Kari Gibb/MDN University of Arizona redshirt freshman, and Minot Hot Tot batter, Xavier Esquer (22) gets hit by a pitch in game two against the Willmar Stingers. Five players on each team would be hit by pitch on Thursday, July 4, at Corbett Field.

The Minot Hot Tots dropped two games to start the week. The Badland Big Sticks edged the Tots by one run on Tuesday, July 2, and Minot would split games with the Stingers at home on Wednesday and Thursday at Corbett Field.

Minot had nine strikeouts on Wednesday’s loss and six strikeouts on Thursday’s win for 15 between the two games against Willmar. That total is important as all games in July, the Blue Cross-Blue Shield of North Dakota will be donating $50 for each home game strikeouts that the Hot Tots collect. The donations will be made to the Nexus-PATH Family Healing at the end of the month.

The Hot Tots will host the Bismarck Larks today, July 5, and then travel to Bismarck on Saturday, July 6, before hosting the St. Cloud Rox on Sunday, July 7 and Monday, July 8,. At Corbett Field.

Minot 16, Willmar 4

Each team had five batters hit by pitches, one team recorded a home run, both teams had ten or more players left on base but the Hot Tots had the edge at the plate and avenged their loss to the Stingers the night before the Independence Day party.

The Stingers led 3-2 after two and one-half innings of play. The Tots used every walk, hit batter and hit ball to tally six runs at the bottom of the third inning of play and two more at the bottom of the fifth inning for the 10-3 lead.

Minot would add one run at the bottom of the sixth, one at the bottom of the seventh and four more at the bottom of the eighth for the win.

Willmar would add one run at the top of the seventh inning, but that would be the last of their offensive output.

The Hot Tots were 14-for-42 batting with one error as a team in the game. Anthony Potestio was 4-for-6 at the plate with two RBIs in the win. Cody Grebeck was 3-for-4 at the plate and added two RBIs and scored two runs in the game. Adrian Dominguez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Blake Penso was 3-for-6 at batting with three RBIs as well. Every player had at least one hit in the game.

Aidan Reichek pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits, walked three batters and recorded two strikeouts and allowed one home run. Evan Dempsey pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits, walked two batters and tallied four strikeouts in the game.

Willmar 13, Minot 6

The Hot Tots took a 1-0 lead at the bottom of the first inning of play and never led again once the Stingers posted five runs at the top of the second inning of play. Willmar added two at the top of the fourth, three at the top of the fifth and two more at the top of the sixth enroute to the 13-6 win over Minot.

Minot would add a single run at the bottom of the fifth and bottom of the sixth before they closed the gap with three more runs at the bottom of the seventh.

The Hot Tots were 13-for-37 at the plate with four team errors in the game. Adrian Dominguez, Adam Berghult and Nick Alonso were each 2-for-4 batting. Anthony Potestio, Xavier Esquer and Evan Dempsey were each 2-for-5 batting.

Edwing Corrales pitched two innings and allowed five runs on five hit, walked two batters and recorded four strikeouts and allowed one home run. Quinn Hocom pitched two and one-third innings and allowed five runs on four hits. Hudson Yarbrough pitched two and two-third innings and allowed two runs on three hits. Jacob Mallozzi pitched two innings and allowed one run on two hits in relief.

The Stingers were 14-for-40 batting and allowed one team error in the win. Andrew Sojka was a perfect 3-for-3 with six RBIs from the plate. Maximus Martin was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and scored four times in the game. Aidan Gonzalez pitched five innings and allowed two runs on eight hits. Samuel Schofield pitched one inning and allowed one run on one hit. Zach Bates pitched one-third of an inning and allowed three runs on two hits. Tate Robertson pitched two and two-third innings and allowed two hits in relief.

Minot 11, Badlands 10

The Minot Hot Tots pressed on with their recent hot streak at the plate as they got the better of the Badlands Big Sticks on Tuesday, July 2, splitting their four game series two games apiece with the home team.

