It was an uphill battle from the start for the Minot Honeybees on Wednesday night. An early onslaught of runs by the Madison Night Mares pushed made things difficult for the Bees, who dropped the decision 15-4 in six innings.

 

With two outs in the first inning, Emma Kavanagh and Ella Stephenson collected back-to-back hits, putting Madison on the board first, 1-0.

 

The Night Mares would start building their big lead in the second inning. Countless hits that fell in the shallow outfield moved Madison around the bases 60 feet at a time. In all, four runs would score against Honeybees starting pitcher Jackie Albrecht in the inning.

 

Batting again in the top of the third, Madison would do just the same. Albrecht gave up four more runs and was eventually pulled after 2.1 innings pitched. The Night Mares had done the damage and it was all on Minot to comeback from down 9-0 with still a lot of game left.

 

The Honeybees would start the comeback in the bottom of the third. Minot was able to piece a couple hits together against the Northwoods League’s top pitcher, Karlie McKenzie. Both Virginia Mambelli and Bella Cimino would record RBI singles in the two-run inning for the Bees.

 

As quickly as Minot started to turn things around, Madison was back to adding on. Kavanagh and Stephenson would go back-to-back again, but this time with home runs. Kavanagh brought in three with a homer to left field while Stephenson’s was a solo shot. The Night Mares had an 11-run lead heading into the fifth inning and looked to stop the game early.

 

The Honeybees would force a sixth inning, but the Night Mare offense was too much to tame. After Madison made the score 15-4, McKenzie shut down Minot once and for all, sealing another Madison victory and a series win as well.

 

The third and final game of the series will take place Thursday night at 6:35 pm CT. Corbett Field will be celebrating Moana/Hawaiian Night with handouts at the gate and concession specials.

Trinity Gregg was the SportClips MVP going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs scored. Karlie McKenzie registered the SRT Fastest Pitch of 64 mph. Bella Cimino was credited with the First Command Play of the Game once again for her RBI single in the third inning. Nothing was easy for Minot on Wednesday night, only being given one Buffalo Wild Wings Walk.