Kari Gibb/MDN Minot High junior, Carson Deaver, pitching in a WDA game this spring is on a 19-0 unbeaten streak.

The Minot High Magicians ace on the diamond, Carson Deaver, is quietly one of the best high school pitchers in the state of North Dakota. Having not lost a game in the last 13 months, Deaver’s record speaks for itself and echoes throughout conversations around the state.

“He’s a good solid player, a junior and does his job leading by example”, said Minot High head baseball coach Pete Stenberg. “[He’s] a gem to work with, very coachable, always looking out for what the team needs, whether on the infield, on the mound or doing things with the bat.”

Deaver’s unbeaten run started at the tail end of the 2022-2023 season after a loss to the Mandan Braves on May 25, 2023. But like the saying goes, “a setback is nothing but a setup for the comeback” which Deaver surely has bounced back from and hasn’t stopped since .

Deaver and his Magicians teammates would finish the 2022-2023 season, with a 17-8 overall record and rode off into the offseason “licking their chops” at the thought of coming back better the next season.

Deaver wasted little time segueing into the 2023 summer league as he would finish with an 8-0 record for the Minot Vistas baseball team. Deaver’s 2023 summer baseball statistics include;

41.2 innings pitched

32 hits allowed

19 runs allowed

12 earned runs

20 walks

26 strikeouts

0 home runs

ERA of 2.06

8-0 record.

In light of all the success he has earned, Deaver remains his own biggest critic as he’s always looking for ways to improve upon his last outing on the mound.

“His [ability to reach] almost impossible to reach standards for himself really stands out,” said Minot Vistas head coach Pat Arntson. “No matter how well he does on the mound, there is always something he thinks he can do better the next time out.”

The balance and even keel approach of Deaver in the live game and practice section is something the Vista head coach also elaborated on.

“He has a very quiet, driven way about him. He isn’t the most vocal player on the roster, but he goes about his work with as much attention to detail as anyone we have,” said Arntson. “His competitive fire obviously burns very bright on the inside and he lets it come out in his production versus emotion.”

Deaver started the Magicians first Western Dakota Association (WDA) game of the 2023-2024 high school season against Williston, but was pulled early as he slowly worked his way back into live game form. He pitched two innings, allowing zero runs, walked two batters and struck out five batters, while being credited with the win.

On April 9, Deaver delivered again as Minot beat Dickinson by a 14-4 score. Deaver pitched four innings, allowing seven hits, four runs, three earned runs, one walk and struck out five batters, while adding another pitcher win.

From that point until the rest of the season, Deaver would put together six more consecutive victories that were instrumental in setting up the Magicians for a state tournament appearance.

The first of Deaver wins (for this streak) came on April 20, 2023, against non-conference opponent Grand Fork Red Rivers. He pitched two innings, allowing one hit, one run and struck out four batters in a build up start in preparation for the upcoming conference games .

Three days later on April 23, Deaver stayed on the mound longer, earning the win in a 19-3 Minot High victory over conference rivals Bismarck Demons. He pitched four innings, allowing one hit, zero run, two walks and struck out eight batters. After this game the Magicians record would stand at 11-0 to start the season.

Deaver’s hot hand continued as the season rolled over into the month of May. On May 1, he pitched seven innings against the Mandan, allowing four hits, one run, one earned run, walked one and struck out five batters as Minot trumped the Braves by a 4-1 score.

In an anticipated May 11 showdown, Deaver was in control of his command early on and kept it that way as he grabbed his second win of the season over Legacy in 6-0 Minot High win. He pitched seven innings, allowing two hits, zero runs and struck out seven batters.

Deaver displayed high caliber efficiency in his next start against the Watford City Wolves on May 16. The Minot junior pitched four innings, allowing no hits, zero runs, walked one and struck out eight batters in Magicians 12-4 victory.

You often hear if you treat practice like the real game, then on game day things become that much easier. This is along the lines of how the ultra-efficient Deaver has been doing things.

“I approach practice with the same focus every day, to get better!” said Deaver. “The only change I can think of is getting more confident with each game.”

His coaches agree.

“Focus driven young man, he’s very competitive in practice, he wants to make every throw, he approaches practice as if it’s game like,” said Stenberg.

The Minot High junior showed up once more in The WDA Tournament Quarterfinals against the Demons. He pitched three innings, allowing one hit, zero runs, walked one and struck out three batters. The Magicians would go on to win the game 14-4 and advanced to the semifinal round of play.

In what turned out to be his last start of the season, Deaver held a no-decision against Fargo Davies Eagles in the NDHSAA State Tournament Quarterfinals on May 30. He pitched seven and one-third innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, walked two and struck out seven batters before leaving with the game in balance.

The Minot High coach spoke of Deaver’s ability to put the team in position to have a chance at winning the game.

