MINOT, ND – Sunday night’s series opener between the Minot Hot Tots and Badlands Big Sticks earned rave reviews. A back-and-forth fight to the finish line resulted in a Big Sticks win, but still showed great signs for the Hot Tots.
Will Paxton was the starting pitcher for Minot on Sunday. He went into the game knowing it was the final start of his summer season. With that in mind, Paxton attacked the top of the Badlands order, retiring the first two batters before missing with a breaking ball and giving up a home run to Derek Martinez. With that small blip brushed aside, Paxton went right back to business, allowing just two baserunners over three innings.
Minot emerged on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded, Joe DuSell hit a ground ball to second base that was coughed up, allowing a run to score. The Tots tacked on one more in the third on an Alex Altmann sacrifice fly.
The scrabble was only just beginning. Badlands fought back with four straight hits which produced two runs to reclaim the lead.
Despite Minot’s lack of scoring, it wasn’t for not trying. By the end of the sixth inning, the Hot Tots had left six runners on base and bounced into two double plays. Eventually, Minot would get their breakthrough.
In the seventh, DuSell led off the inning with a walk. He was moved around the bases by hits courtesy of Micah McCoy and Kole Dudding. A wild pitch allowed DuSell to score and brought the deficit back to one run.
On the pitching side, Paxton lasted six innings in his final start, a season best. He also picked up four strikeouts and allowed four earned runs.
Scoring would pick up in the eighth inning. The Big Sticks pushed across two runs in the top half, taking a 6-3 lead. Minot was able to narrow the margin again in the bottom of the eighth, getting the two runs back.
The one last straw was a two-run ninth inning for the Big Sticks. Scoring a run on a Dylon Myrow triple and a throwing error on the next play.
Minot was stopped with just one run scoring in the ninth inning, finish off a wild night at Corbett Field.
Will Paxton went home with SportClips MVP honors for his six-inning start on the bump. Reliever Aiden Yochim tossed the SRT Fastest Pitch of 92 mph. Lastly, a double-play turned by the Tots in the second inning held the course as the First Command Play of the Game.
