Legion heads south on roll

Marolt throws no-hitter, Ely takes second in 37th DQ Classic

Ely’s Legion baseball team will take some momentum on its annual trip south this weekend.

Owen Marolt fired a no-hitter in Sunday’s 8-0, five-inning win over Cook County, a victory that gave the hosts a second place finish in the 37th annual DQ Grill and Chill Classic.

The win capped a weekend in which Ely won three of four games in the home tournament, and Post 248 is off to a 7-1 start this summer.

The only blemish thus far was a 6-3 defeat on Saturday to DQ Classic champion Duluth Lakeview, which had most of the starting lineup from Class AAAA high school Duluth East.

“I think we really have to be happy with how we’ve started out,” said head coach Tom Coombe. “We moved right from the high school season into the Legion season and all but four of these guys are playing Junior Legion as well. They’ve played a lot of baseball and held up in the heat this past weekend.”

For those who also play Junior Legion, Sunday’s finale was their ninth game in six days.

Marolt, a junior-to-be at Ely High School, erased any doubt about the matchup early on.

His first seven pitches were strikes and the righthander set down the first 11 batters he faced, issuing a two-out walk in the top of the fourth.

By then, Ely had a comfortable lead, thanks in part to the bat of senior allstate shortstop Caid Chittum, who went four-for-four.

Chittum also knocked in two runs, including a single that plated Stig Majerus with the run that finished the game in the fifth by way of the tournament’s eight-run mercy rule.

Catcher Ben Leeson added two hits for the winners, Louie Panichi doubled in a run and Sean Merriman had two hits including a two-run single.

The most dramatic matchup of the tournament came on Saturday night, and ended with a 13-5, six-inning triumph against tournament mainstay Kenyon.

The win didn’t come easily as Ely jumped out to a 5-0 lead only to see Kenyon rally and tie it at five.

Post 248 broke the deadlock on Evan Leeson’s two-out run-scoring hit in the fifth, and the floodgates opened with a seven-run sixth.

Chittum’s double to the gap plated Ben Leeson and put Ely on top 7-5, while Hunter Halbakken came through with a two-run single and Merriman had a run-scoring hit during the barrage.

Drew Johnson ended matters with a double to the gap that scored John Warren with the walkoff run.

Ben Leeson earned his first career Legion pitching wins, tossing an inning- and-two-thirds of scoreless relief. He was aided by an interference call in the top of the sixth that resulted in a double play and took the tying run off the board.

Starter Talen Jarshaw went four innings plus for Ely, notching seven strikeouts and giving up only two hits.

At the plate, Johnson had two hits and reached based four of five times, while Evan Leeson had two hits and three RBI and Merriman finished with two hits and two RBI.

Duluth Lakeview scored four runs in the fourth on its way to the win over Ely on Saturday.

Run-scoring hits by Chittum and Marolt gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the third, but the advantage was short-lived.

After Lakeview went up 5-2, Johnson’s two-out double closed the gap to two but Ely would only get one more hit the rest of the way.

Johnson finished with two of Ely’s four hits while Panichi worked four innings on the mound and was tagged with the loss. Arturo Cameron, a freshman, worked three innings in relief and gave up one run.

Ely opened the tournament with a 10-0, five-inning rout against McGregor.

Halbakken earned his second win of the season, allowing one hit and striking out six.

Ely capitalized on numerous walks, scoring 10 times on just four hits.

Chittum had a two-run single and Marolt added a two-run double.

Merriman had two hits and both Johnson and Ben Leeson scored twice.

• Ely tangled with Minneapolis Northside Thursday night as part of its southern swing, and a Friday night doubleheader in Cannon Falls - against Randolph and Cannon Falls - followed. The trip finishes Saturday at the iconic ballpark in Miesville.

Post 248 will meet Esko at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday as part of a Junior Legion/ Legion twinbill.