“Very driven athlete, [who] goes out and throws strikes to put the team in a situation to win,” said Stenberg. “Very dominant with the change up and very consistent.”

Stenberg emphasized how difficult it is to hit a change-up pitch coming at that speed.

“He ‘s got one of the best fast ball change ups in the state,” said Stenberg. ” At the state tournament he was throwing at 82 mph but his change- up was coming in at 72 [mph] against Fargo Davies in Dickinson.”

The Magicians made their way in the tournament bracket and finished fifth place at the 2024 NDHSAA Class A State Tournament.

Sports is often an area of life where lifelong friendships are made and the support from your teammates and coaches can help push you to do things beyond your imagination.

“I enjoyed being around great coaches and teammates. My teammates have done so much in continuing my unbeaten streak,” said Deaver. “They are the ones that make the plays and score the runs for me on the mound so there would be no streak without them. I have played with most of my teammates for 8 to 9 years, so we really connect and play well as a team.”

Deaver finished his 2023-2024 high school season with nine starts, going 8-0 and had one no-decision in his very last start of the season. Deaver junior year pitching stats are;

40 1/3 innings pitched

24 hits allowed

10 runs allowed

7 earned runs

10 walks

53 strikeouts

0 home runs allowed

1.04 ERA

The improvement Deaver has shown is due to his continued learning of sports physio and spending more time in the gym.

“Getting in the weight room as well as doing a lot better job of taking care of my arm,” said Deaver. “I have learned a lot of arm care techniques through my coaches. One thing I have worked on is reducing walks and gaining control with each pitch.”

One of the traits that is often found in great athletes such as Michael Jordan, Brett Farve and Max Scherzer is their unique ability to not dwell on the past and move on to the next play ahead. Deaver at his youthful age has displayed some of the same mental wizardry and maturity over the course of his unbeaten run.

“There are a lot of factors that go into a run like Deaver has been on,” said Stenberg. [T]he main one being Carson’s consistency in giving his team an opportunity to win. He has been able to limit his bad outings into a bad at bat or a bad inning instead of a bad game and that is a true testament to his ability to focus on the next task versus dwelling on a previous failure.”

The Magicians would finish the 2023-2024 season with a 26-6 overall record, going 16-2 in conference play. The Magicians made the WDA Tournament Championship and would finish in second place,

narrowly losing to Legacy by a 3-1 score.

The Magicians nine game win improvement from 2023 to 2024 is symbolic of the teams’ hard work, grit and each player being accountable for the teams performance.

“We have a lot of guys on our squad who bought into ‘wanting to win,’ putting in work in the offseason and coming to practice with a ‘grit’ attitude is part of what helped us improve that record,” said Deavers.

Minot High’s coach agreed.

“[We have] a very good group of young baseball players that work day-in, day-out and like to compete. We have a very good pitching staff along with Carson, [there is] Braden Nelson, Adam Roedocker, and Parker Hann,” said Stengberg. “It’s definitely a team pitching staff when you go 32 games.”

The record for most consecutive wins while going unbeaten at Minot High is 16-0 by Shane Gathman spanning the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Gathman and the Magicians made the state championship game against Fargo Shanley in 2007 where he entered the contest with a 0.00 ERA.

While Deaver isn’t necessarily looking too far ahead to the Minot High unbeaten wins mark set by Gathman, which takes into account wins only pertaining to high school games, Deaver is currently on a 19-0 unbeaten run between his 2023 summer league record (8-0), his 2023-2024 high school record (8-0) and his 2024 summer league record (3-0).

The Magicians will look to next year as they position themselves to compete for the state title with another year of development and team chemistry to move forward on.

“The outlook for next year is to get to the title game. We have six starters returning from the last game we played this season, [the] seniors will be gone and that’s always hard to deal with, but we gotta reload,” said Stenberg.

Deaver is currently pitching for the Vistas 2024 team and has garnered a 3-0 record so far in the early portion of summer league. At the current moment his statistic are;

18 innings pitched

13 hits

4 runs allowed

3 earned runs

3 walks

25 strikeouts

1 home run

1.16 ERA

3-0 record

“Yes he is on our team. We expect him to sit atop of our rotation again for the next two summers while making days extremely difficult for the opposing teams hitters,” said Arntson.

Throughout conversations with Deaver coaches, a noteworthy similarity amongst the coaches was their use of the word “driven” to describe him.

“Being a legion team, we don’t get to see him over a significant part of the year so a lot of Carson’s progress and development has to be attributed to the time he has spent on himself,” said Arntson. “You can tell he is very driven and wants to achieve special things in this game.”

With regards to the progress he’s made as a player, the unselfish Deaver credits his coaches for the work they have put in with him.

“All of my coaches have been and are great, but one that stands out is John Koranka who is my pitching coach in the summer,” said Deaver. “I put in work with him in the summer and programs in the fall. He has really helped me improve each one of my pitches and my mindset on how to attack hitters.”