Despite a losing result on Thursday night, the crowd was all cheers as the Minot Honeybees solidified their spot in the Northwoods League Softball Championship Series. It happened as the Mankato Habaneros lost their game against the La Crosse Steam while the Bees were still in action. Minot will finish the regular season on Friday evening with a doubleheader against the Madison Night Mares before preparing for the postseason.

The NWL Championship Series begins on Monday night with game one taking place at Minot’s Corbett Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm CT. It’s the one and only playoff game the Honeybees get at home and a big crowd is expected.

Not until Thursday of next week will game two happen. The series makes its way to Madison where the Night Mares will have home-field advantage as the regular season champions. A winner-take-all game three, if necessary, will be played Friday evening from Madison’s Warner Park as well.

This year is the first year of Northwoods League Softball’s postseason format: a single championship-round, best-of-three series. The NWL will crown a new champion in 2025, as the reigning champs, Mankato, have now been eliminated from contention.

Honeybees head coach Craig Montvidas spoke about how proud he was looking back at the team’s improvement from year one. “We are really quite pleased, going from last place to getting a chance against the league’s best team.”

Make sure you catch the first-of-its-kind Northwoods League Softball Championship Series starting Monday at legendary Corbett Field and streaming live on the free NWL+ platform.