Lakin Ronningen (Photo by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — After two losses to Cando Post 79 on Tuesday, the Devils Lake Storm B team got back on track with two wins on Thursday.
Devils Lake won a 3-2 seven-inning game and a 2-0 five-inning contest against Park River Post 147’s Babe Ruth team, the Pirates Gold. They weren’t just the average Babe Ruth team, though — they entered the day 12-0, including two wins over Cando’s Legion squad.
“They’re a very well-coached team, and they’re very disciplined,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “They throw the ball really well, and they didn’t make many mistakes. We had to do everything we could to generate the few runs we did.”
Two strong pitching efforts fueled Devils Lake’s wins — Jaxon Strong in the first game and Lakin Ronningen in the second. The Storm improved their summer record to 23-7, making a strong bid for the No. 2 seed in their competitive division, which is led by Cando.
“It’s been fantastic. I’m really proud of these guys,” Brodina said. “They’ve kind of bought into the ‘We work hard in practice. We give it all we’ve got.’ We have fun with it, but also, at the same time, it’s discipline. We’ve gotta be disciplined and execute the little things.”
Game 1: Devils Lake 3, Park River 2
It was a Jaxon vs. Jaxon pitching matchup, with Strong for the Storm and Omdahl for the Pirates. Omdahl is actually a nephew of Coach Brodina.
“It was exciting. It’s fun to see him,” Brodina said. “He’s a fantastic pitcher. He really throws it hard… It’s just great seeing how successful he is and how hard he’s worked to get where he’s at.”
The Storm overcame a strong outing by Omdahl (6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) in the win. Strong went the first five, while Tayven Wiberg picked up a six-out save.
It was a standstill for the first two innings. In the second, Devils Lake looked like it might be in business after an Isaac Woodhull leadoff double. With Woodhull on third, Riley Brenno-Quale laid down a bunt that Omdahl had a quick reaction on. He flipped to the plate and retired Woodhull.
Omdahl collected his second strikeout as he escaped the jam, an inning after setting down the Storm 1-2-3.
Strong, who allowed only a first-inning walk in the first two innings, got into his own pickle in the third after hitting a batter and allowing a single. But he picked a runner off first base for the first out, then got a pair of groundouts to hold the lead runner at third.
Wiberg broke the scoreless tie with a sharp RBI double in the bottom half. Park River turned another fielder’s choice at the plate, but Devils Lake still tacked on another run with a Cayden McCarthy sacrifice bunt to take a 2-0 lead.
“We were able to get a little bit under [Omdahl’s] skin, which is kind of fun,” Brodina said. “But at the end of the day, we want to win, too. We got some timely hits. Some really big timely hits that got us our runs.”
The Pirates got one back on an errant pickoff throw in the fourth. Strong managed to strand the potential tying run on third, aided by a caught-stealing from Brenno-Quale.
Finley Wirth, with an open left-handed stance that carries a lot of raw power, whacked a double to deep left to start the bottom of the fourth. After Ronningen bunted him over, Isaac Kraft lined one unluckily to the first baseman. But the first baseman, after making a nice catch, threw it past third base and allowed Wirth to score anyway. He threw his mitt to the ground as Devils Lake retook a two-run lead.
Strong struck out two in a perfect fifth inning to complete his outing. He allowed just one run on two hits in five innings. He struck out four, walked three and threw 82 pitches.
“Coming into tournament play, we needed him to step up,” Brodina said. “And I thought he did a great job… He kept them in check really well, and kept the ball down and away.”
Wiberg took over and walked two batters in the sixth. With two outs, he surrendered a single to left field, and the lead runner initially held up at third. But after a slight bobble by the left fielder Wirth, he made a break for home. Wirth’s throw home beat the runner by a mile, but Brenno-Quale missed the tag and Park River cut the lead in half.
Wiberg induced a lineout to the shortstop Ronningen to escape further trouble, keeping the Storm up 3-2. He hit a batter in the seventh, but survived a couple of well-struck line drives to shut the door on the victory.
Game 2: Devils Lake 2, Park River 0 (5 innings)
Ronningen pitched a one-hitter on 79 pitches in the five-inning win. He struck out five and walked three.
“We’re trying to look for that 4 and 5 pitchers, and I think we found them today with Jaxon and Lakin,” Brodina said. “Lakin did a great job. Not to overpower; just hit his spots, do your job, let the guys put it in play. Trust your defense behind you.”
Ronningen worked around two free passes in the first inning with a pair of strikeouts. He allowed just a two-out single in the second, then set the Pirates down in order in the third and fourth.
Devils Lake took until there were two outs in the fourth to score the game’s first run. McCarthy walked and had gotten to third with one out, and the Storm almost left him there. He raced home on a dropped third strike that would have otherwise ended the inning.
Jasper Leiphon added an RBI single with a nice drive to left field. It gave Ronningen a two-run lead to work with when he went back out for the fifth.
Ronningen induced three balls in play to finish the shutout. He retired the final eight batters he faced.
“The guys made a lot of plays today, and that was great,” Brodina said. “One-hitter in the second game.”
Devils Lake has an important region game at home against Rolla on Monday. It will be without Coach Brodina, who’s coaching the A/B Lions All-Star team over the next few days.
The region tournament is set for July 21-23 in Velva.
“When we come to tournament time, it’s anybody’s game,” Brodina said. “We’ve gotta put a lot of ballgames together, and hopefully we can do that.”
