Mason Palmer (Photo by Noah Clooten)
WEST FARGO — The Devils Lake baseball team just isn’t firing on all cylinders right now.
A day after getting run-ruled in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Minot, the Storm A team dropped both legs of a doubleheader to the West Fargo Aces (3-0) at Young Field. Wednesday’s games were more competitive, but Devils Lake lost 5-4 in extra innings before losing 5-3 in the nightcap.
“You take back two innings out of each of those games… We just couldn’t get it back,” Devils Lake coach Brent Luehring said. “I thought we threw it pretty well at times. Swung it better the first game than the second game.”
The Storm are now 0-4 on the summer. This is a team that came in first in the Class A East last year and made it to the state tournament.
Game 1: West Fargo 5, Devils Lake 4 (8 innings)
The Storm had things going for them with a three-run lead in the fifth inning. But they let it slip away for their third loss of the season.
Ben Larson pitched the first six innings, allowing four runs on four hits and five walks. He struck out five. It went to extras, and Taydon Triepke allowed a walkoff sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Offensively, it’s been a slog for Devils Lake lately. It cost the Firebirds in the EDC playoffs, and it hampered the Storm in their season opener.
So it was a breath of fresh air when Max Palmer singled on the very first pitch of the doubleheader.
Devils Lake put a few nice hits together in the opening frame. The Storm left two on base, but they still jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Hunter Remmick.
“We’re kind of trying to go back to square one,” Luehring said. “We’re trying to flush the way the spring season ended, and kind of trying to start over. We’re really talking about, ‘Let’s worry about the process rather than the outcome.’”
Larson made his first start on the mound since the EDC tournament — which was on this very same field. In that outing, he took a tough six-inning loss with just one run allowed. He also struck out zero in that spring outing.
In his summer pitching debut on Wednesday, Larson collected four strikeouts through just the first two innings. He worked around three walks.
But the Aces scratched out a run in the third inning to tie the game. A leadoff single came around on a stolen base, a wild pitch and a run-scoring groundout. Larson, with an uncharacteristic four walks through three innings already, had things knotted up in a 1-1 tie.
West Fargo lefty Jake Dangerud set down five in a row after a second-inning walk to Cayden McCarthy. Easton Kraft, who’s becoming somewhat of a regular on the varsity and A teams, broke the streak with a single.
Kraft was erased on a 1-3-6-1-4 pickoff. But the Storm rallied with two outs. After a Will Heilman hit by pitch, Brody Rainsberry smacked a single. Rainsberry joins the team from neighboring Nelson County, as do Lakin Ronningen and Landon Sundeen.
“We’re looking for guys that are willing to compete against each other, make each other better,” Luehring said. “Those guys add some depth to us… Brody came in and gave us a spark and hit the ball pretty hard three or four times.”
McCarthy reached on a tapper that Dangerud bobbled, loading the bases. Max Palmer, batting with the bases loaded and two outs, worked out of an 0-2 hole to draw an RBI walk and put Devils Lake back ahead. Two more scored on a Fausten Olson single, aided by an error on the throw back into the infield.
The Storm led 4-1 midway through the fourth. They knocked Dangerud out with 3 2/3 innings under his belt.
After the long half-inning, Larson responded with a quick bottom of the fourth. But a pair of singles and a walk put him in a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.
Larson has often had a knack for getting out of these jams, or at least limiting the damage. But the Aces scored on a passed ball and a groundout, then tied it with a single to left field. It was rapidly knotted up at 4-4.
Larson bounced back with a 1-2-3 sixth, collecting his fifth strikeout. But West Fargo reliever Ashton Wigestrand retired seven straight Storm batters to keep it tied through six.
Max Palmer led off the seventh inning with a single. Devils Lake manufactured him to third, but Remmick popped out to strand the go-ahead run 90 feet away.
Triepke, a southpaw, threw a scoreless bottom of the seventh to bring free baseball to Young Field. But after Devils Lake got just a Kraft walk in its half of the eighth, West Fargo ended the game in the bottom half. Two singles and a deep-enough fly ball to center field got the job done.
