Catcher Ava Beck, pitcher Tylie Brodina (Photo by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds softball team dropped a back-and-forth duel to the Grand Forks Central Knights on Tuesday.
Devils Lake (3-7, 2-14) led 6-2 but was sunk by a six-run top of the sixth in an eventual 11-9 loss. Central (1-12, 2-10) won its first game of the season, the players celebrating and hugging each other afterwards while the Firebirds had to settle for a hard-fought loss. The Knights made five errors but scored nine of their 11 runs over the final three innings. Devils Lake made two errors, unofficially.
“I have nothing negative to say about this game,” Devils Lake head coach Courtney Loegering said. “I think they played extremely well offensively and defensively. And just like any game goes, we did have a few things that we need to work on or a few errors — a few of the fundamentals that we maybe didn’t pull out. But we played really well. We had some girls that really stepped up.”
The Knights struck first on a fly ball Devils Lake lost in the sun in the first inning. Pitcher Tylie Brodina stranded two in scoring position, though, with a full-arm-extension snag on a comeback to end the frame.
Brodina’s aggressiveness helped the Firebirds score two in the bottom half to take the lead. After Ava Beck’s leadoff single, Brodina reached on a ground ball past the shortstop and took second on the throw. Madison Harris tied the game with an RBI groundout.
With Taylor Leben on first and Brodina on third, Devils Lake pulled off a double steal to go in front 2-1. Leben was caught between second and third to end the inning.
The Firebirds grew their lead to 4-1 with two more in the second. Tori Mikkelson drove Jossalin Carpenter home with an RBI double, and Mikkelson scored on a two-out error.
Brodina was throwing strikes in the circle from the beginning. She struck out two in a perfect second inning with a pair of punchouts. Through her first 45 pitches, she had 30 strikes.
Central leadoff hitter Kharleigh Larson led off the third inning with a double down the left-field line. At the time, she had the Knights’ only two base hits against Brodina.
Brodina then issued a four-pitch walk. But she buckled down with two in scoring position, retiring the next three with one strikeout. A run came in on a groundout, but Devils Lake still led 4-2.
The Knights put runners on the corners in the fourth after a double and an infield single. But a peculiar, snappy play got the Firebirds out of it. Beck, from behind the plate, caught the runner trying to steal second. The runner from third broke for home, and shortstop Julia McIvor fired back to Beck for the second caught-stealing on the same play.
“We actually practiced that yesterday,” Loegering said. “So it was really nice that we were able to execute it and put into play today, and show that what we’re doing in practice is paying off.”
Devils Lake scratched out a run in each of the third and fourth innings to extend its advantage to 6-2. Riley Remmick smacked a two-out RBI double in the third, and Beck scored on an error after reaching on a different error in the fourth.
A triple by Emiley Gereau got one back for Central in the fifth. But some self-inflicted wounds limited the Knights’ rally, with a runner called out at third for interference and another caught stealing to end the inning.
Brodina got the first two outs of the sixth inning on two pitches. But what looked to be a comfortable inning spiraled quickly.
The Knights’ bottom three hitters all recorded singles to drive in a run. Larson, with her fourth hit in as many at-bats, doubled home another to cut Devils Lake’s lead to 6-5. After Brodina issued a walk to Kaitlyn Raaum — Raaum’s third of the day — Loegering made her first circle visit of the afternoon.
She asked Brodina and McIvor if they wanted to switch positions.
“And they didn’t want to,” Loegering said. “They wanted Tylie to finish it. It was a team agreement.”
Brodina issued a game-tying walk, then surrendered a go-ahead three-run double to deep right-center. It was a six-run rally for the Knights, all with two outs, to go up 9-6.
“She came through and pitched as hard as she could,” Loegering said. “Just a couple good hits by some of the Central girls, and they were hitting the gaps.”
The Firebirds went back to business while beating out a pair of fielder’s choice attempts. With the bases loaded, the Knights tried to go home, but Beck got home safely. Leben rocketed one deep to left, which dropped in for a two-run single to tie the game at nine apiece.
Central finally turned a successful fielder’s choice, then induced a popup to stop the bleeding.
The Knights ended up putting the game away with two in the top of the seventh. A leadoff error led to an RBI single by Calleigh Carl and a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
Devils Lake went down 1-2-3 in the final frame as it dropped the contest 11-9.
Brodina, overall, allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 14 hits and seven walks while striking out five. She threw 133 pitches (78 strikes).
The Firebirds are nearing the home stretch of their season, with a road contest against Grand Forks Red River on May 13 up next. The regular season will conclude next Thursday at home against West Fargo Horace. Devils Lake has lost six in a row, though it’s put up competitive fights against Central, first-place Fargo North and fifth-place Fargo Davies.
“If they can keep playing the way we’ve played these last three games, I think we’re gonna be okay,” Loegering said. “Obviously, most of the games we’ve played this year haven’t gone in our favor. But if they can play to their ability — which I know they can, and they know they can — I think we’re gonna be set. We’re gonna be all right.”
