The Ely Timberwolves misfired on their opportunities while the South Ridge Panthers made the most out of theirs.
That was the difference in the Section 7A high school baseball finals, as a young but potent and athletic South Ridge team secured its sixth section crown in seven seasons, blowing out the Wolves 13-1 in five innings.
South Ridge scored 10 times and ripped nine hits in the bottom of the fourth inning, opening up the June 5 contest at Ely’s Veterans Memorial Field and putting the Wolves away.
Ely, which finished 17-8, had loaded the bases with no outs in the third, but South Ridge reliever Kingsley Archamabault wiggled out of the jam unscathed.
The Panthers (19-5) countered in the bottom half of the fourth, with Gavin Willeck tripling to the fence to start the inning and teammates Blake Olson and Ben Pretasky following with hits that chased Ely starter Jack Davies.
By the time the winning was over, South Ridge would add six more hits, including two more for extra bases, and the rout was on.
“They earned it,” Ely Head Coach Frank Ivancich said of the Panthers. “They hit the ball and knocked us around, while we struggled when we had our opportunities. Don’t take anything away from South Ridge. They are a very, very good team.”
Ben Pretasky, who went three-for-four at the plate, went the first two innings on the mound before giving way to Archamabault, who fanned four in three hitless innings on the hill.
South Ridge touched up Davies for six hits and six runs and finished with 13 hits on the day against the Wolves, who went with Evan Leeson and Sean Merriman in relief.
Ely, which was held without a hit, got on the board in the top of the first when Drew Johnson walked and came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Panthers’ Sam Pretasky, who homered two days earlier against the Wolves, had two hits and three runs batted in during the title tilt. Archambault and Will Swan finished with two hits each for the Wolves.
South Ridge earned the number-three seed in the state tournament, which opened Wednesday at St. Cloud.
Ely was making its second 7A final appearance in four seasons, and since 2011, the Wolves have captured four section titles, with four runner-up finishes and 11 overall appearances in the final four.
The Wolves will say farewell to four seniors: Caid Chittum, Ben Leeson, Brady Eaton and Jace Huntbatch.
“Any time you get to the section finals it’s a good year,” said Ivancich. “But South Ridge is a very young team, and they’ll be back, and I think our younger guys got a taste of it this year and will see we need to get better to have a chance to knock them off.”
