On Saturday night, the Minot Hot Tots two-stepped over to Watford City for the opening game of a two-game series with the St. Cloud Rox. The neutral site set up the matchup in a whole new way, and what followed was nothing short of spectacular. The Hot Tots rallied with 12 unanswered runs to defeat the Rox, 13-10.
Early signs in the game showed a St. Cloud rout. A Rox team that was 6-2 this season against the Tots and 34-6 all-time versus Minot put together a two-run second inning and three-run third to quickly go up 5-0.
St. Cloud’s starter Brandon Pelechowicz tossed three scoreless innings to begin the game, facing just 10 batters in that time. The Rox added on with an Austin Haley double in the top of the fourth, making it 7-0 St. Cloud. With the double, Haley had already put himself in contention for a cycle, needing a triple to make Rox history.
The second time through the Minot lineup posed some problems for Pelechowicz. In the bottom of the fourth, the Hot Tots got on the board with a Micah McCoy RBI groundout. Down 9-1 entering the home half of the fifth, a Joe DuSell three-run home run seemed to only put a small dent in St. Cloud big lead. Instead, it would prove to be the start of a dramatic late-game rally.
After four consecutive run-scoring innings for the Rox, Minot reliever Caden Orr would keep their bats quiet in the sixth. Minot snuck across one run in the bottom half on a delayed steal, cutting the lead to 9-5. Orr, along with Gavin Pacheco, tossed another scoreless frame in the seventh. Pacheco handled the eighth inning on his own, but Minot still needed more offense.
Facing a new arm in the bottom of the eighth, Minot put the first two batters on base courtesy of a St. Cloud error and hit by pitch. With two on and no out, up stepped Keoni Painter. In his first game with the team, the Hawaii commit sent a three-run home run out to right field, bringing the Hot Tots within one run of the Rox. It was another Hawaii commit, Tyler Arnold, up to hit next. Arnold replicated Painter’s result with a solo homer to left to tie the game at nine.
With the Rox rattled, Minot added on. Another new Hot Tot, Austyn Peak, doubled in two runs to put Minot ahead for the first time. McCoy added another RBI to make the score 13-9 in favor of the Tots.
With the new-found lead, David Goldapper was brought in to close it out. Despite early control issues, Goldapper would finish the night with three strikeouts and just one run allowed, sealing Minot’s biggest comeback win of the season.
The victory lifts the Hot Tots out of last place in the Great Plains West for the second half. At 19-32 overall, Minot will set their sights on a sweep of St. Cloud, something that hasn’t been done in team history.
The First International Bank & Trust MVPs were Keoni Painter of Minot and Austin Haley from St. Cloud. Painter’s 2-for-5 night was capped by the three-run home run in the eighth inning to start the rally. Haley would finish a triple short of the cycle, but still went 4-6 with three runs batted and his third home run of the season.
There is still one more game to go in the Watford City Weekend. First pitch at the Rough Rider Center is scheduled for 6:35 pm CT.
