Willmar Hosts Minot For Inaugural Series

The Matchup: The Willmar Stingers (28-12) will welcome the Minot Hot Tots (10-30) to Bill Taunton Stadium for Minot’s inaugural season in the Northwoods League. This week’s series will be a four-game series with a double header taking place on July 13.

Players To Watch: Stone Miyao (University of Hawaii) will be the player to watch for Willmar. Miyao posts a .314 batting average and has tallied 38 hits in 30 games.

Nic Pepe (Seminole State College Of Florida) will be the player to watch for Minot fans. Perez currently leads the roster in average (.321) and has driven in 18 RBI (2nd on the team) in 2023.

Tonight’s Pitchers:

Tyler Bryan (Northwestern State University) will be on the hill for Willmar. Bryan (2-3) will make his ninth appearance and posts a 6.23 ERA. This season Bryan has struck out 18 hitters in 17.1 innings of work.

Minot fans will see Paxton Miller (University of Mary). Miller (2-3) will make his seventh appearance and posts a 4.78 ERA. This season Miller has struck out 22 hitters in 32.0 innings pitched in 2023.

Keys To The Series:

Shut Down Pepe (is batting .429 against Stingers).
Maintain lead in late innings.
The Long ball (Rimmer/ Fitzer one HR apiece in the Mankato Series).

Offensive Outburst: The Stingers scored 16 runs in game one of the Saint Cloud Series. Much of this offense came from the second half addition of outfielder Andrew Sojka (Cal State Northridge). Sojka is batting .250 and has collected six hits and tallied five RBI in five games.

Last Meeting: Willmar took on Minot at Corbett Field in June. The Stingers outscored the Hot Tots 37-17 and won three out of the four game series.

Tarlow To The Show: Stingers Catcher Grayson Tarlow ‘23 (Cal State Northridge) was selected in the 19th round of the 2023 MLB First Year Players Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Tarlow posted a .455 batting average and collected 23 hits and 18 RBI this season in the Northwoods League.

First Pitch: Willmar will face Minot for four games with all contests being played at Bill Taunton Stadium. The doubleheader will take place on July 13 with game one at 1:05 and game two following at 7:05.

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

The 2023 season is presented by J.D. Kreps Financial Group, empowering investors with powerful financial advice.

The Willmar Stingers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, over 325 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Stingers as your favorite team.