Aug 1, 2025
Mike Kraft/MDN Mankato’s Tia Durst slides into home safely ahead of the tag of Minot catcher Isabelle Anderson in the fourth inning of a game on July 31 at Corbett Field.
They may not have won the slugfest on the scoreboard against Madison, but the Minot Honeybees won the weeks-long battle with Mankato for the final playoff berth, ending the Habaneros’ quest for back-to-back league titles.
Minot rallied from a six-run deficit to briefly take a lead, but Madison would ultimately walk away with a 8-7 victory over the Honeybees on July 31 at Corbett Field.
But the more important result came a state away in Minnesota, where La Crosse knocked off Mankato, 6-5, to award Minot with a trip to the playoffs. The Honeybees will host Game 1 of a best-of-three series with Madison on Aug. 4 before heading on the road for the final two games.
“I’m more proud of how we played against the best team in the league and how we came back,” Minot coach Craig Montvidas said. “You want to do it yourself, that would have been exceptional, especially with a big crowd. But it’s a good feeling that we got this far”
Despite having locked up a playoff berth of their own weeks ago, the Night Mares weren’t going to make life easy for the Honeybees. Madison (33-7) jumped on Minot early, scoring three runs in the second, two more in the third and another in the fourth for a 6-0 lead.
The Honeybees (21-19) battled back beginning in the fourth with one big swing of the bat from All-Star Taylor Chillingworth, who launched a three-run home run to center field to cut Madison’s lead in half. Chloe Cummings and Isabelle Anderson led off the inning with back-to-back walks before Chillingworth brought them both home with her eighth home run of the season.
“It was good to get on the board and get back into the game,” Chillingworth said.
Minot would grab the lead with a four-run fifth. Bella Cimino started the rally with an RBI single to score Virginia Mambelli. Chillingworth drew a bases-loaded walk for her fourth RBI of the night and Makenna Alexander and Carly Cummings strung together run-scoring singles to put the Honeybees in front for the first time.
“The whole year we’ve been able to score, but that doesn’t mean in every single game you’re going to be able to score runs, but if you look at the first three innings, we had several people on base and we didn’t score,” Montvidas said. “We had bases loaded. We had two runners on base. We were hitting the ball. I thought we were a little unfortunate, but you always think that when it’s your team and balls are going right to the fielder’s, but that was the case. You still believe and you have to chip away. As soon as we got the home run we knew we could do this.”
The lead was short-lived, however, as Madison responded with a pair of runs in the sixth and held on from there. Hilary Blomberg led off the inning with a home run to tie the game and Trinity Kennemer scored the eventual game-winning run on a passed ball.
The Honeybees came within a few feet of tying the game in the seventh, but Chillingworth’s attempt at a second home run was snagged just in front of the fence.
Chloe Cummings went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of runs scored to lead Minot’s offense. Eight Honeybees collected at least one hit.
“Chloe’s been sensational since she joined us,” Montvidas said. “She hadn’t played. In the beginning of the summer she needed rest and wanted to be home with the family. Carly – her sister – convinced her to come out and she helped us because we were looking for a second baseman. Right away she did a good job defensively and then all of the sudden she’s found her groove and she’s maybe been our best hitter.”
Minot closes out the regular season with a doubleheader against Madison on Aug. 1 beginning at 5:35 p.m.
“It’s all about having good at-bats tomorrow and having meaningful at-bats and making sure we’re seeing what the pitchers are doing and figuring out what we need to do for the postseason,” Chillingworth said.
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