EVELETH—Ely’s baseball season ended on a heartbreaker Tuesday. Down 5-3 against top-seeded South Ridge, the Wolves were unable to score after loading the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh inning in the sectional elimination bracket final.
The Panthers took command early, putting up four runs in the first inning on Ely starter Drew Marolt. But the Ely hurler settled down and kept the Wolves within striking distance as they came to bat in the top of the fourth.
Elliot Levens got things rolling for Ely in the fourth, reaching base on a fielder’s choice and stealing second. He advanced to third on a single by Preston Hines, then scored Ely’s first run on a passed ball. The Wolves picked up another baserunner with Drew Johnson drawing a walk. Deegan Richards stepped to the plate and ripped a scorching single to left that got away from the left fielder, scoring both Hines and Richards to bring Ely to within one, 4-3. Richards ended up at second on the play, but South Ridge got out of the inning without further damage by retiring Joey Bianco on a strike out and Logan Loe on a grounder.
Marolt walked the leadoff hitter for South Ridge in the bottom of the fourth, and the free pass cost Ely when that runner scored from third on a Wolves double play.
Trailing 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, Marolt handed the ball over to reliver Hunter Halbakken after surrendering walks to two consecutive batters with one out. Halbakken got the next batter to pop out to shallow center, and after hitting a batter to load the bases forced another grounder to end the Panthers’ scoring threat.
South Ridge rotated in their fourth pitcher of the contest for the decisive seventh inning, and Richards immediately threw that decision into question by ripping a single to center. Bianco followed with another single through the right side of the infield. Loe came up and laid down a bunt to advance the runners, and the catcher’s throw to third for the force was too late, loading the bases for the Wolves with no one out.
Things were looking promising with the heart of the order coming up for Ely, but Caid Chittum was retired on a questionable third strike call that appeared to be well out of the zone, and cleanup hitter Erron Anderson went down on strikes as well. Marolt was the Wolves’ last hope for a comeback, but hit a weak popper to the shortstop that snuffed out the rally and Ely’s shot at playing for the sectional title.
Ely tops Silver Bay
The Wolves got the performance from Logan Loe that they needed to reach the elimination final, as he turned in a complete game from the mound in Ely’s 4-2 win over Silver Bay in Ely’s first game of the day.
Loe put the Mariners on notice early, striking out the first two batters he faced and getting the third to ground out.
In the bottom of the first it was Loe who got the Ely offense rolling with a single. Pinch runner Jack Davies stole second and then came home on a Chittum single to right. Anderson reached on a walk, and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Marolt’s single to left brought Chittum in to score, while Anderson held up at third. Levens hit a hot shot to the short stop, who threw wildly to first, allowing Anderson to score for a 3-0 lead after one inning.
Loe remained sharp on the mound, holding the Mariners at bay until the top of the sixth when Silver Bay loaded the bases. Ely may have caught a break when a deep shot to right bounced over the fence for a ground rule double, scoring two but by rule halting the third on-base runner at third. With two runners in scoring position, Loe came back with a big strikeout to end the inning and preserve the 3-2 lead.
Ely padded its lead in the bottom of the inning when Bianco scored from third on a passed ball.
Silver Bay tried to mount a comeback in their final at-bat, with two runners reaching base on a bunt and an infield single, but Loe recorded two outs by fielding a short pop fly in front of the mound and tossing a strikeout, and Ely got a force out at second to win the game.
Loe held the Mariners to only two hits on the game, while Ely knocked out eight. Silver Bay committed three errors to two for Ely.