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Wolves rally for playoff win

Edge Cromwell to advance to double-elimination round Thursday

Keith Vandervort
Posted 5/25/22

ELY- An enthusiastic home crowd turned out here to watch the Timberwolves win their opening round contest in the Section 7A softball tournament in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Ely, seeded seventh, …

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Wolves rally for playoff win

Edge Cromwell to advance to double-elimination round Thursday

Posted

ELY- An enthusiastic home crowd turned out here to watch the Timberwolves win their opening round contest in the Section 7A softball tournament in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Ely, seeded seventh, edged tenth-seeded Cromwell in a 5-4 walk-off win.
The victory advances Ely to the double-elimination phase of the tournament, set in Grand Rapids, where they were scheduled to play Thursday afternoon.
The Wolves needed a rally to overcome the Cardinals. Cromwell took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and Ely answered with a single run of their own. Cromwell added a run in the third inning, and again the Timberwolves answered with just one run, leaving the bases loaded. They trailed 4-2 going into their last at bat in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the top of the order coming up to the plate, Coach Cory Lassi said he told his team, “We are where we need to be. Our top of the order is the best we can do.”
Charly Flom got the home crowd excited when she hit a grounder past first base and legged out a triple. Clare Thomas walked and quickly scampered to second. Kate Coughlin also drew a walk to load the bases.
Rachel Coughlin then ripped a grounder past the third base defender scoring three runs for the walk-off 5-4 win.
“We continue to do those little things that allow us to stay in the game at the end and get a chance to win. That’s all we needed, and we took advantage of it,” Lassi said.
The Timberwolves had eight hits for the day and were stuck out eight time. They drew three walks. Pitcher Katrina Seliskar allowed five hits, including three doubles, struck out six and walked just one batter.
Ely finished the regular season on a strong note last Friday with a 15-5 win over Floodwood. The finished with a 10-5 regular season record.
The Timberwolves jumped to 6-0 led in the second inning, then gave up five runs in the third inning to the visiting Polar Bears. “We settled back in defensively, and our bats stayed hot for the rest of the game,” Lassi said.
Seliskar allowed just five hits in the game, including a double, and struck out six Floodwood batters, while allowing two walks. “When we only give up a couple of walks we can be in any game,” he said. “We are a strong enough team with our bats and on defense where we can be in the game when we throw strikes.”
At the plate, the Timberwolves amassed 11 hits, including a triple by Rachel Coughlin, who went three for three, and doubles by Clare Thomas and Raven Saino. Ely batters drew six walks in the game.
“I’m really happy with how our regular season progressed,” Lassi said. “At the beginning of the season when so many games were postponed because of the weather, we spent the extra time in the gym working on a lot of fundamentals, that I hoped would turn some of those close games from last year into wins. I felt like that happened. We were able to pull off several close games into wins because we did the small things better.”
Ely lost to a strong Silver Bay team, 14-4, last Thursday, May 19. The Timberwolves jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and chased the Mariners’ starting pitcher, but that was all the runs they could get for the rest of the day. “We hit the ball hard, but our bats kind of fizzled from there,” Lassi said. “Their next pitcher threw hard strikes and had a really nice change-up throw that kept us off balance.”
Ely batters Flom, Thomas and the Coughlin sisters, Rachel and Kate, each got one hit in the game. Pitcher Zoe MacKenzie gave up13 hits, including two doubles and a triple, and she walked two batters.
The Timberwolves’ team endured two weather delays last Wednesday, May 18, at Littlefork –Big Falls to bring home a 17-6 victory. “It was definitely a weird game,” Lassi said. “We got caught in two lightning delays of 30 minutes each. We jumped up to a 5-0 lead in the first inning when we had our first delay. Then in the fourth inning, we were up 12-4 when we had the second weather delay.”
Ely pounded out 11 hits in the game, including three by Kate Coughlin, who had a double and a home run, and two by Lexi Halbeg, who legged out a triple. Flom and Rachel Coughlin each added two more hits. The team had nine stolen bases in the game, and drew ten walks.
Seliskar gave up ten hits, including two doubles, and walked two batters.
“The girls did a really good job of staying focused on the task ahead,” Lassi said. “Enduring two long delays and being able to jump back onto the field and focus on the game was good to see.”