The postseason begins this weekend for Ely’s Legion baseball team, but there won’t be much drama - at least for a couple of weeks.
With the state Division II tournament set for Ely’s Veterans Memorial Field, Post 248 already has an automatic berth and will play a state quarterfinal game on Thursday, July 31.
That makes the Northeast Substate Playoffs, which start today in Ely, merely a warmup act for the host team.
Ely (13-5) tangles with both Cook County and Taconite Saturday, and a couple of wins this weekend will give Post 248 a spot in next week’s Northeast Substate Final Four at Cloquet.
But with nothing on the line, will Ely have any motivation?
Longtime head coach Tom Coombe hopes so.
“We’ve been in this spot before where we’ve known we are in the state no matter what, but there’s still pride and we want to keep playing and be playing well going into the state tournament,” said Coombe. “Losing a couple this weekend would be a real downer and we’d have a long wait before we play again.”
Ely played well at times and struggled at times during last weekend’s Ely Echo Midsummer Classic.
Post 248 went 2-2 in the four-day, 10-team event, beating both Warroad and Walker but falling to Roseau and Barnum-Moose Lake-Willow River.
“Overall we pitched pretty well all weekend, but our bats were inconsistent and that cost us in the games we lost,” said Coombe. “We only scored once in those two games and you can’t beat teams doing that.”
Senior righthander Talen Jarshaw was sharp in the opening game, allowing only four hits and striking out three as Ely pulled away for a 9-1, six-inning victory against Warroad.
Louie Panichi doubled, tripled and had two runs batted in during the win while Jarshaw helped his own cause, going two-fortwo and doubling in a run.
Evan Leeson singled and scored a run, while Owen Marolt added a sacrifice fly.
Roseau’s Eli Wensloff ripped a three-run homer in the top of the seventh, opening up a tight game and lifting his team to a 5-1 win on Saturday.
Missed chances were the story of the game for Ely, as the hosts left the bases loaded in both the fourth and sixth innings and stranded two more runners in the fifth.
Panichi started and went six innings for Ely, giving up two runs, neither of them earned, and striking out eight while yielding only three hits.
Hunter Halbakken had two hits including a run-scoring single, while Panichi doubled and scored for Ely.
On Sunday, Ely erased a 4-0 deficit and rallied past Walker 7-4.
Drew Johnson’s bases-clearing, two-out double broke a four-all deadlock and sent the home team on to the win. It was Johnson’s fourth hit of the game.
Earlier, Caid Chittum had a run-scoring double and a two-run double, and Panichi finished with two hits.
After a shaky first inning, Halbakken settled in and got the pitching win.
He gave up only one hit, struck out nine, and none of the four runs allowed were earned.
Chittum retired the side in the final frame to earn his second save of the summer.
In Sunday’s finale, Marolt allowed only four hits and did not give up an earned run but Ely fell 4-0 to BMW. Winning pitcher Reese Bode tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out three.
• Saturday’s playoff schedule in Ely involves three teams, with Ely taking on Cook County at 2 p.m., Cook County to meet Taconite at 4:30 p.m., and Taconite to take on Ely at 7 p.m.
The title game is at 2 p.m. Sunday.
• The final four teams in the substate will convene at Cloquet on Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26.
Defending substate champion Esko figures to be the favorite to advance to Ely for the state tournament.
