Devils Lake’s Talan Gregory (Photo by Noah Clooten)
Devils Lake and Cando both went home winners on the first day of the Class B, District 3 Legion baseball tournament at Buen Field in Velva on Monday.
The bracket consists of five teams. Devils Lake, seeded No. 2, beat No. 3 seed and tournament host Velva by a score of 7-4. No. 1 seed Cando Post 79 then took down No. 4 seed Rugby Post 23 in a 3-0 pitchers’ duel.
The Storm and Bearcats advanced to a semifinal matchup against each other, scheduled for Tuesday. The winner of Tuesday’s Lake Region faceoff will be in the driver’s seat of the tournament final, while the loser can still stay alive in the elimination bracket.
Here’s a closer breakdown of Monday’s action.
Devils Lake 7, Velva 4
The Storm survived a late scare to take care of business in their first game.
The teams were tied 1-1 after two innings. Alex Hammond scored on a sacrifice fly from Finley Wirth in the bottom of the first, and Velva tied it on a two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the second.
Devils Lake squeaked ahead in the fourth inning. Talan Gregory hit a sacrifice bunt that scored a run after an error by the 39ers’ pitcher.
But, with the Storm leading 2-1 in the fifth, Velva finally tagged starter Cayden McCarthy. With the bases loaded and two outs, Luke Selzler hit a three-run double. The 39ers swung ahead 4-2, and Devils Lake was suddenly down to its last nine outs.
The Storm ultimately didn’t trail for very long. They responded with four in the bottom of the fifth to jump back ahead 6-4. And all the scoring came with two outs.
Wirth and Riley Brenno-Quale pulled off a double steal to get one back, and McCarthy helped his own cause with a two-run double to put Devils Lake in front. Gregory added an insurance run with an RBI single.
McCarthy settled in nicely on the mound. After the three-run double in the fifth, he retired the final seven batters he faced. Devils Lake scored one more run on a passed ball in the sixth inning for good measure. So the Storm locked down a three-run win.
McCarthy threw a complete game with four runs allowed on five hits. He struck out two and walked three. He threw 107 pitches (62 strikes) in a resilient effort to carry Devils Lake to victory.
Cando 3, Rugby 0
Parker Simon pitched a complete-game shutout to lead the Bearcats to their first-round win. He allowed just one hit, struck out eight and navigated four walks. Simon threw 97 pitches (64 strikes).
No. 4 seed Rugby had to beat No. 5 seed Bottineau Post 42 at 10 a.m. just to get to this game. The Panthers won 5-2, sending Bottineau to the losers’ bracket.
Simon held the Rugby bats hitless for the first three innings. He struck out three in a row at one point and retired seven in a row overall. He got through the third inning on just five pitches.
Gavin Bartsch led off the fourth with Rugby’s first hit, but he was caught stealing by Cando catcher Kole Thomson.
Cando got a leadoff double from Rylen Anderson in the second inning, and Gauge Driessen drew one of his many walks this summer. But the Bearcats left both runners in scoring position. In the first and third innings, they were set down in order.
Rugby starter Ty Jenner, like Simon, retired seven in a row and allowed just one hit in the first 3 2/3 innings. But he had a lapse of control in the bottom of the fourth, issuing a walk to K. Simon and the second of the day to Driessen.
Ian Westlind broke the scoreless tie with a double that brought in both runners. After four innings, Cando took a 2-0 lead.
Simon retired another seven in a row before issuing back-to-back walks with two outs in the sixth. Rugby loaded the bases on an error, but Simon induced a flyout to center fielder Hunter Hagler to escape trouble.
Cando left runners on the corners in the fifth. But it scratched out an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. After a double by K. Simon and a single by Westlind, Thomson hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. The Bearcats drew a pair of walks to load the bases but couldn’t break it open any further.
P. Simon issued a leadoff walk in the seventh. After a one-out error brought the tying run to the plate for the Panthers, Cando held a brief mound visit.
Simon got a lineout and a strikeout to cap his afternoon.
What’s next
Devils Lake and Cando, the top two seeds in the tournament, will square off at noon on Tuesday at Buen Field.
The winner advances to Wednesday’s tournament championship at 3 p.m. The loser will have to play again on Tuesday in a 5 p.m. elimination game.
