SIOUX FALLS — The Devils Lake Storm have transformed into a different team than the one that had been desperate for runs over the last few weeks.
Hits came in bunches on Saturday. Devils Lake had two separate six-run innings, allowing them to cruise to a 14-2 win over St. Peter in six innings at Ronken Field. It was the fifth straight victory for the Storm (5-4) — and, more importantly, improved them to 3-0 in their four-team pool in the Dakota Classic.
That means they’ve clinched a spot in Sunday evening’s championship bracket, where the winners of all eight pools will enter a single-elimination field. St. Peter went 0-3 in pool play, while Gretna Post 216 went 2-1 and Sioux Falls West went 1-2.
“Kind of the same philosophy as yesterday,” Storm coach Brent Luehring said. “We’re just trying not to do too much. We’re focusing on the process of hitting… We’re seeing the ball pretty good. So I’m happy.”
Devils Lake has now scored 24 runs in its last two games. This is the same team that scored 15 runs over its first five games of the summer. The spring team, comprised of mostly the same kids, scored five runs over its last four games of the season and zero over its last two.
“What we’ve been doing is a little different than high school. Just the talk and the verbiage of it,” Luehring said. “The kids are starting to buy in. And you see it carrying over game to game.”
Devils Lake’s first six-spot came in the second inning. The Storm batters hit a slew of simple, solid line drives, aided by some imperfect St. Peter defense.
Devils Lake had gone down in order in the first inning against Saints lefty Owen Potts. But Mason Palmer got the second-inning rally started with a bloop double. Trason Beck drove in the first run with a solid single, and he scored on an error by the shortstop.
Landon Sundeen and Ben Brodina, both getting starts in the bottom of the order, each singled to help load the bases. Max Palmer added an RBI single, and Fausten Olson’s two-run single broke it open to 5-0.
Max Palmer scored on a passed ball, for good measure. Ten Devils Lake batters came to the plate in the frame, with six recording hits.
That meant that Will Heilman, who’d survived a pair of singles in the first inning, got to go back to the mound with a 6-0 lead. Heilman, who’d gotten a called strike three to strand runners on the corners in the first, had a much easier, 1-2-3 bottom of the second.
The right-hander struck out three in the third inning. He worked around a two-out single, which broke a streak of seven straight retired.
The Storm tacked on two more runs in the fourth, getting a pair of two-out RBI hits from Brody Rainsberry and Mason Palmer. They left the bases loaded, but still carried an 8-0 lead. Potts allowed eight runs (five earned) to Devils Lake on nine hits, walking two and striking out zero.
Palmer went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the contest. He also reached base four times in Friday’s 10-7 win.
“I made everything simpler, and I’m not trying to hit the ball hard now,” Palmer said. “I’m just trying to catch a barrel and let the bat do the work for me.”
St. Peter scratched out a run to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth. It was a weird inning with an error, a balk and a walk. The Saints added one more in the fifth, with a one-out double leading to a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
But St. Peter was still a ways away, with Devils Lake leading 8-2 after five full innings.
And then the Storm erupted in the sixth with six more runs. Rainsberry collected his second RBI single of the day. Cayden McCarthy and Taydon Triepke each came off the bench and hit an RBI double and a two-run single, respectively. Brodina loaded the bases with a single, and Max Palmer added another two-run single to make it 14-2.
Brodina, who recently finished his freshman year, collected three hits out of the nine-hole in the order. He only recently earned his way into the A team’s starting lineup.
“I think you’re gonna see him play a lot for us,” Luehring said. “He’s just got the athletic ability. Even though he’s young, he’s not afraid to compete. He can play lots of different places for us. He just makes us a deeper team and gives us options. And that’s the beauty about this club right now.”
Heilman got the final three outs to finish off the six-inning victory. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk in a complete game. He collected five strikeouts.
“He did his job. Throws the ball, mixes it up; doesn’t strike out a ton, but keeps them off balance and lets his defense work,” Luehring said. “It’s good to see him get back out there… Good start. Now we can build on it for next time.”
Devils Lake plays at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday against Sioux Falls East, which is 1-1 so far in a different pool. Regardless of that game’s result, the Storm will play in the championship bracket quarterfinals at Sanford Sports Complex at 5 p.m. later on Sunday. That’ll be a win-or-go-home contest, with the winner advancing to Monday morning’s semifinals at 9 a.m. The championship game is then scheduled for 12 p.m. on Monday.
“We’re all gonna try to keep it going,” Mason Palmer said, “and keep working as hard as we can to keep improving on the season.”
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