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South Ridge proved to be the Ely Timberwolves’ ultimate nemesis.
Twice in three days, the Panthers downed Ely in Section 7A high school softball playoff action, and a 10-5 decision on May 22 ended the Wolves’ season.
Ely, which finished 176, stayed alive in the 7A tournament earlier the same day with a 10-5 victory over Littlefork-Big Falls, but the host Panthers proved to be too much in the nightcap.
South Ridge, which was responsible for three of Ely’s six defeats this spring, broke open a 1-0 game with seven runs in the top of the sixth inning.
That put things away, and ended what was a tight pitching duel between Ely’s Zoe MacKenzie and the Panthers’ Maya Vanderscheuren.
South Ridge scratched out a run in the top of the second and that’s how it stayed until the sixth, when the Panthers opened the frame with seven consecutive hits.
Ely responded with a couple runs in the bottom of the sixth and three more in the seventh, but South Ridge still had plenty of cushion and went on to reach this week’s Section 7A Final Four.
The Panthers also exacted some revenge on the Wolves, who beat South Ridge twice in the 2024 playoffs on the way to a fourth-place section finish.
Eighth-grader Lindi Zemke had two hits and knocked in two runs for the Wolves, while Ella Perich singled and scored a run and Clare Thomas scored twice. Rylee Larsen also scored two runs and Makenzi Huntington added two hits for the Wolves.
MacKenzie went all seven innings and gave up 15 hits.
• In the opening game, Ely scored three runs in the first inning and plated five more in the second on the way to a 10-5 win against Littlefork-Big Falls.
Perish swung the hot bat for the Wolves, connecting on a three-run homer in the bottom of the first and finishing three-for-three at the plate with two runs scored and four runs batted in.
Shortstop Amelia Penke scored twice as did leadoff hitter Peyton Huntington, and Penke, Julia Zgonc, Perish and Peyton Huntingon all hit doubles. Zgonc finished with two RBI.
MacKenzie worked the first four frames to get the pitching win, allowing three hits and fanning four.
Freshman Naomi Archer finished up, giving up three runs on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts.
