ELY – The Ely U-16 VFW baseball team split a doubleheader with Esko last Saturday at their first home appearance of the season at Veterans Memorial Field.
The Timberwolves lost the first game of the day, 6-4, despite a worthy performance by pitcher Harry Simons, who threw a complete game while giving up just three earned runs. He gave up seven hits, allowed five walks and had five strikeouts.
Simons also added two hits at the plate. Eddie Prijatel had three hits and scored two runs and Jackson Levens batted in two runs.
Ely bounced back for a 7-6 win in the second game. Prijatel was winning pitcher, throwing in the last two innings, allowing one earned run, no hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. Starting pitcher Jacob Towley pitched the first three innings and gave up five runs, three earned, three hits, six walks, and had three strikeouts.
Towley also contributed an RBI double. Joey Bianco had two hits, including a two-run single. Iver Lepisto added a walk-off sacrifice fly, driving in Bryce Fairchild. 
Ely opened the season last Friday at Cook County, losing 14-11. Relief pitcher Elliot Levens took the loss. He pitched three innings, allowing eight runs, one earned. He gave up just one hit, allowed five walks and had one strikeout. Starting pitcher Bryce Fairchild was on the mound for three innings, allowing six runs, three hits, three walks, and had two strikeouts.
Simons had two hits, two runs, and a two- run single, Prijatel also had a two-run single. Logan Loe had two 2 RBI.
“We were down 6-1, then went ahead 11-6,” said Coach Jim Wittrup. “We couldn’t hold the lead, and lost 14-11. We had a couple bad defensive stretches, and made 11 errors. Typical first-game stuff.”
The Timberwolves were set to travel to Taconite on Thursday, July 2 and International Falls on Tuesday, July 7. Ely is scheduled to host Proctor on Thursday, July 9. 
All youth sports were delayed this spring due to public health concerns and stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus. Game schedules could change without notice.