirds went 17-11 and fell one game short of the state tournament. And now, with a large portion of its core back for another year, Devils Lake is diving in with some bolstered confidence.
This preseason, Devils Lake was ranked No. 7 out of 12 teams in the coaches’ poll.
“We’re still ‘Devils Lake’ to a lot of teams, which can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing,” Firebirds head coach Brent Luehring said. “I know we’re not gonna sneak up on anybody. But like I told the guys, we got everybody’s best last year. We faced four guys that are throwing Division I in some shape or form.”
The team started practicing a week earlier than normal, albeit without the kids who are also on the basketball team. Last Monday, for the week of March 24, the basketball kids returned from the state tournament and joined the crew for a full week of work.
“We were missing nine guys, and you could definitely tell it wasn’t a full squad,” Luehring said. “Getting everybody here this week, it’s a breath of fresh air.”
Also a breath of fresh air, in the more literal sense, was the Firebirds’ first chance to get outside on the field. It’s the second full season of the refurbished DLYA Field, complete with a pristine turf infield. Devils Lake has otherwise been working out in the Sweetwater Elementary School gym when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
“Getting outside yesterday, it was nice to see us get out and throw the ball around and move around,” Luehring said last Tuesday. “Our cages aren’t out there yet, but we’ve been hitting here in Sweetwater. And it’s just trying to get better every day.”
Luehring met with each individual player on Tuesday to go over what he expects out of them. They all have a role to play in the configuration of this team, which will contribute to the sustained success this group is striving for.
Starting lineup
Devils Lake returns a large portion of its lineup, but with two notable omissions. Jackson Baeth and Beau Brodina — arguably the two best hitters on the team last year — have both graduated and are playing college ball.
Baeth batted .364 with a 1.081 OPS in the spring. He hit three of the team’s four home spring homers. Brodina had a .444 OBP in the spring and a .477 OBP in the summer Legion season. They were the starting third baseman and left fielder, respectively.
“We’ll really miss Jackson and Beau,” Luehring said. “They’ve been two four-year starters for us. Those were two guys we could write in the lineup every single day. So it’s kind of fun, because we’ve got some young guys challenging for those spots to fill. And it’s exciting because it brings competition to every practice.”
Baeth manned the hot corner for his entire high school career — and he likely would have started there in eighth grade as well, Luehring said, if not for the COVID-19 year.
Luehring immediately brought up sophomores Will Heilman and Easton Kraft as options at third base. Heilman is also the team’s backup shortstop behind Mason Palmer. He secured his spot in the starting lineup with a strong finish to the spring season, then went on to hit .256 last summer.
Kraft was a mainstay on last year’s JV and B squads. He also got some spot appearances on the varsity and A teams, going 5-for-18 with six walks between the spring and summer. Kraft already has experience on the left side of the infield as well.
Junior Max Palmer and senior Ben Larson have gotten some looks at third as well. Palmer is primarily a second baseman, and Larson has played various positions in the infield.
The extra options will be crucial when Mason Palmer is on the mound, with Heilman sliding to short and somebody needing to fill in at third.
“That’s why we’re trying out more than one guy at third,” Luehring said. “There’s gonna be moving pieces with whoever pitches… It’s nice we have the options. It’s just getting them comfortable there so we don’t miss a beat with the other guys on the mound.”
But, regardless of how things shake out, the Firebirds have their primary middle infield back in the Palmer twins, who are both juniors. Mason Palmer hit .271 with a .436 OBP last spring, then led the summer team in hits and batting average. Max Palmer can also be a pesky presence at the top or bottom of the order.
Over at first base, it’ll likely be Parker Brodina again, except when he pitches. Brodina batted .280 in the spring and .316 in the summer. He also hit the only non-Baeth home run for Devils Lake last spring.
Fausten Olson will man things in center field as one of the Firebirds’ best defenders. Similar to B. Brodina last year, he has advanced plate discipline that fueled a .403 OBP in the spring and .438 in the summer. Olson, an experienced senior, brings speed and on-base ability to the leadoff spot or two-hole.
Larson, who can fill in at a few spots or DH, is a contact-oriented hitter who quietly posted a .366 OBP last spring and a .370 OBP in the summer. He’s a two-way player who’s committed to play baseball at Mayville State University next year.
The Firebirds bring back their catcher, too, in senior Trason Beck. He had a fairly quiet spring with a .229 batting average, though he still put up a strong .371 OBP. He went on to have a fantastic summer, with the second-best average on the team at .357. He hit a home run and had a .951 OPS in Legion ball. He’ll look to carry some of that into his final spring tune-up in Firebird red. But even aside from his bat, Beck is immensely valuable as the backstop.
Another intriguing piece in the puzzle is Hunter Remmick. The now-senior was limited to 20 at-bats last spring, but he broke out in the summer and earned his way into the starting lineup as a DH. He hit three home runs in Legion ball, and finished the regular season with a .320/.485/.580 batting line.
“He is really coming on,” Luehring said of Remmick. “You can tell he’s spent a lot of time in the weight room and working on his swing… He’s definitely gonna fit into our first base plans, and DH; somewhere in that mix.”
