A momentous week in Ely culminates Saturday afternoon at historic Veterans Memorial Field.
Ely’s ballpark will be home to the state championship game of Division II American Legion Baseball, with the opening pitch slated at 2:30 p.m.
Play in the eight-team tournament started Thursday, and the players, coaches and visitors began to fill up the town the day before.
About 300 people attended a banquet Wednesday night at the Miners Dry, with Iron Range native and retired University of Minnesota baseball coach John Anderson serving as the main speaker.
The first pitch came at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, with unbeaten Montevideo and northeast substate champion Esko opening play in the first of four quarterfinal games.
Host Ely tangled with Sibley East to close out the day, and in between Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Luverne, New London-Spicer and La Crescent all took the field.
Thursday’s games were completed after deadline and five more games were on tap for Friday, heading into Saturday’s schedule, which includes the consolation, third place and title tilts.
This marks the 50th anniversary of the first state Legion tournament to be held in Ely, and organizers will give a nod to the community’s rich baseball history.
That includes recognition and introduction today of many members of Ely’s 1975 state tournament team.
Also to be recognized are Bill Mobilia, Paul Starkovich and the late Larry Grahek, Ely natives who all went on to play professional baseball.
Ely is hosting its 11th Legion state tournament in the last half century, and the event caps off a massive undertaking by the local committee.
For starters, the local committee needs to raise about $50,000 to put the event on.
They’re responsible not only for the usual costs associated with a tournament, but the expense of the banquet as well as lodging for all visiting teams and coaches - as well as state officials.
The group is counting on sponsorships, gate receipts and concession sales, to recover their costs, while the spinoff of several hundred people arriving in town and staying multiple nights figures to be enormous.
The event included an opening ceremony Thursday night where all eight teams and a packed house at the ballpark.
While a half-century of state tournament action in Ely will be completed this weekend, the tournament figures to be only another chapter in the community’s rich baseball history.
About $250,000 in improvements are set for the ballpark, thanks to legislative action last year, and amenities including a first-base viewing deck, batting cages, spruced up bathrooms and playing surface upgrades are in the works.
