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Ely’s high school baseball team scored its biggest win of the season and had its most disappointing stretch - all in the course of five days.
The Timberwolves took down state-ranked South Ridge 5-3 in a May 9 home matchup and moved to as high as second place in the Section 7A standings.
But by midweek, the Wolves had slipped back into the number-three spot after three straight defeats including a 2-1 decision to Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin on Tuesday.
The visiting Titans won for just the third time this year and handed Ely pitching ace Hunter Halbakken his first loss in seven decisions.
Halbakken allowed only four hits and struck out six, but the Titans bunched some runners together in the fourth inning and took a 2-0 lead.
Ely (10-4) trimmed the gap to one in the bottom of the fourth on Ben Leeson’s two-out double, and the Wolves mounted a threat but came up empty in the bottom of the sixth.
Winning pitcher Austin Anderson, who fired a six-hitter, worked out of sixth-inning trouble and set down the Wolves in the seventh to escape with a win.
Caid Chittum and Evan Leeson had two hits each for the Wolves, and Drew Johnson scored Ely’s only run.
• The Wolves managed only five hits all day Saturday at the Blackduck Tournament, going 0-2. Host Blackduck blanked the Wolves 4-0 in the opening game.
Chittum doubled in the top of the first, but that was his team’s only hit in the entire contest.
Losing pitcher Owen Marolt kept the Wolves close, yielding five hits, striking out three and allowing just two earned runs.
Ely fell 8-2 later in the day to Red Lake County.
Marolt had a run-scoring double and Evan Leeson knocked in a run with a single, but that was about it for Ely’s offensive production.
Chittum doubled in the first and Marolt singled later in the game.
Red Lake County had its way with two Ely pitchers.
Ben Leeson gave up four runs and issued three walks in two-and-two-thirds innings of work. Chittum went the rest of the way, giving up five hits, allowing four runs and striking out six batters.
• The losses in Blackduck and to Greenway took some of the luster off of a huge performance against South Ridge.
Chittum’s two-run single broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth and helped lift Ely to the victory.
The Panthers, last year’s section runner-up and an 11-1 winner over top-rated Cherry one night earlier, had some tough luck and hit into four double plays in the game.
That helped Halbakken improve to 6-0 for the spring.
The righthander scattered five hits, worked around four walks and notched three strikeouts on the way to the victory.
Earlier, Evan Leeson had a two-run single for the winners while Johnson doubled and scored twice.
Chittum finished with three RBI.
• The Wolves are in the midst of their annual Veterans Memorial Showcase, with a Friday night game against Cherry followed by today’s matchup against West Marshall of northwestern Minnesota. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
• The Wolves are on track to host two playoff games on Tuesday, May 27, and Ely will tangle with International Falls Thursday (4 p.m.) in its final regular season home game.
• Ely has been named the host site for the Section 7A Final Four and championship, set for June 3 and 5 at Veterans Memorial Field.
