The Minot Hot Tots and the Rochester Honkers took it slow going around the bases during Tuesday night’s game.

The Tots were in Rochester, Minnesota, Tuesday night as part of their series against the Honkers. Minot ended the previous night’s game against Rochester with a 12-3 victory, giving them a 3-4 record for the second half of the 2025 season. The Tots went into Tuesday night’s game hoping to even their record with a .500 PCT.

The first inning of the game saw Diego Luzardo take the mound for the Honkers with center fielder No. 7 Zach Doyle up to the plate first for Minot. Left Fielder Matt Toomey was third in the batting order for Minot and brought home their first run of the game, rocketing the ball into the right field corner for an RBI double. The hit brought Doyle home after he walked and stole second base.

Right fielder Henry Allen was on third when first baseman Max Ortega stepped up to the plate. Ortega was thrown out at first after a hit into the infield, but his sacrifice allowed Allen to score and widen Minot’s early lead to 2-0. Designated hitter Blake Cavill was Luzardo’s second walk of the inning and shortstop Ryan Castro was his third, loading the bases for Minot in the top of the first.

Third baseman TJ Stottlemyer tried to take advantage with a single, but a throw home forced Toomey out at the plate and prevented another run. Stottlemyer was the fourth batter to leave the plate with a full count in the top of the first and Joseph Mroweic’s pop out meant that half of all the Minot batters in the first inning saw a 3-2 count.

Austin Puett started on the mound for the Hot Tots and was able to hold off the Honkers, allowing only one hit and no runs scored, leaving a 2-0 score at the end of the first.

The second inning saw Minot extend their lead by an extra run. With Andrew Marquis being walked as the lead off batter for the inning, more than half of all Hot Tots batters saw a full count during their first at bat.

Max Ortega saw his second RBI of the game during the second inning. He hit a double into the outfield that allowed Henry Allen to score. Another walk for Blake Cavill brought the game’s total up to four and a strike out for Ryan Castro ended the top of the inning with bases loaded.

Bases were loaded in the bottom of the second allowed the Honkers to secure their first run. Two RBIs allowed another two runs for Rochester to even out the score 3-3 before the end of the second. Both teams took their time with walks and high counts during the first two innings, taking up just over an hour combined.

The third inning saw a change of pace for the Honkers, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters in a row to end the half. Nolan Girard came out of Minot’s bullpen heading into the bottom of the third.

A double play at first and second base allowed the Honkers to score for their first lead of the game and a fly ball into center field gave them a two run advantage 3-5 over the Hot Tots before the inning could end.

Both teams continued the quickened pace of play in the fourth inning with neither scoring and the Hot Tots going three up and down in the top.

TJ Stottlemyer quickly evened the odds in the top of the fifth with a two run RBI, bringing the score to 5-5. Zach Doyle was thrown out at first to give the Honker’s their first out of the inning and the Hot Tots their second run of the inning after Allen ran safely home.

Toomey earned the Hot Tot’s fifth walk on the inning while the bases were loaded, allowing them to widen their lead to 7-5 in the top of the fifth.

The Honkers were able to plate three more runs in the top of the fifth to take their lead back before heading into the sixth. The Hot Tots earned another walk before two strikeouts in a row prevented them from tying the game in the top of the sixth at deadline.

Check Thursday’s paper for final results.