Adam Papin/MDN Hot Tots’ starter Grant Faris delivers a pitch in the first inning of last night’s game against the St. Cloud Rox.

The Minot Hot Tots enjoyed a bit of a winning streak entering last night’s match up against the St. Cloud Rox at Corbett Field. Having swept their Dakota Dust Up rivals, the Bismarck Larks, the home team looked to make it three in a row.

“I think what we did really well against Bismarck was we came out aggressively hitting the ball well,” said head coach Mitch Gallagher. “We were able to get out to some pretty good leads and control the game from there.”

The Minot skipper added that the game is beginning to click for the younger players on the team. “The younger guys are starting to develop a little bit more maturity in their approach and the way they go about their business, how they handle the different atmospheres that we play in,” said Gallagher. “So, it’s been awesome to see them grow throughout the summer.”

Last night, the Hot Tots jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, when Max Lucas ripped a double to right field, scoring Nic Pepe, Drew Woodcox and Ryan Recio.

However, Minot pitchers walked five batters and hit two more Rox hitters in the top of the third, as St. Cloud scored seven runs in the inning to go ahead 8-3. The Rox added another run in the fourth and two in the sixth to make it 11-4, which would end up the final score.

Minot’s other run came in the bottom of the third when Zach Kluvers scored on a wild pitch.

Grant Faris got the start for the Hot Tots. He gave up five earned runs on two hits and four walks across two innings. He struck out one. Evan Valencia allowed four runs on one hit, six walks, while he struck out two. Kayden Camacho and Noah Miller also saw action from the Minot bullpen.

St. Cloud starter Evan Esch got rocked for three runs in the first inning, on three hits and two walks. Gavin Jacobsen came on in the second and allowed one Hot Tots run in two innings of work, while walking two and striking out two. Owen March came on strong in relief, throwing four shutout innings to pick up the win.

Lucas led the Hot Tots’ offense with his three-run double in the first inning. Left fielder Woodcox had two hits and scored a run, while Pepe, Recio, and Kluvers also scored for the Hot Tots.

The win improves St. Cloud to 9-4 in the second half of the season. The loss drops the Hot Tots to 5-10, and they will look to split the series tonight at 6:35 p.m. Then, Minot welcomes Bismarck to Corbett Field on Thursday.