ELY— After solid back-to-back wins over Cook County on Monday, errors proved Ely’s undoing in an 8-4 loss to Mesabi East here on Tuesday. The game was tight through four innings as the Giants clung to a 3-2 lead, but three Ely throwing errors in the fifth contributed to a four-run spree in the top of the frame that proved the difference.
“After playing so well on Monday we just seemed to take a step back today against Mesabi East,” said Ely Head Coach Frank Ivancich. “Give them credit they put some pressure on us today with their aggressive base running and bunt game. We just made some poor decisions that cost us. We cannot compete with seven errors, but most of those errors came on throwing and mental situations which can be corrected.”
Senior Erron Anderson led Ely at the plate on Tuesday, connecting on three hits, including two doubles, along with an RBI. Junior Drew Marolt slammed two doubles and notched three RBIs in the outing.
Freshman pitcher Hunter Halbakken worked the first five innings, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run.
Wolves pitching has been a bright spot of late, noted Ivancich. “We have now gotten four quality starts on the mound from Drew, Logan, and Hunter the past four games giving up only six earned runs,” he said.
Quality pitching was the story in Monday’s doubleheader wins over Cook County, with Ely winning the first game 3-0 and the nightcap 9-2.
The early game was a pitcher’s duel through four and a half innings as both teams remained scoreless until sophomore Caid Chittum drove home senior Joey Bianco on a sacrifice fly in the home half of the fifth. A Logan Loe sacrifice bunt had put Bianco in scoring position. The Wolves added two more runs in the sixth on a Loe single to make it 3-0. Marolt notched the win for Ely, allowing just three hits and striking out eight in six innings worked. Loe pitchd the seventh for the save.
In the later game, the Wolves struck early, as they brought five across on four hits, by Bianco, Chittum, Anderson, and Marolt, in the first inning. Cook County added two to trim the margin, but when Ely added runs in the third and fourth innings, the outcome was clear. Chittum, Anderson, and Marolt had two hits apiece in the contest.
Loe tossed a complete game for Ely, scattering three hits while striking out six to get the win.
With Ely’s pitching looking solid, Ivancich said they’ll be focusing on other fundamentals in the days ahead. “We need to be more consistent,” said Ivancich. “We cannot continue to play an error free game followed by a five error game. We have to do a better job of getting our guys to focus on baseball for two hours and lock in every game we play if we want to have a chance to win games.”