Ely’s dreams end at State

The Wolves opened the Class A State playoffs with a tough draw against Lac qui Parle Valley on June 14.

Wes Snyder pitched a gem, striking out 13, but it wasn’t enough as Ely fell in their opening round matchup by a score of 2-1.

Snyder also got things going scoring-wise, leading off with a single after a long rain delay. He would advance to second on a Will Gustafson ground out and score after a flair hit to right field by Pat Huisman bounced off of the outfielder’s glove.

A walk and an error led to a run by Lac qui Parle Valley and tied the game despite Snyder striking out eight of the first nine batters he faced.

He kept cruising on the mound heading into the seventh but gave up the game winning hit with one out after allowing a walked batter to advance to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Overall, Ely scratched out just four hits in the pitcher’s duel.

“We put the ball in play,” said Ely Head Coach Frank Ivancich. “But at this level, they made the plays they needed to. It was a well played game and the kids did everything we asked of them.”

Snyder had two hits in the game and allowed just three on the mound. Huisman and Sean Fisher had Ely’s only other hits of the game.

The loss dropped the Wolves into the consolation bracket to take on Kenyon-Wanamingo.

Greg Helget had a strong performance on the mound and the Wolves managed to come out on the winning side of a 5-4 game.

They scored one in the first after Helget reached on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a Snyder double off of the wall later in the inning.

They then proceeded to add three more runs on four hits with two outs in the second. They came off of four consecutive hits from the bats of Cody Bialik, Fisher, Helget and Nick Mathews.

Fisher had an RBI double that scored Bialik. Helget had an RBI single and Mathews followed up with another RBI double. This made the score 4-0 and Helget buckled down on the mound. Despite allowing several base runners, he pitched himself out of jams continually throughout the game.

Kenyon-Wanamingo managed to scratch a run across in the fifth off of one hit and a balk.

Ely put across an insurance run in the sixth and it was important because Kenyon-Wanamingo rallied in the seventh, almost coming back by scoring three runs on two hits before the Wolves shut the door.

“It was a good rebound game for us to come back and see what we were made of,” said Ivancich.

Jory Johnson and Fisher each had two hits in the game and the win advanced Ely into the Consolation Championship later the same day against New York Mills.

Sophomore Will Gustafson took the mound for the Wolves and continued his late season surge, pitching six shutout innings before surrendering a run. In the end, he allowed just three hits and one walk in the 3-2 loss.

Ely put runners on base in nearly every inning but couldn’t get a hit until the seventh.

A Huisman suicide squeeze made the score 1-0 and then a Helget sacrifice fly made it 2-0. Gustafson allowed his first run of the game in the bottom half of the inning and Snyder got the call after New York Mills put runners on second and third.

His first pitch went wild to tie the game and the New York Mills number six hitter knocked a sacrifice fly to win the game.

“I’m proud of the way the kids played,” said Ivancich. “Despite the loss, it was a good way to end the season. We would have liked to have brought some hardware home but we showed we belonged and also did a good job of putting our program on the map.”

The Wolves end the year with an overall record of 21-5, the second most wins they’ve ever recorded. They will lose six seniors to graduation and Ivancich says that their leadership will be missed. These players include Helget, Fisher, Bialik, Snyder, Johnson and Mathews.

“Those guys put a lot of work in and I’m proud of how they stepped up and were leaders this season,” said Ivancich. “Each of them had a big role in our success. Overall it was a real memorable season.”

Snyder finished the year with several honors. He was named to the Class A All-State Team and also was named to the Class A All-Tournament Team. Helget made the Academic All-State Team. The two pitchers combined for 17 of Ely’s 21 wins on the year.