Continued success from Remmick could be huge for the team this spring. Both he and Beck, the two big summer breakouts, are committed to play baseball at Lake Region State College next year.
Devils Lake also returns Taydon Triepke (.333 OBP in 39 PA) as an outfield option. Heilman has previously helped out in the outfield, too.
Luehring mentioned kids like Finley Wirth, Ben Brodina and Jaxon Strong as JV players from last year who could be in the mix for varsity action. Sophomore Cayden McCarthy, primarily a right-handed pitcher but who also hits from the left side, will get some reps in the outfield as well. Devils Lake has a right-handed-heavy lineup that McCarthy could help even out.
There’s also the return of Gauge Driessen, a senior who missed all of last year after he was in a ski accident. He’s still been with the team in the dugout, on road trips, etc., but now he’s back to 100% health after a long recovery. Driessen adds another piece to the outfield mix for Devils Lake, and he’ll throw out of the bullpen with his three-quarters delivery.
There’ll be some mixing and matching. But the majority of the pieces are already there, and it’s just a matter of how they’ll fit together.
Pitching
On the pitching side, Devils Lake is fortunate enough to bring back its entire starting rotation. P. Brodina, Mason Palmer, Remmick and Larson all got substantial innings last year. The Firebirds have a strong group of upperclassmen to lead them on the mound.
“We’re gonna challenge some guys to maybe give us more than they got last year,” Luehring said. “They’ve just gotta be more consistent… You’ve gotta give us what you can give us. You’ve gotta be honest with us, and we can be honest with you. And yeah, I’m excited. We haven’t had this many guys we can throw; I really believe we’ve got close to 10, 11 guys we can throw in situations in some shape or form.”
Somewhat of a wild card is McCarthy, who displayed a lively arm with promise as a freshman last season. He ran into some control issues, but he got some extra innings on the B Legion team to work things out and refine his stuff in a low-pressure environment. He had some near-dominant outings for the A team near the end of the summer. Back on the varsity squad, Luehring looks for him to be a bigger part of this year’s spring team.
“We really liked what Cayden McCarthy has provided,” Luehring said. “He’s definitely gonna fit into our rotation.”
At the top of the rotation will be Palmer. He was arguably Devils Lake’s most effective pitcher in both the spring and the summer last year, though his innings were still relatively limited compared to the other starters. This season, Luehring isn’t feeling as shy about letting him pitch.
“I think definitely, he’s gonna fit more into our rotation than he did last year,” Luehring said. “It’s hard to remove him from shortstop; he’s just such a stable presence. But yeah, we’re looking for big things from him. He’s got some colleges knocking on his door. And he’s gonna take that leadership role.”
Last spring, Palmer put up a 1.93 ERA and struck out 25 batters in 18 2/3 innings. He also went neck-and-neck for seven scoreless innings with Fargo Davies’ Drew Rerick, an MLB draft prospect who’s now pitching for the University of Texas. He went on to throw to a 1.96 ERA in 23 Legion innings.
Also an all-state player in football and basketball, Palmer will be a more central leader on this team. He’s one of its most potent talents on both sides of the ball.
P. Brodina, the Senior Athlete of the Year in basketball, will have his final ride of baseball this year before he departs to the University of Mary basketball team. He’s one of the hardest throwers on the Firebirds, but he’ll be looking for some more consistency on the mound after fading from a strong start last year.
His spring ERA was 6.25, though that number doesn’t tell the whole story.
“Parker had a great start for us in high school. He came out and won four big games; North, Sheyenne — two pretty big upsets,” Luehring said. “He was kind of that horse early on. And I don’t know if it was just location, or tired — I don’t know… He’s the last kid I’m worried about. He’s so mentally tough, and he’s a leader, and there’s nobody that’s gonna work harder to get himself right than him. He looked good in his bullpen yesterday, and we’re excited to see what he does this year. I know he’s looking forward to basketball in his future, but I know with him he’s gonna give everything he can.”
Remmick and Larson should provide stability to the rotation, too. Both are relatively light throwers with pinpoint control and the ability to induce soft contact. Remmick had a 2.84 ERA in 19 spring innings last year. Larson led the spring team in innings with 33, and had a 2.45 ERA to go along with it.
In the bullpen, one of the primary options should be Triepke. The deceptive left-hander threw six scoreless innings last spring, then got 19 1/3 innings over the summer and posted a 2.33 ERA. With Driessen and Triepke, Devils Lake has two very different and tricky looks coming out of the ‘pen to complement its strong array of starters.
Let the games begin
The Firebirds, after some weather postponements and cancellations, are scheduled to open the season in Grafton on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Their home opener is scheduled for Friday against Fargo Davies at 5 p.m.
The tools are all there for Devils Lake to be competitive once again this season.
“I think everybody knows what we can do in the EDC,” Luehring said. “It’s just, we’ve gotta put it together and we’ve gotta keep playing our style of baseball. And if we play the way we can play, we think we can compete with anybody in our league… We have the preseason No. 7, but I feel like it’s a pretty wide-open league. We’ve actually got probably more returners than a lot of teams. Those big schools, they always reload. Ours is more of a developmental program, and we feel like we’re in a good spot right now.
“When they see that number, I think it challenges them more.”
