After two games, fourteen innings and plenty of fun at the ballpark, the Minot Hot Tots and Willmar Stingers each left Corbett Field with a victory on Thursday night. The Tots took game one 9-3 and the Stingers ended up on top 8-5 in game two.
Minot came out swinging in the opener, cashing in a leadoff single by Cole Meyer for the game’s first run. Meyer was brought in by catcher Max Ortega, making a positive impact in his Corbett Field debut. It would be Ortega’s Cal State Fullerton teammate, TJ Stottlemyre, who would gather an RBI in the second inning by scoring Bryson Hoier.
With the Tots up 2-0 early, the attention turned to starting pitcher Noah Dreier. Dreier was almost untouchable in his five-inning start. He surrendered one hit and walked two while blanking the Stingers on the scoreboard. Dreier’s pitching performance easily earned him SportClips MVP honors.
Eventually, the Hot Tots would tack on a big inning late in the game, piling on seven runs in the fifth inning alone. The Stingers made a comeback effort at the end, but it came up well short. The Hot Tots extended their win streak to three games with the 9-3 Skydancer Casino Win.
TJ Stottlemyre added a web gem at shortstop that claimed the First Command Play of the Game award and debuting reliever Austin Puett had the SRT Fastest Pitch, reaching 94 mph on his fastball.
Game two got underway in a similar fashion with Minot scoring early, but it would be Willmar staying neck-and-neck and eventually leaning ahead. After scoring five runs in the first two innings, Hot Tot bats went silent for the remainder of the contest, striking out 11 times.
The Stingers got the help of two home runs to get a 6-5 lead in the third inning. Willmar would hold off the Hot Tots on their way to an 8-5 victory to wrap up the night’s action.
The Minot Hot Tots drew five Buffalo Wild Wings Walks over the 14 innings of baseball.
One more game is still to be played between the Stingers and Hot Tots this week. A typical nine-inning game with a 6:35 pm first pitch will take place on Friday. Remember as always, Friday home games are R.E.D Fridays at Corbett Field!
