Parker Brodina (Photo by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — Last time the Firebirds played on this field — 14 days ago — they lost a close game and won a blowout against Fargo Davies.
The Devils Lake baseball team returned to DLYA Field on Friday, having lost three in a row and not played a game in 10 days. This time, it was a complete inverse of the split with Davies, as the Firebirds (3-4, 2-4) won an 8-0 blowout before falling in a tight 3-2 contest to Shanley (3-4, 3-3). Both games were one-point EDC counters.
“First off, it’s just good to get back out there,” Devils Lake head coach Brent Luehring said. “We’ve been off for a week and a half, and it was good to get a win, good to get an EDC win. We won’t complain about that any day.”
Parker Brodina pitched a seven-inning masterpiece in Game 1. Devils Lake led 2-0 in Game 2 but let the lead slip away, with two of the three runs being unearned. The Firebirds loaded the bases in the final frame but lost after a failed squeeze play.
“Like I told the kids, if we make our plays earlier in the game, they don’t even score today,” Luehring said. “So we didn’t make those plays, and then all of a sudden we’re forced to play catch-up… It didn’t go our way there.”
Game 1: Devils Lake 8, Shanley 0
Brodina came within one out of a no-hitter in an overall domination of the Deacons to start things off. He struck out five, walked one and allowed just a seventh-inning single. The Firebirds’ offense collected eight hits and was helped out by a whopping seven Shanley errors to make this a rout from the beginning.
Devils Lake jumped out to a 4-0 lead in an ugly first inning for Shanley.
It all started on a seven-pitch single by Max Palmer. Fausten Olson reached on a high throw from the shortstop, and Will Heilman bunted the runners over. Mason Palmer popped out — but Devils Lake did all of its damage with two outs.
Trason Beck came up clutch, lining a two-run triple to right field. Brodina hit a routine ground ball to third, but another run scored on Shanley’s second error. Hunter Remmick added an RBI single to make it 4-0.
The inning extended even further on the Deacons’ third error and a hit by pitch. But with Max Palmer batting again, he popped out to strand the bases loaded and finally end the frame. Shanley right-hander Quinn Miller threw 28 pitches.
Brodina, meanwhile, was dealing. He walked the first batter he faced but then retired the next eight. The streak only broke on a two-out error in the third inning.
Miller got the first two outs in the second, but yet again, his defense let him down. The first baseman came off the bag on a routine grounder to short, giving Shanley its fourth error. Beck made the Beacons pay again, hitting a double to give him his third RBI and bring him halfway to a cycle already in the second inning. It was a 5-0 Devils Lake lead.
Shanley left-hander George Giobres replaced Miller after he gave up five unearned runs in two innings. With one out in the third, Ben Larson reached second base on a single and Shanley’s fifth error, and then Taydon Triepke hit an RBI double. Max Palmer popped one up that the first baseman dropped for Shanley’s sixth error. Olson drove Triepke home with an RBI sacrifice bunt (that the Deacons almost threw away for another error) to make it 7-0.
Brodina threw a 1-2-3 fourth, collecting his second strikeout. The frame was capped by a diving catch by shortstop Mason Palmer on a line drive.
Palmer, who’d been in an 0-for-12 slump at the plate to start the season (though with six walks), finally collected his first base knock in the bottom of the fourth. The dugout met him with a sarcastically appreciative round of cheers. Their jeers were cut short, though, because the ball got by the center fielder for a two-base error, and Palmer made it all the way to third.
“I think he’s one of those kids that when things go good, it’s really hard to get him out,” Luehring said of Palmer as a hitter. “And we’re just trying to get him to be stable. We know the type of player he can be. So just trying to be positive with him and keep him up.”
With Palmer on third and nobody out, Beck couldn’t get it out of the infield this time. But Brodina bailed him out with an RBI single through the left side. It was 8-0, all on unearned runs.
Brodina struck out two more in the sixth as he continued to mow down the Deacons’ lineup. He got a quick flyout and strikeout in the seventh before surrendering a first-pitch single up the middle off the bat of Ryan Ommen. He craned his head slightly in disappointment while looking towards center field as Olson reeled it back in.