The Storm formed their huddle in right field. There were frustrated looks in their eyes. They’d had the ingredients to win a game — but they fell just short, and they had to jump right back into another contest.
Game 2: West Fargo 5, Devils Lake 3
The Storm collected just two hits to complement their numerous free passes in another sluggish loss. They drew a whopping 10 walks, along with two hit-by-pitches. Devils Lake stranded the bases loaded in the seventh as a late-game comeback fell just short.
Rainsberry got his first start on the mound for the A team. Mason Palmer, who hasn’t pitched yet this summer, stayed at shortstop to save his arm for a PBR ranking tryout on Monday. Ben Brodina, Heilman and McCarthy will also be joining him there.
Rainsberry struggled early but wound up giving Devils Lake six solid innings. Brodina also got his first start at the varsity or A level, DH’ing and batting ninth.
The Aces struck first after a leadoff double and a sacrifice fly. Rainsberry got out of the first inning with his first strikeout.
West Fargo lefty Treighton Bartels had a troubled bout with the strike zone in the second inning. His first eight pitches were balls, as part of four straight walks to open the frame. Devils Lake tied it on a wild pitch.
Heilman grounded into a double play, but it still brought home the go-ahead run. A third run came in on a passed ball.
Bartels did not settle in, walking two more before he departed. He faced seven batters in the innings and walked six of them, yet managed to get two outs. Overall, he threw 41 pitches, just 13 of which were strikes.
Reliever Mason Wickham came in and issued the seventh walk of the inning. Olson grounded out with the bases loaded, so Devils Lake only scored three runs in the frame despite the seven walks.
The Aces fought right back with a string of hard hits against Rainsberry in the bottom of the second. It was a four-spot to put West Fargo back ahead, 5-3.
Through four innings, Devils Lake had accumulated a total of 10 baserunners — but no hits. Mason Palmer lined into an unlucky double play to end the top of the fourth.
Olson, after making a nice catch in deep center, led off the fifth with Devils Lake’s first hit. But he was erased on a double play as the Storm’s offensive struggles continued.
Rainsberry settled in. He didn’t give up any runs after the second inning, and retired the final 12 batters he faced (if including an error as a batter retired).
“He’d only thrown one bullpen for us last week, and like I told him this game, ‘We’ve gotta see what you can do,’” Luehring said. “But I’m learning him as he’s learning how I call a game, and with Trason [Beck]. After that second inning, he really settled in. He was able to get ahead of guys, and we were able to throw some offspeed off his fastball. He keeps the ball down; he’s gonna get some ground balls for us, which I like.”
Rainsberry will be an important part of the rotation going forward in place of Parker Brodina, who’s not playing Legion ball this summer in order to prepare for college basketball.
Wickham, after throwing 4 1/3 scoreless relief innings for West Fargo with just two hits allowed, issued two free passes to start the seventh. That set things up for Remmick, who came up with the tying runs on base and nobody out against Ethyn Bye.
But Devils Lake cost itself a massive out as Mason Palmer was thrown out trying to steal third.
“I just think we kind of lacked our aggressiveness. That’s why you’ve probably seen us putting guys in motion a little more,” Luehring said. “I know it didn’t work that inning, but we were just trying to make something happen, trying to force the issue.”
Beck and Rainsberry kept the game alive with a walk and a single to load the bases, but Larson made the final out on a liner to second. Devils Lake stranded the tying runs in scoring position to end the night.
“I thought the last inning, we were more locked in than we had been with our approaches and stuff,” Luehring said. “I just feel like some guys are kind of pressing right now. And I mean, that happens. They’re young kids. I think if we just keep at it, keep working, hopefully they start falling sometime. It seems like we’ve got so many line drives that are just hit right at guys right now. It’s just, it’s hard.”
The Storm return to action next Tuesday at home against Grafton Post 41 at 5 p.m.
