REGIONAL- The Ely Timberwolves opened their 2026 baseball season with a tough three-game southern Minnesota swing Friday and Saturday, falling to Kenyon-Wanamingo, state-ranked Hayfield, and state-ranked Blooming Prairie.
The Wolves showed tenacity at the plate, outhitting their opponents 26-24 over the weekend, but were undone by control issues and defensive lapses. Ely pitchers issued 17 walks, hit seven batters, and the Wolves committed ten errors while allowing 23 stolen bases in the three losses.
Ely’s opener against Kenyon-Wanamingo slipped away late in an 8-7 walk-off loss. The Wolves built leads of 4-1 and 7-4 and appeared in control before things unraveled. The Wolves collected 13 hits in the game, with Owen Marolt leading the way with three. Hunter Halbakken, Grant Chittum, and Jack Davies each added two hits, while Stig Majerus gave Ely an early spark with a solo home run in the third.
Halbakken worked the first six innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out four. Sean Merriman took the loss in relief after walking three and hitting a batter in the seventh. Five Ely errors proved costly, helping the Knights rally with a three-run third and a two-run sixth to erase Ely leads.
Against Hayfield, the Wolves fell behind almost immediately in a 13-3 loss. A hit batter, error, single, walk, stolen bases, and a wild pitch quickly turned into a four-run deficit, and the Wolves never recovered. It didn’t get much better from there, as Ely pitchers combined for seven walks, five hit batters, four wild pitches, and allowed eight stolen bases in the five-inning game.
Marolt took the loss, allowing nine runs on five hits while walking four, striking out six, and hitting four batters. He also led Ely at the plate with two hits and an RBI, while Evan Leeson added a double and Chittum chipped in a hit.
Ely closed the trip with a 9-5 loss to Blooming Prairie. The Wolves grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third when Drew Johnson doubled, Evan Leeson reached on an error, and Marolt delivered a two-run single. Blooming Prairie answered right back in the bottom half and added three more runs in the fourth to stretch the lead.
Ely kept battling. Tyde Brecke reached and later scored to make it 4-3, and the Wolves pulled within 7-5 in the sixth behind a Chittum single, a sacrifice bunt by Davies, and an RBI hit from Johnson. But Blooming Prairie answered again with two runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away.
Davies went the distance on the mound, allowing ten hits while walking four and striking out one. Halbakken and Johnson each finished with two hits for Ely.
Coach Frank Ivancich said the weekend came down to Ely giving opponents too many opportunities.
“Tough weekend pitching for us, 17 walks and seven hit batters, that is just too much free stuff as we call it,” Ivancich said. “Add the fact that 13 of those walks and hit batters scored. In addition, we committed ten errors and gave up 23 stolen bases in our three games. We are not going to win many games playing like we did. It was our first time on the field against two very good teams in Hayfield and Blooming Prairie. One of the positives was that we outhit our opponents 26 to 24. Offensively, I was happy with what we did at the plate.”