ELY - Ely’s bats woke up early as the Wolves took a Saturday morning tilt 14-4 over North Woods at home.

The Wolves secured a 6-0 lead in the opening innings, then answered a Grizzlies run with another three to seize a 9-1 advantage.

North Woods clawed back into the game with three runs in the fifth inning, when Alli Sandberg delivered a two-run double, then scored on a base hit by Maddy Serna.

But the Wolves crafted a five-run bottom of the sixth, all with two outs, to stretch their lead to 10 and cap the contest.

Jenna Merhar led the offensive attack for Ely, slugging four hits and driving in two runs.

Anna Urbas produced three hits and three RBIs and McCartney Kaercher and Adrianna Bishop each collected two hits.

Erika Mattson picked up the win, throwing a five-hitter and striking out seven.

Ely also pummeled visiting Floodwood 24-4 on Friday following an 8-3 defeat at Silver Bay on Thursday.

The Wolves fell behind Floodwood 4-0 in the top of the first inning before rattling off a staggering 24 unanswered runs to close the game.

Merhar picked up her first career varsity win pitching, limiting Floodwood to two hits and a walk while striking out four, with all four runs allowed being unearned.

Ely racked up 17 hits at the plate, with three apiece from Lida Dodge, Urbas and Mattson and two each by Courtney Kellogg and Merhar.

Two of Urbas’ three hits were doubles and she drove in five runs and Merhar knocked in three runs.

Ely gained a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning versus Silver Bay, but struggled the rest of the way.

Merhar finished with two of Ely’s six hits.

North Woods bounced back with a 3-2 win at Eveleth-Gilbert on Monday.

Ana LaFave and Neiva Smith each picked up two hits for the Grizzlies.

Alli Sandberg picked up the win pitching, throwing a six-hitter.

The Grizzlies also split a pair of contests leading into the Ely game, winning 6-1 over visiting Littlefork-Big Falls on Wednesday and falling 9-2 at Cherry on Thursday.

Alli Sandberg was the winning pitcher versus LFBF, striking out 10, while LaFave picked up three hits to lead the Grizzlies offensively.

Both teams open postseason play in the Section 7A tournament this week, with action opening on Tuesday at high seeds and continuing on Thursday in Grand Rapids, with match-ups yet to be determined.

Ely (6-6) and North Woods (8-7) entered the final three days of the regular season in the mix with Littlefork-Big Falls (10-7) and Deer River (6-9) for the third and fourth seeds in the sub-section, and with them first-round home games on Tuesday.

First-round winners enter the double elimination portion of the tournament and will play twice on Thursday.