Cayden McCarthy (Photos by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — After a string of delays and uncertainty over when they’d return to the diamond, the Devils Lake Firebirds finally got to play a baseball game on Tuesday.
“I’m excited,” Devils Lake head coach Brent Luehring said. “It was just good to be out here and play a game. We’ve been trapped inside off and on for the last couple weeks.”
Originally scheduled to play in Grafton, the Spoilers made the trip to Devils Lake instead due to field conditions. The Firebirds (1-0) took down the defending Class B runners-up 12-2 at DLYA Field to get this season rolling on a positive note, even through the chilly and windy conditions.
“Mr. [Jason] Wiberg called me about noon, and he’s like, ‘Can’t go to Grafton,’” Luehring said. “I said, ‘You’ve gotta do whatever you can to get it here. We’ve gotta play. We’ve just gotta get out and play. I don’t care about the temperatures, the wind. We’ve just gotta play before we play on Friday in league play, and get the boys out here and throw the ball around.’”
Here are a few principal takeaways from the season-opening action.
Cayden McCarthy passes his first test
Most of the Firebirds’ starting rotation is pretty set in stone. But McCarthy, a sophomore, is more of a wild card with a real chance to strengthen Devils Lake’s pitching corps. He has a live arm and flashed some potential last year, especially early in the spring and late in the summer. The key for him is staying in the strike zone.
So far, so good. McCarthy got the start on Tuesday and pitched three hitless innings to blank the Spoilers. He was pumping fastballs in the zone early on. He struck out the first two batters he faced, both via called third strikes.
McCarthy tallied his third looking strikeout in the second inning, this time with a nifty curve. He set down the first six batters of the evening.
“He threw the ball over the plate,” Luehring said. “We just tried to establish his fastball; we didn’t call a lot of offspeed with how cold it was. But yeah, just some confidence. Young kid trying to earn a spot.”
His command let up slightly in the third inning, with a leadoff walk to Easton Hansel on a full count. But second baseman Ben Larson turned a nice double play, and McCarthy ended the inning with a swinging strikeout.
McCarthy struck out four and allowed just one baserunner over three scoreless frames. He threw 43 pitches. Luehring said he was on short rest after throwing a bunch of pitches on Friday. But he did his job for the time he was in there.
Offense takes advantage of struggling relievers
Devils Lake scored only one run through the first two innings, on a clutch RBI single by Taydon Triepke.
But once Grafton took out starter Hunter Johnson after two innings, the floodgates opened.
Reliever Jack Green struggled to command his fastball or curveball, and the Firebirds were all over him. Will Heilman had the team’s first extra-base hit of the year with a double, giving him two hits in his first two at-bats. Fausten Olson swung at a curveball off the plate, but still managed to dunk it into right field for an RBI single.
Among the first eight batters who came to the plate in the third, seven of them recorded a hit or a walk. The only out was on a ball hit into shallow center by Trason Beck — the ball hung up in the wind and dropped, fooling both the Grafton center fielder and Olson, who got thrown out at third on what was technically a fielder’s choice.
Hunter Remmick had a two-run single amidst the rally, and Triepke hit his second RBI single.
Triepke, a left-handed-hitting junior, ended up going 3-for-3. His third hit came in the fourth inning, where Devils Lake batted around yet again, this time against reliever Chace Woinarowicz. Three of the first four batters of the frame walked. Two runs scored on an error by the third baseman, then Remmick had a sac fly and Max Palmer — the only Firebird who was yet to reach base — lined an RBI single.
It was a four-run fourth following the five-run third, making it 10-0 at the time.
New defensive alignment looks good
With no more Jackson Baeth, the Firebirds are having to try a few kids out at third base. On Tuesday, it was Max Palmer, who typically plays second.
Palmer made a nice play on his first chance at the hot corner, charging in on a slow roller. On his second chance, he made a slightly wide throw but still got the runner in plenty of time. It was a small sample, but still a good first impression as Devils Lake aims to continue the reliable defense that Baeth anchored.
“What I like about Max is it doesn’t matter where you play him; he’s gonna take everything as a challenge, and he’s gonna work his tail off there,” Luehring said. “He’s gonna get his opportunity there. I feel that he gives us a little bit of added athleticism over there. He ain’t gonna wow anybody with his arm, but he gets it out quick. The more reps we can give him over there, the more comfortable he’s gonna get.”
Larson, another contender for the third base job, looked smooth and confident in Palmer’s usual position of second base. At shortstop, Mason Palmer made one high throw but otherwise looked like his normal self.
Gauge Driessen is back
While the first few innings were all about McCarthy’s performance and the barrage of offense, the final inning became about Driessen.
For the first time in over a year since a serious ski accident, Driessen got to take the field in a live baseball game. After Remmick bridged the gap with a scoreless fourth, Driessen came in looking to shut the door on a 10-0 run-rule victory.
The very first pitch Driessen threw was grounded to short. A few close misses led to a walk, and then he unraveled a bit with a four-pitch walk and a hit by pitch to load the bases.
Pitching in the cold and trying to send everyone home, Driessen managed to settle down. He induced a fly ball to left, and Heilman nearly cut the runner down at home, but his throw hit the runner. A single brought in a second Grafton run. Driessen ended the frame with a swinging strikeout — and it took everyone on the field a moment to realize it was the third out.
“He’s looked really well in his bullpens, actually. He’s thrown a lot of strikes,” Luehring said. “It took him a while to get comfortable out there. And it’s cold; he was struggling to grip the ball a little bit.”
With the score at 10-2, the run rule was no longer in effect, so the Firebirds went back to bat. After a run scored on an error and two free passes, there was Driessen again, this time stepping to the plate to pinch-hit for Remmick.
Driessen wasted little time. He sliced one into right field for a bloop single, sending Beck home with the “walk-off” run. It was an automatic 12-2 victory. The contest ended in Driessen being celebrated by his teammates as the varsity team got to go home after less than five complete innings.
“It just feels good for him to be out there. Everybody’s excited for him,” Luehring said of Driessen. “The challenges he’s overcome; just a good moment for him. And hopefully something he can build on. It’s excitement for us all.”
Devils Lake now dives right back into the fire with a pair of conference games at home against Fargo Davies on Friday. Both games will be seven-inning counters, at roughly 5 and 7 p.m. The Eagles were the preseason No. 2 in the EDC.
“They’re gonna challenge us. They’ve got a couple arms. They throw pretty hard,” Luehring said. “They’re just a good program. They’ve got good depth. I’m excited to play ‘em, see where we’re at early in the year.”