This was another high scoring contest on the heels of Monday’s game where the Badlands team survived a close call with their 9-8 victory over the Hot Tots.

A Badlands team that consisted of talented hitters scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. A Troy Berg triple to center allowed Zach Seflon to score the game’s opening run, while setting the stage for another run. Berg would score on Evan Aplewick double to center field to make it a 2-0 game.

The Hot Tots would punch three runs in the top of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Tristan Moore and Caden Parker scored on Wyatt Reginato double to right field. Minot’s third run came when a Jonah Shields single to right field allowed Reginato to score. Minot led 3-2 at the end of the second inning.

Seflon scored his second run of the game off Keenan Proctor put out to tie the game at 3-3 at the end of the third inning.

The Badlands team added more flames to the fire in the bottom of the fourth innings to make it 5-3 Badlands. Nathan Martinez scored run number four off Adam Haber single to center field, while Haber later scored on Seflon’s single to center field.

The Hot Tots would respond resoundingly in the top of the sixth inning with three runs of their own. Elias Fiddler double to center field jump started the Hot Tots run train, as both Xavier Esquer and Moore would score on the play. Caden Parked scored to make it 6-3 Minot at the end of the sixth inning.

The Badlands team put three more runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh innings to take a 8-6 lead. Applewick scored on Martinez single to center field tying the game at 6-6. Martinez and Proctor scored to put the Badlands team up by two runs on Tyler Tobey singles to center field.

The Hot Tots lit up the scoreboard in the top of the ninth inning, scoring five runs to take an 11-8 lead. The fireworks started when Anthony Potestio scored on a Moore sacrifice fly. Evan Dempsey joined in the action, scoring on a Fiddler single past third past. Esquere and Parker scored on separate bases loaded walks that advanced batters to first base. Fiddler was the third Minot batter to score off a bases loaded walk.

The Badlands team attempted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning but came up short in spite of scoring two runs in the last inning. Tobey scored on a bases-loaded walk that advanced Applewick to first base. Haber also scored on a bases loaded walk that advanced Walls to first base.

The Hot Tots batted 9-for-36 and had two errors in the game. Shields batted 1-for-4, had two RBI and walked twice. Potestio batted 2-for-4, scored one run and had a RBI. Dempsey scored a run and walked once. Esquer batted 1-for-4, scored two runs and walked once. Moore scored two runs, had one RBI and walked once. Parker batted 2-for-4, scored three runs, and walked once. Fiddler batted 2-for-5, scored a run and had three RBI. Reginato batted 1-for-3, scored one run, had three RBI and walked twice.

Jakob Runkel pitched four innings, allowed eight hits, five runs, walked two and struck out one batter. Archer Stankowski pitched three innings, allowed three hits, three runs, walked two and struck out two batters. Nic Luna pitched two innings, allowed four hits, two runs, and walked four.

The Badlands team batted 15-for-41 and had one error in the game. Haber batted 1-for-5, scored two runs, had one RBI and walked once. Seflon batted 3-for-5, scored two runs, had one RBI and walked once. Berg batted 1-for-5, scored one run, had one RBI and walked once. Applewick batted 2-for-4, scored one run, had two RBI and walked twice.Walls had a RBI and walked twice. Proctor batted 3-for-5, scored a run and had a RBI. Martinez batted 2-for-5, scored two runs, and had an RBI. Wicks batted 1-for-3 and walked once. Tobey batted 2-for-5, scored one run and had two RBI.

Mason Lunzman pitched five innings, allowed six hits, three runs, walked one and struck out four. Dimitrios Bourmas pitched one-third of an inning, allowed one hit , three runs,walked three and struck out one. Brayden Mccollough pitched one and one-third inning, walked one and struck out two batters. Dylan Cortes pitched one and two-third inning, allowed two hits, five runs and walked two. Jackson Horras pitched one-third of an innings and walked one.