Sean Williams/MDN Brannon Mondragon (2) of the Minot Hot Tots looking to drive the ball during a game that occurred earlier this season at Corbett Field. Mondragon hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first in Sunday’s game.

After a hard-fought game that saw the Minot Hot Tots late rally fall short, the team dropped their first game of the series with the Rochester Honkers on Saturday night by a final of 10-8.

On Sunday, the teams got together for one more go around at Corbett Field before the all-star break and festivities in Bismarck. Hoping to head into the brief break on a positive note, the Hot Tots would do so by navigating through a back-and-forth affair in a 6-5 ballgame.

Getting the Hot Tots off to a booming start was Brannon Mondragon, who sent a solo shot to left field to lead off the bottom of the first and give the home team a quick 1-0 lead.

A walk by Drew Woodcox, followed by a steal and defensive miscue by the Honkers led to D. Woodcox scoring on a groundout, extending Minot’s advantage to 2-0 in the first frame.

Not stopping there, however, were the Hot Tots as they continued to swing the bats well early on. In the bottom of the second, a single by Sam Holthaus and a double by Cam Kaufman led to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jake Schulz to put Minot ahead 3-0.

Setting the table for another productive inning was D. Woodcox in the bottom of the third, who singled and later scored on a single by Holthaus to give Minot a 4-0 lead. Showing consistency early, the Hot Tots were able to score at least one run in each of the first three innings.

Even though they were in an early hole, the Honkers refused to quit as they sparked a rally that evened the contest at 4-4 in the top of the fourth inning. Not wanting to let Rochester gain all the momentum back, Kaufman blasted a solo shot in the bottom half of the frame to put Minot back on top at 5-4.

The back-and-forth affair saw the Honkers even the contest once again in the top of the sixth, as both teams took turns trading jabs in a 5-5 ballgame. With just a few innings to go, one team looked to be the one to land the final punch.

Getting that final punch were the Hot Tots, as Mondragon doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, then was driven home on an RBI single by D. Woodcox to bring the game to its final of 6-5 in favor of Minot.

A valiant effort by Hudson Hart out of the bullpen gave Minot a great opportunity to secure the win. Hart tossed three scoreless innings, allowing no runs on one hit and two strikeouts.

In dramatic fashion, the one hit Hart surrendered came on a double to start the top of the ninth. After the double, Hot Tots’ head coach Mitch Gallagher pulled Kaufman out from right field and brought him to the mound to close out the game.

Kaufman rose to the occasion, as he recorded three consecutive outs to help the Hot Tots maintain their one-run lead.

Up next is the Northwoods League Home Run Challenge at 7:05 p.m. tonight in Bismarck, followed by the Northwoods League Great Plains All-Star Game on Tuesday at the same time and place. The Hot Tots will take the field again on Thursday when they host the Mankato MoonDogs at 6:35 p.m.