This time, Noah Asuma closed the deal and closed out the Ely Timberwolves.
Just five days earlier, Asuma took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, only to see Ely come back with four runs to pull out a 4-2 win in a Section 7A high school baseball matchup at Veterans Memorial Field.
The season was on the line in Tuesday’s elimination- round rematch at Hibbing, and this time Asuma was dominant for all seven innings, tossing a four-hit shutout in the Tigers’ 2-0 victory.
Ely, which also fell 11-1 to South Ridge earlier Tuesday, was knocked out of the 7A playoffs and settled for a third-place finish and a 15-10 overall record for the spring.
The Tigers moved into Thursday night’s 7A final with South Ridge.
Asuma, who is bound for the University of Minnesota and is a Minnesota Mr. Baseball Award finalist, settled the score with the Timberwolves this week and so did the Tigers, who dropped a close regular season contest with Ely in May and lost the first playoff heartbreaker on May 28.
It was the Wolves, also, who knocked Cherry out of the playoffs in last year’s section semifinal.
The tide finally turned Tuesday and Asuma was a big reason why.
His sacrifice fly plated the first Cherry run in the top of the first, an inning that started with Max Bautch’s leadoff single. Bautch went all the way to third on a steal attempt when Hunter Halbakken’s pitch sailed to the backstop, and that set the stage for Asuma’s sacrifice fly.
Asuma also delivered a key insurance run in the fifth with a double that hit the centerfield fence.
The Wolves struggled, meanwhile, to string anything together against the Cherry righthander.
Grant Chittum had a leadoff single in the second and was stranded in scoring position, while Ely’s best chance came in the bottom of the fourth.
Back-to-back singles by Owen Marolt and Sean Merriman put two runners on, but Asuma recorded three straight outs to put out the fire.
Ely would only get one runner into scoring position the rest of the game, and Asuma closed the contest with back-to-back strikeouts, finishing with nine.
The Wolves’ Halbakken was equally brilliant in defeat, suffering his first loss in nine decisions while going the distance, allowing five hits, striking out seven and issuing no walks.
• In Tuesday’s first game, South Ridge broke open a tight game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four times on the way to a a six-inning win.
The Panthers finished things with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, all against reliever Parker Niskala, the fourth Ely pitcher.
South Ridge, which got four hits from winning pitcher Gavin Willeck, chased Marolt in the fourth inning, with Kooper Dostert and later Jack Davies coming on in relief.
Willeck went all six innings, allowing five hits with four strikeouts, and teammate Ben Pretasky wen three-for-five with three runs batted in.
Marolt led off the fourth inning with a double and scored the Wolves’ only run on a wild pitch.
• In 7A winners’ bracket action May 28, Ely plated four runs in the sixth inning to stun Asuma and the Cherry Tigers 4-2.
Asuma didn’t give up a hit until the sixth, when freshman Gunner Skager broke things up..
A Marolt single cut the lead in half and Merriman’s single up the middle scored Evan Leeson with the tying run.
Chittum stepped up to the plate with two outs and his ground ball was fielded but thrown past the first baseman, allowing both the winning run and an insurance run to score.
That was enough for Marolt, who struck out the side in the seventh and finished with not only a complete- game win, but a season- best 11 strikeouts.