Brodina still kept his composure, promptly inducing a groundout to second to end the game. It was still a fantastic outing for him — his second straight complete game with no earned runs allowed.
He’d retired 12 in a row before the single (and 21 in a row if counting the error as a “batter retired”). Shanley combined to go just 1-for-23 against Brodina. The senior has struck out eight and walked just two in 14 innings to start the season, with only one unearned run allowed.
“He’s not trying overpower anybody, which is maybe a little bit different from what he’s used to doing,” Luehring said of Brodina. “Just attacking the zone and forcing them to put it in play. Hasn’t struck out a ton of guys, which is okay. We like our defense behind him.”
Game 2: Shanley 3, Devils Lake 2
A mostly successful day for the Firebirds ended in frustration.
Mason Palmer made his second start of the season on the mound. He and Shanley’s Landon Hale each retired the first six batters they faced.
Palmer faced bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth but got out of it each time. He survived three walks between the two innings, capping the fourth inning with his fifth strikeout.
Larson was Devils Lake’s first baserunner, with a one-out walk in the third. He stole second and scored on a two-out single by Max Palmer, as the Firebirds struck first.
Devils Lake tacked on another in the fourth. Heilman led off with a single, moved up two bases on wild pitches and scored on a Mason Palmer sacrifice fly.
Palmer immediately dealt with more traffic in the fifth after back-to-back leadoff singles. He struck out two in row, but then issued a walk to load the bases for the third straight inning.
He couldn’t find his way out of it this time. With his pitch count having risen over 100, he surrendered a two-run single to left field that tied the game in a flash. The second run was technically deemed as scoring on an error by left fielder Cayden McCarthy as he didn’t get a clean handle on it.
Palmer still ended the frame with his eighth strikeout to hold it at 2-2. He totaled 112 pitches, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks.
“He got his pitch count up there a little quicker than I wanted him to,” Luehring said. “He just wasn’t as efficient as he normally is.”
Remmick took over for him. After a leadoff error by Larson at second base, Remmick issued a walk and allowed a bunt single that loaded the bases — for the fourth straight inning, this time with no outs.
Remmick limited the damage by inducing a double play. An unearned run scored to give Shanley a 3-2 lead, but that was it for the Deacons in the sixth.
Max Palmer got the Firebirds started with a leadoff single in the bottom half. Olson bunted him into scoring position, but Heilman and Mason Palmer were both retired to end the threat.
Remmick survived a one-out walk in the top of the seventh to give Devils Lake a chance at a comeback in the bottom half. Beck worked a 3-2 walk to lead off, and Brodina sparked some hope with a double into left field.
Shanley opted to intentionally walk Remmick, loading the bases and setting up the force at every base. Larson hit one hard to the second baseman playing in, but the Deacons got the force out at the plate.
That brought up Triepke with one out. He showed bunt multiple times, with Brodina dancing off third. On a 1-2 count, Triepke pulled back a bunt on a pitch that was well high, but Brodina was caught between third and home on a squeeze play that didn’t come to fruition.
“His brain must have said, ‘Pull back with two strikes,’ I suppose,” Luehring said. “But we were trying to force the issue and trying to get one any we can get it. Basically not trying to ground into a double play or anything else. We were just trying to force the ball in play and see if we could get a run across. And it just happened that it didn’t work. So that’s baseball.”
With the tying run in scoring position with two outs, Triepke went down on strikes to end the game.
After taking a tough loss Friday night, the Firebirds will go right back out there late Saturday morning for some early-afternoon EDC baseball. Wahpeton (2-5, 2-6) comes to town for a doubleheader, with the first game being a two-point counter and the second game being a non-counter.
“Big two-point game for us,” Luehring said. “We’ve gotta show up. Like I told the kids, I know we’re down right now, but the best thing about it is we can turn around and play again tomorrow, and hopefully correct the mistakes we had. It’s nice not having to go to Wahpeton for the first time in about 10 years, it feels like. So make them come up here on a Saturday, and hopefully we have a good crowd and we can get a win.”
The Firebirds and Huskies are scheduled to get going at 1 p.m. Saturday at DLYA Field.
