By: Riley Klaus

June 20, 2025

MINOT, ND – The St. Cloud Rox (19-5) secured a victory over the Minot Hot Tots (5-21) on Friday and keep the lead in the Great Plains West. It was St. Cloud’s sixteenth straight victory over Minot.

St. Cloud would score first in the game, with Tanner Recchio (University of St. Thomas) reaching home to take the 1-0 lead.

Pitcher JD Dobis (University of Minnesota) received the start for the Rox, and would tally six strikeouts in four innings of work. John Hughes (University of North Carolina) entered in relief and would record five strikeouts himself.

The ballpark could not contain the Rox in the fifth, as both Nolan Geislinger (Iowa Western CC) and Dominic Smaldino (University of California) sent it out of the park to give the Rox the 4-2 lead by the end of the frame.

The Rox would add another in the seventh courtesy of a Joshua Dykhoff (University of Minnesota-Crookston) RBI Single to extend the lead to 5-2.

On the bump, Carter Stanford (University of Central Florida) put up four strikeouts in his 1.1 innings of work in relief, before the ninth inning occurred.

Brady Ballinger (University of Kansas) stepped up to the plate in the ninth, and delivered a two run Home Run to make it 7-3.

Eric Lin (University of Kansas) would finish the game on the mound for St. Cloud and earned two strikeouts himself to close out the ballgame with the Rox in front 7-3.

With win number 19, St. Cloud is still the leader in the Great Plains West at 19-4.

The All-Star Trophy and Awards Star of the Game is Dominic Smaldino.

The Rox play Minot on Saturday, June 21st, at 6:35 PM for game three of the four-game series. The next Rox home game will be Monday, June 23rd, at 6:35 against the Badlands Big Sticks. There will be a Tote Bag Giveaway for the first 300 fans, presented by Magnifi Financial. For a complete game & promotional schedule, ticket information, and everything Rox, please visit stcloudrox.com. For a full list of the 2025 promotional schedule, please visit stcloudrox.com/promoschedule, and for the full Rox game schedule, visit stcloudrox.com/schedule.

The 2025 season is presented by Morrie’s Auto Group.