Minot’s Drew Reaves swings at a pitch against Willmar on Saturday, July 4, at Corbett Field. Reaves went 4-for-10 with an RBI and two runs scored over the weekend. Mike Kraft/MDN

It came a day after the official holiday, but the Minot Hot Tots saved their offensive firework display for the end of the 4th of July weekend, and it was well worth the wait for the fans that stuck around to the end to witness the spectacle.

Christian Stratis put the exclamation mark on a late-game rally by the Hot Tots, delivering the winning hit in the bottom of the 11th inning with a two-run single to left to score Drew Reaves and Schrab Rezael, giving Minot a 10-9 victory over Willmar on Sunday, July 5, at Corbett Field heading into the All-Star break.

The Hot Tots trailed 6-0 and were hitless entering the seventh inning stretch before putting up eight runs on seven hits in the frame to take the lead. The Hot Tots recorded 10 hits over the final three regulation innings and two more in the extra session. In the process, Minot handed Willmar its first loss in the season’s second half after the Stingers opened the two-game series on Saturday, July 4, with a lopsided 17-3 victory.

Neither team could plate the game-winning run in the 10th inning despite starting the stanza with a runner in scoring position at second base. Willmar’s Jehee Lee led off the 10th with a single to shortstop, moving Kobe Eikmeier over to third with no outs. Lee stole second as Brecken Menuet struck out for the first out of the inning. After Kai Gonzaga was intentionally walked to load the bases, the Hot Tots got Luke DeVine to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Hot Tots (3-3) couldn’t capitalize in the bottom half, as the inning ended when Caleb Gipson was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Matthew Bernath after snagging a fly ball off the bat of Reaves.

The Stingers (4-1) reclaimed the lead with a run in the 11th off an RBI groundout to second from Merrick Rapoza, allowing DeVine to score from third. Minot limited the damage to just one run, as Willmar stranded runners on second and third.

Minot won it in the bottom half. Back-to-back hit batters loaded the bases before Stratis sent the crowd home happy with his two-run single for the walkoff victory .

The Hots Tots’ bats came to life in the seventh after six innings of hitless baseball. Minot drew five walks over the first five innings, but couldn’t muster up a timely hit against Willmar starting pitcher Riley Hassenstab, who was pulled after the fifth inning, having thrown 98 pitches. Luke Kalfsbeek came on in relief to start the sixth and kept the no-hitter intact entering the seventh, before Minot broke out for eight runs to take an 8-6 lead.

Reaves broke up the no-hitter with a single to left field and the flood gates opened from there. Chris Daniels, Stratis, Connor Dietsch, Alex Altmann and Reaves all recorded RBI singles in the inning. The Hot Tots brought 14 batters to the plate and Willmar needed 63 pitches from three pitchers to get out of the inning.

Willmar tied the game in the eighth with a pair of runs to eventually send the contest to extras. Gonzaga hit a two-run home run over the fence in right after Menuet got hit by a pitch to open the inning.

Dietsch had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded, but Willmar’s Jamie Vicens got him to ground into a fielder’s choice at short.

Five Hot Tots finished with two hits and Stratis had a team-high three RBIs.

Gonzaga finished 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Stingers. Lee also homered as part of a 3-for-3 afternoon.

It was Willar that brought the fireworks to the party in the series opener on the of July, amassing 17 runs on 16 hits, clubbing three home runs and seven total extra-base hits in their 17-3 victory The 17 runs were both a season high for Willmar and the most Minot has surrendered in a game this year. The Hot Tots gave up 15 runs against St. Cloud on June 4. The Hot Tots also lost that game by 14 runs, which is tied for their largest margin of defeat on the season.

Willmar led from the first inning, plating two in the top half of the opening frame and scored 12 runs over the final three innings to cap off a dominant performance.

Eight Stingers recorded RBIs and five registered multi-hit games. Devine went 4-or-6 in the leadoff position, doubling twice, tallying a game-high five RBIs and scored twice.

Willmar’s first home run of the game came just two batters into the contest. After Devine reached base on a single, Kyle Panganiban finished off a seven-pitch at-bat with a two-run home run over the fence in left off Minot starting pitcher Will Paxton for a 2-0 lead.

Max Buettenback lifted a solo home run in the fifth to push Willmar’s lead to 5-2. Gonzaga provided WIllmar’s final long ball of the game in the eighth – a two-run shot as a pinch-hitter, replacing David Estrada. Gonzaga’s home run was part of a five-run eighth inning. DeVine doubled home two runs later in the inning as Willmar went up 16-2.

Minot allowed a six-run inning to the visitors the frame prior. Devine tacked on three more RBIs with a bases-clearing double to center. Esteban Sepulveda and Bernath also drove in runs during the inning.

Reaves had Minot’s lone multi-hit game. The Hot Tots finished with six hits.

Minot got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth. Daniels drove in Isaac Huettl and Jaxon Goldberg with a two-run double with two outs to cut Willmar’s lead to 4-2.

Kyle Bade earned the win on the mound for the Stingers. He threw the first 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking one.

The Hot Tots return from the All-Star break on Friday, July 10, when they travel to play Mankato for the first game of a two-game series.