The first ever meeting between the Willmar Stingers and Minot Hot Tots had everything fans could want, from a seven-run comeback to a lengthy rain delay in the Stingers’ 11-8 win on Sunday.

In a game that was dominated by the Hot Tots early on, it was actually the Stingers who scored first as Stone Miyao brought home Kevin Fitzer with an RBI single to take an early 1-0 lead.

Fitzer wouldn’t remain in the game for long however as he was forced to leave the game after colliding into the left field wall trying to catch a Ryan Recio home run.

Zach Stroh would come in to take Fitzer’s place with the Stingers down 3-1 after the first inning.

The Hot Tots would score five runs in the next three innings including three off of another home run hit by Recio in the fourth inning.

With the Stingers bats going suddenly cold, they would wake up in a big way in the fifth inning.

Just as the weather was slowly taking a turn for the worse, the Stinger bats would make things the same way for the Hot Tots with three home runs in the inning.

Scott Anderson got the action started with a three run blast and that was immediately followed by the next batter Jake Hjelle.

Kyle Payne would get his chance a few batters later to cap off the seven-run inning to tie the game at eight.

After the bottom half of the inning, the game would pause due to a rain delay which would go on for around 50 minutes.

Once the game resumed, the Hot Tot bats would stay cold while the Stingers came through with one last big inning in the seventh.

MinnWest Technology Player of the Game Jonathan Lane recorded the big hit when he brought home two runs with a triple to give the Stingers a lead they would never give up.

Hemponix Reliever of the Game Tyler Bryan shut the door with a two-inning save to give the Stingers their third straight win as they remain undefeated in North Dakota.

The Stingers have one more game with the Hot Tots tomorrow before traveling back to Willmar to host the St. Cloud Rox.

For more coverage of the Stingers, visit the West Central Tribune online at www.wctrib.com.

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