It’s always a good time for a franchise first. On Monday night, the Minot Hot Tots sent a sell-out crowd home happy with their first Opening Day win in team history. The Hot Tots came out on top of a 4-3 decision against the Badlands Big Sticks for a season-opening Sky Dancer Casino Big Win. 

Minot got the new year underway with a shutdown first inning by starting pitcher Kahler Key. A 1-2-3 frame matched the energy in the building. Badlands would get a run across in the second, but the Tots would get their offense rolling shortly after.

With two runners on base, Micah McCoy laced a base-hit into left field that brought in Minot’s first run of the season. Tied at one after two full innings, the Corbett Field fans knew they were getting their money’s worth on Memorial Day.

In the third inning, the fireworks would really start. Kellan Burke, the Minot High graduate playing his first game at his old stomping grounds, hit an opposite-field home run to put the Tots ahead. His trip around the bases was met with a roaring ovation and was named First Command Play of the Game. Minot kept the foot on the gas with another run plated in the fourth inning, again on a McCoy RBI.

Key continued spinning the ball well on the mound. He finished with five strikeouts through five innings. Key’s day would end after surrendering two runs and the lead in the fifth.

Minot turned to the bullpen in a 3-3 game in inning number six. Hot Tot returner Kevin Rahe did not allow a base runner in two innings. Dylan Leoff pitched a scoreless eighth inning which included the SRT Fastest Pitch of 90 miles per hour.

In the bottom of the seventh, Minot had one more breakthrough on offense. A sacrifice fly from Caleb Gipson scored Burke from third. With a new 4-3 lead, the Hot Tots turned to Luke Miller for the save. In his first pitching appearance all year, Miller closed down the win with three flyball outs.

The Hot Tots celebrated a season-opening victory over Badlands, taking a 1-0 lead in the Petroleum Pennant race over Badlands and Bismarck. Burke’s homer and go-ahead run earned him SportClips MVP honors. The Hot Tots are back at it tomorrow against the Big Sticks with first pitch at 6:35 p.m.