The Minot Hot Tots have released the schedule for their inaugural season. They will host the St. Cloud Rox on Monday, May 29 at 7:05 p.m. to begin the 2023 Northwoods League season.

All the ingredients for the recipe are coming together and we are getting closer to when the Minot Hot Tots will be serving up their dish at Corbett Field this summer. On Wednesday, the directions for the recipe were established when the team officially announced their schedule for the upcoming season.

The head chef, or head coach, in Mitch Gallagher has been in place and all that is left to do is determine who will fill out the inaugural roster for the Hot Tots. With the season approaching, Gallagher has been working hard on making that happen.

“I’m excited about having the opportunity to recruit my own team, bringing some guys up there that I think have earned the opportunity to compete at that high of a level and to see what we can do. Also, making sure that they have a good experience, and making sure they are able to prepare themselves for the next step in their career,” Gallagher tells The Minot Daily News.

Running from May 29 to Aug. 12, the Hot Tots will play a total of 68 games and will immediately get to display their product to the home fans.

“It’s kind of like an early Christmas present to all of us in the office to finally get to see the schedule and know when opening day is,” Monica Blake, the General Manager and Managing Partner of the Hot Tots tells The Minot Daily News.

Blake added, “obviously, the planning has already started for a lot of that stuff but having the dates on the calendar makes it way more exciting and gives us something to look forward to.”

On Monday, May 29 the Hot Tots will host the St. Cloud Rox at Corbett Field for their first game of the 2023 Northwoods League season. This will be a quick, two-game series ending on Tuesday before the Hot Tots make their first road trip of the season when they head to Mankato to take on the Moondogs, followed by a trip to Duluth to face the Huskies.

“I think opening day for our inaugural season is going to be a day that you don’t want to miss. It’s going to be super, super fun,” Blake said.

With the building of hopefully a special, in-state rivalry, the Hot Tots will welcome the Bismarck Larks to Corbett Field for the first time on Friday, June 23. This, however, will not be the first time the two teams play as the Hot Tots will be in Bismarck the day before, marking their first ever matchup.

Gallagher mentioned that in his previous experience working in the Northwoods League with Bismarck, the closest team was six hours away. He believes that having a team close by will help build a rivalry, especially with the athletics history between Bismarck and Minot that already exists.

“It adds a little extra layer to the Northwoods League and to the competition in North Dakota as well,” he said about having two North Dakota teams in the Northwoods League.

There will be 12 games between the Hot Tots and Larks this year and since the two teams are so close, each series will be unique. There will be a total of six series with each consisting of two games. The teams will split one game in Bismarck and one in Minot, making for exciting battles and quick turnarounds to come.

“We get to play them in that unique fashion throughout the entire year and I think it was cool that the Northwoods League was able to do that. It’s nice to have an opponent that’s not super far away, and we know those guys really well down there so we are excited to see what that brings,” Blake said.

Moving towards the end of the season, the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game will take place in Bismarck on July 31 and Aug. 1. Shortly after, the regular season will come to an end with a series against Bismarck. The last home game for the Hot Tots will be on Aug. 11 before they head to Bismarck for the final game of the year the next day.

For postseason play, the sub-divisional playoff round will run from Aug. 13-15 and the Division Championship on Aug. 16. The League Championship will take place on Aug. 17.

In addition to exciting baseball that will be oozing throughout Corbett Field, the Hot Tots will provide fans with high-quality entertainment, such as: on-field games, player interactions, a family fun zone area, and more.

Additionally, there will be a variety of outside-the-box theme nights and entertainment acts. A full promotional schedule announcing all the experiences throughout the year will be released at a later date.

“We are looking at different added entertainment for some of the nights throughout the year. It’s a really great entertainment experience at every game and soon we will be releasing what some of those specifics are. It will really get fans excited and give them something that they haven’t seen here before in Minot,” Blake said.

For fans and community members wanting more information, or wanting to see the full schedule, they can learn more by going to www.hottotsbaseball.com. It’s going to be an exciting summer at Corbett Field and you don’t want to miss out on being part of a historic season.