Huskies Begin North Dakota Roadtrip with 9-4 Victory

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Northwoods Duluth Huskies

Huskies Begin North Dakota Roadtrip with 9-4 Victory

June 17, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Duluth Huskies News Release


MINOT, N.D. - The Duluth Huskies won the opening game of a four-game set against the Minot Hot Tots by the score of 9-4 on Monday night.

Following an eight-hour road trip to Minot, North Dakota, the Huskies waited (and nearly waded) through a 45-minute thunderstorm that dumped its contents across Corbett field. Following the delay, the Hot Tots sent out Kahler Key to toe the rubber, who struggled against the Huskies on the previous Monday at Wade Stadium.

The Huskies wasted no time getting on the board in the first, with Michael Smith drawing a one-out walk and promptly stealing second base. Duluth third baseman Ethan Surowiec drove him in on an RBI double down the left field line.

Maddox Meyer went to the hill for Duluth, having dominated Minot in his first start against them last week. In the first inning, he looked just as sharp, getting a pair of strikeouts to open his game. He would eventually notch seven K's throughout the contest.

The Dogs added on in the second, as first baseman Trey Craig continued a hot streak at the plate with a leadoff single. He advanced to second and then to third on wild pitches, before a groundout from Bjorn Lind drove in his run, giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

The score was static until the top of the fifth, when the Huskies unlocked and opened the floodgates against Kahler Key.

Leading off the inning, Tommy Farmer notched an infield single to shortstop Ryan Castro. Farmer took off for second on the first pitch to Michael Smith, swiping second in an instant. Smith rewarded Farmer and the Huskies with a sharp single to center that drove in Farmer.

Noah Furcht then elicited an error on what otherwise would have been a fielder's choice to shortstop. Both he and Smith wound up safe as the ball was dropped at second base. Ethan Surowiec shot another double, this time scoring Smith and Furcht to make it a 5-0 Huskies lead.

Still not finished, Trey Craig singled in Surowiec, before Duluth catcher Nolan Barry hit another single past the infield to score Bjorn Lind. Lind, who had reached on another error, pushed the lead to 7-0 Huskies.

The Tots pushed across their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, as Matt Toomey doubled and came around to score on a Ryan Castro RBI groundout. Maddox Meyer completed the inning with a swinging strikeout, bookending his five-inning performance with punchouts and ending his outing with a substantial 7-1 Huskies lead.

However, things would get dicier in the bottom of the sixth, as Henry Allen launched a homer over the left field fence and into a residential neighborhood more than 400 feet from home plate. As if cued by Allen's big fly, the Minot skies opened anew with rain.

The Umpires initially allowed the game to continue in the slippery conditions, helping the Tots' DH Charlie Kalbrener to reach on a dropped third strike. Max Ortega then shot what appeared to be a routine fly ball to center, but the wind and rain wreaked havoc on Tommy Farmer's chase attempt and allowed the ball to drop. Kalbrener scored on what ended up being a triple off the bat of Ortega.

Even still, the inning continued through dumping rain until continued slip-ups on the soaked turf from Huskies relief pitcher Logan Reid, and catcher Nolan Barry finally convinced the umpires to delay the remainder of the game, sending everyone under the cover of the dugout roofs for what became a 20-minute delay.

When the game resumed, Logan Reid was able to end the inning with a swinging strikeout, putting down the Hot Tots' offense.

Duluth expanded their lead with two in the eighth. Scoring on back-to-back errors by the catcher and centerfielder for Minot during a double steal, Farmer and Smith added insurance for a 9-3 Huskies lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Matthew Foley allowed two baserunners to start, but struck out Castro for the inning's first out. However, a Robbie Demetree single brought in another run for Minot and made the score 9-4. Foley came back with another punch out of Zach Doyle and finally a popup to first baseman Trey Craig by Allen to seal the win.

The win was the third in a row for the Huskies, and their ninth over their last ten games. They improved to 12-10 on the season, while the Tots fell to 4-17.

On Deck

The Huskies play a doubleheader against Minot on Tuesday, with the first game scheduled for 9:05 a.m., and the second for 6:35 p.m.



Northwoods League Stories from June 17, 2025


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