MINOT, ND<\/i><\/b> \u2014 A <\/span>winner-take-all matchup in the final week of the season will raise the stakes and the pressure for sure. The Minot Hot Tots and Bismarck Larks arrived at the Municipal Ballpark on Thursday evening with a clear goal in mind: win the game and win the Wheel. By night\u2019s end, the Hot Tots weathered the storm and came out with a 14-10 and a trophy to put back in its case.<\/span><\/p>\n Minot picked up an early run in the top of the first with an Aiden Yochim base hit. While Alex Moran spun three quick scoreless innings on the mound for the Hot Tots, it seemed as though only a couple runs would be needed to win the game. The fourth inning proved that wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n A single by Joe DuSell and an Alex Altmann triple brought in one run each for Minot in the top half. Down 3-0, Bismarck was able to flip the game around with five runs on two hits and four walks. Moran would leave during the inning after giving up the lead, but still recorded a season-high seven strikeouts in 3.2 innings.<\/span><\/p>\n Trailing for the first time all night, the Hot Tots pushed back. With three runs already in and the lead regained, Altmann was back up to the plate to do more damage. A three-run home run to put some distance between Minot and their opposition at 9-5.<\/span><\/p>\n In the next half inning, Bismarck would strike for five more runs. A Karter Scott three-run home run gave the Larks a jolt and tied the game at nine. Bismarck would score once more to go back on top, 10-9.<\/span><\/p>\n During the bottom of the fifth, Lance Mittelman was brought in to pitch for the Hot Tots. Despite back-to-back walks by him in the inning, Mittelman would remain an important piece to Minot\u2019s late-inning success.<\/span><\/p>\n Minot\u2019s bats would never go too quiet, finishing the night with a season-best 20 hits. The Tots hung up another four runs in the top of the sixth highlighted by a Micah McCoy double that cleared the bases.<\/span><\/p>\n With a 13-10 lead in hand, the Hot Tots trusted Mittelman with the final twelve outs of the night. Mittelman was outstanding, allowing three baserunners from the sixth inning on and no runs.<\/span><\/p>\n Minot moved the lead to four in the ninth inning and held off a Larks rally to claim victory and a Dakota Dust-Up rivalry title in 2026. With the <\/span>Sky Dancer Casino Big Win<\/b>, the Hot Tots evened up the season series at six wins apiece. Minot was given the tiebreaker based on run differential across the twelve matchups this season. It is the second consecutive season that the Hot Tots have defeated the Larks in the Dakota Dust-Up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor us to go out on a winning note\u2026it feels good. I\u2019m really proud of the boys,\u201d field manager Brian Lewis said after the game. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing really well offensively and putting up a lot of hits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lance Mittelman was named <\/span>SportClips MVP<\/b> for his relief pitching efforts and Micah McCoy\u2019s three-RBI double in the sixth inning was the <\/span>First Command Play of the Game<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n The Hot Tots have one series remaining in the regular season, a two-game road trip to St. Cloud on Friday and Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOT TOTS REPEAT AS DAKOTA DUST-UP CHAMPIONS WITH WILD WIN IN BISMARCK MINOT, ND \u2014 A winner-take-all matchup in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":27483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n