DEVILS LAKE — Mason Palmer did it all for the Storm on Friday.
Not only did he throw a complete-game shutout, but he had Devils Lake’s only hit and RBI on the evening. His all-around performance fueled the host Storm (26-9) to a 1-0 victory over the No. 5 seed West Fargo Vets (19-17) in the Class A East semifinals at DLYA Field.
“When it’s a big game, you know that type of athlete’s gonna show up,” Devils Lake coach Brent Luehring said of Palmer. “He’s tough. And the more the game went on, the better he got.”
With the win, the No. 1 seed Storm clinched a spot in Saturday’s tournament championship and next week’s state tournament.
“Now the weight’s off your shoulders,” Luehring said. “You know you’re going next week. We get to go play in the region championship in front of our home crowd.”
Oddly, Devils Lake was nearly no-hit in the victory. West Fargo starter Parker Rolfson didn’t surrender a hit until the bottom of the sixth. He threw 96 pitches, just 49 of which were strikes. He struck out four and walked five.
When Luehring found out before the game that Rolfson would be pitching, he said he told the kids to expect a lot of walks and a high pitch count.
“He’s effectively wild, and he threw just hard enough to keep us off balance,” Luehring said.
For the first three innings, the teams combined for only one hit. Palmer worked around a one-out single in the first, then got a strikeout in each of the next two innings.
Rolfson set down the first nine Storm batters in order.
“You don’t really know what you’re getting [from Rolfson],” Palmer said. “So you always gotta be ready for whatever. And we weren’t completely locked in.”
After Palmer stranded two runners in the top of the fourth, he and his teammates brought a patient approach against Rolfson in the bottom half. Max Palmer and Fausten Olson drew back-to-back walks. Brody Rainsberry, showing bunt from the start, got one he could handle on 2-0. Rolfson fielded it and threw to third — but the throw was late, loading the bases with nobody out.
“After that first three innings, we just said, ‘We’re gonna start taking some pitches,’” Luehring said. “And it worked out in our favor.”
Mason Palmer worked the third walk in a four-batter span. It drove in a run as the Storm got on the board. But Trason Beck grounded into a double play, and Rolfson limited the damage.
Devils Lake drew four walks in the fourth. But it only led 1-0 and didn’t have a hit through five innings. Only 39 of Rolfson’s 81 pitches at the time were strikes.
“Today, walks were as good as hits,” Luehring said.
Palmer had some control struggles of his own in the sixth. He issued a one-out walk and fell behind 2-0 on the next batter. But Beck bailed him out, catching a runner stealing to end the frame.
Devils Lake was two outs away from potentially being no-hit. But Palmer, in between his dominance on the mound, hit one deep in the hole to shortstop to record an infield single.
“I haven’t really been squaring it up very well recently,” Palmer said. “So that one felt good to get out of the way.”
On the mound, Palmer perhaps had his best stuff in the final frame. He struck out the side in the seventh, with a called strike three to end it.
“Command over everything,” he said. “I really mixed in my curveball well. I threw it for a strike a lot, and that really helped me.”
Palmer threw a two-hitter on 94 pitches overall. He struck out eight and walked two.
“I’ve really been battling with control recently,” Palmer said. “And today’s game felt like a breath of fresh air.”
The Storm have gone from an 0-4 start to the No. 1 seed and now a state tournament berth. It’s the second straight year Devils Lake has made the Class A Legion state tournament.
“It’s a great feeling. This group’s been just battling all year long,” Luehring said. “Started slow, and just kept getting better. Definitely haven’t hit the ball like we’d like all tournament, but we’re just doing enough right now.”
Devils Lake now faces No. 6 seed Kindred Post 117, a team that’s made a nice run in this tournament. The championship is set for roughly 6:30 p.m. Saturday at DLYA Field. Both teams in the game are going to state, but the result will matter for seeding purposes.
“We’re going for it, man,” Luehring said. “We’re going for that one seed in that state tournament. We’ve got the horses to be able to do it.”
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