Kari Gibb/MDN Hot Tots pitcher Devin Marton, a redshirt junior at MSU, pitches in the first inning against the Willmar Stingers, Tuesday, June 18 at Corbett Field.

The Willmar Stingers traveled to Minot for a set of four games against the Hot Tots Tuesday, June 18, through Thursday, June 20, at Corbett Field. The Stingers are atop the Great Plains West division of the Northwoods League at 13-8 with the Hot Tots at sixth in the same division at 7-13 with a 5-5 record over the past ten games.

Willmar 13, Hot Tots 11

In game one, the Stingers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead at the top of the first inning with raindrops falling sporadically. Willmar would add another run at the top of the third inning only to have Minot take a 4-3 lead at the bottom of the third inning of play.

At the top of the fourth inning, the Stingers went on an offensive outing that lasted 12 Willmar batters at the plate, ending with nine runs and a 12-4 lead for the Stingers. Minot would tack on two runs at the bottom of the fourth inning, three runs at the bottom of the seventh and two more at the bottom of the eighth to narrow the gap- but not enough to catch Willmar.

The Hot Tots were 12-for-36 batting with one error as a team. Evan Dempsey was 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and scored one run. Cody Grebeck was 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the effort. Mateo Serna was 2-for-6 with three RBIs in the game. Serna is averaging .319 at the plate for the year.

Devin Marton pitched three innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Thomas Leiden pitched one-third inning and allowed six runs on three hits. Ray Keane pitched one and two-third innings and allowed three runs on six hits. Will Smith closed out the game with four innings pitched. He allowed one run on three hits in relief.

The Stingers were 13-for-37 at the plate in the win. Rhett Stokes and Nico Senese were both 3-for-5 in the game while Andrew Sojka and Trevor Winterstein were each 2-for-5 batting. Ian Koosman pitched three innings and allowed four runs on five hits. Will Henry pitched the next three and one-third innings and allowed five runs on five hits. Both pitchers walked two batters and recorded five strikeouts each. Andrew Baumgart pitched two and one-third innings and allowed two runs on two hits. Aiden Hansen pitched one-third inning in relief.

Willmar 14, Hot Tots 11

Game two began similarly to game one with Minot building an early lead with six runs at the bottom of the first inning and one more at the bottom of the second inning for a 7-1 lead after four innings of play.

In an ironic replay, Willmar scored nine runs again, this time at the top of the fifth inning to take a 10-9 lead by the start of the sixth inning of play. The Stingers added two runs at the top of the eighth inning and two more at the top of the ninth for the 14-9 lead. Minot had the bottom of the ninth inning to catch up. The Hot Tots would add two runs but were unable to score three more to force extra innings.

Minot was 12-for-36 batting with two errors as a team. Caden Parker was 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and scored two runs. Jack Matousek and Keanu Jacobs-Guishard were each 2-for-5 batting. Jaeden Jordahl, Tristan Moore, Adam Berghult, Serna and Xavier Esquer each had hits in the game.

Anthony Cordero pitched three innings and allowed no runs on three hits. Kaden Arn pitched one inning and allowed eight runs on six hits. Nic Luna pitched four and two-third innings and allowed six runs on ten hits with an earned run mark of five runs. Jacob Mallozzi pitched one-third inning in relief.

Willmar was 19-for-46 at the plate with one error as a team. Colin Hynek was 4-for-5 batting with a pair of RBIs and scored three runs. Sam Siegel was a perfect 2-for-2 while Max Buettenback was 3-for-5 at the plate. Sojka and Rhett Stokes were each 2-for-6 while Aidan Byrne was 2-for-3 batting. Every batter for the Stingers recorded at least one hit in the game.

Drue Young pitched one inning and allowed six runs on seven hits. Tate Robertson pitched three innings and allowed three runs on two hits. Sebastian Granados pitched four innings and allowed no runs on two hits. Aidan Gonzales pitched the final inning and allowed two runs on one hit in relief.