Fans of the Hot Tots had plenty to celebrate alongside America’s 249th birthday over the weekend as Minot had some fireworks of their own in a pair of victories over the Bismarck Larks at Corbett Field. The Hot Tots rallied late with three runs in the eighth inning on Friday for an 11-10 victory before earning the series win in convincing fashion, compiling 12 hits and drawing 13 walks in a 14-5 victory on Saturday.

After dropping the series opener 2-1 to the Larks on Thursday, things didn’t appear to be getting any better the following day. The Hot Tots found themselves trailing 5-1 going into the bottom of the fourth inning before the bats started coming to life. Minot grabbed a 6-5 lead with a five-run inning on Henry Allen’s grand slam to left field off of Bismarck’s Griffin Shearon, who had just come into the game in relief of starting pitcher Carson Orvis.

It wasn’t long before the Hot Tots (2-4) found themselves trailing once more. The Larks responded with a pair of runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to grab a 9-6 advantage going into the seventh-inning stretch. Minot clawed back to within a run with a pair of runs in the seventh, with Allen leading the charge once again, this time with a solo shot to center to lead off the inning. With runners at the corners, Jonah Shields scored Max Ortega with an infield single to shortstop.

A home run by Bismarck’s Thomas Kenskey gave the Larks a bit of breathing run, but the Hot Tots had one more rally in them, and Allen had one last timely hit in his arsenal as well. Allen collected his sixth RBI of the contest with a single to center to score Zach Doyle. Allen would come around to score the tying run a few batters later on a Christian Stratis bases-loaded walk. The Larks (2-4) were undone by the number of free bases they gave out to the Hot Tots, as a second consecutive bases-loaded walk, this time to Ryan Castro, put the Hot Tots in front. The Larks pitching staff issued nine walks in Friday’s contest.

“It’s one of the things we try to bang home to our hitters every day is to control the zone and not help the pitchers out by swinging the bat out of our own hitting zone and they did a really good job of that,” Minot coach Brian Lewis said. “We were able to keep runners on base, our on-base percentage keeps going up and that’s how you score runs by keeping the merry-go-round going.”

Pavlos Piperakis pitched a scoreless ninth for the Hot Tots to preserve the win and earn the save.

Allen finished Friday’s game 4-for-5 with two home runs, a triple, six RBIs and three runs scored, which were all team highs.

Saturday’s matinee provided far less late-game drama, but it was still one for the record books – literally. Minot’s Matt Toomey stole three bases, bringing his season total to 17 and setting a new Hot Tots single-season record for stolen bases. Toomey has stolen at least one base in nine games this year, and all 17 have come since June 18. He recorded a season-high four stolen bases on June 20 against St. Cloud.

“He’s outstanding,” Lewis said. “He’s such a young kid. He’s only 18 years old. He doesn’t turn 19 until December. He’s a baby so to speak when it comes to baseball, but he’s a sponge. He’s always asking good questions. He’s always looking to learn more. You can see how much his base stealing prowess and his base running in general is getting better. He got two more hits today. He’s a guy we should probably be keeping an eye on in Minot because one day we might get to see him on TV.”

Despite the accomplishment, Toomey isn’t concerned with chasing records.

“I try not to focus on it too much,” Toomey said. “I’m always just trying to help my team win. If that means stealing bases and running hard then that’s what I’m going to do, but I don’t really chase stuff like that.”

Toomey helped out his team with more than just stealing bases. He recorded a pair of hits, including a double, and drove in three runs to help lead the offense to one of its best performances of the season. Minot’s 14 runs were tied for the second-most this season behind a 16-run performance against Mankato on June 24. It’s the most runs they’ve scored at home in a winning effort.

The Hot Tots jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two innings, only to see the Larks come back with five runs in the third to take the lead. But the Hot Tots responded with five runs of their own and kept Bismarck off the board from there. Toomey collected two of his three RBIs for the game in the inning, singling home two with the bases loaded before Ortega added an RBI single.

Allen added to his weekend production with an RBI single in the fourth to extend the lead to 9-5.

The big hit of the game came off the bat of TJ Stottlemyre. After swinging and missing on a 3-1 pitch, Stottlemyre crushed the next pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a three-run home run.

“That was my second time facing (Larks pitcher Brody Fay), so I kind of had a feel for what he had,” Stottlemyre said. “After the 3-1 swing and I swung right through it, if he threw it again I felt like I was going to catch it and that’s what happened.”

The Hot Tots tacked on two more runs in the eighth when Rowan Flesch connected on a triple to score Toomey and Stratis.

“All around it was a great team win,” Toomey said. “We’re firing on all cylinders. Our hitting was amazing. We were working counts and then our pitchers were really good as well. We were making plays in the field as well.”

Minot was again patient at the plate, drawing 13 more walks.

Defensively, the Hot Tots turned four double plays on Saturday, constantly thwarting any momentum the Larks could muster.

“I really liked the way we played defense through most of the series,” Lewis said. “We got a lot of really good infielders. We stacked us up with a lot of shortstops so we can move around the field and I think we showed that today with all the double plays we were able to make. I also liked the way the guys kept fighting. After that third inning where we gave up the five runs, we were down 5-3, we could have cashed it in and we didn’t. The guys kept fighting, kept clawing and I think that’s a good sign for us in the second half.”

The Hot Tots were in Bismarck on Sunday and dropped a 4-2 decision to begin an eight-game road trip before returning to Corbett Field on July 13. Minot will be in Rochester on Monday and Tuesday, Eau Claire for a doubleheader on Wednesday and Mankato on Thursday and Friday before finishing up in Bismarck on Saturday.