Ely’s American Legion baseball team will head into the postseason with high hopes and a lofty state ranking, and on the heels of a memorable regular season.
Post 248 tasted defeat for the first time during last weekend’s Ely Echo Midsummer Classic, falling 2-1 to Thunder Bay and 3-0 to Fergus Falls, but the good pitching continued and the bats warmed up in an 11-1 win over Aitkin and a 4-0 shutout of Roseau.
The weekend split gave Ely a 16-2 regular season record, the program’s best regular season slate in 22 years, and a top seed for the postseason.
Because of the ongoing construction project at Veterans Memorial Field, Ely goes on the road for the playoffs and opens up Northeast Substate North Pod play on Sunday, taking on both Proctor (5-8) and International Falls (5-7) at Cherry.
A berth in next weekend’s Northeast Substate Final Four is on the line and while Ely has defeated both foes during the regular season, longtime head coach Tom Coombe knows anything is possible in the playoffs.
“We can’t look ahead - we have to take it one weekend at a time,” said Coombe, who has guided the program since 1994. “We’ll need to play well and do what we do best in order to move on. I like that we have an experienced, confident group that has been through this before, and we have strong pitching so that will give us a chance.”
Despite giving up only six runs during the Midsummer Classic, Post 248 only managed a split against high-caliber competition.
Thunder Bay’s Matt Foulds outdueled Ely’s Hunter Halbakken in a tight July 9 game before a good-sized Veterans Night crowd at the ballpark.
Drew Johnson’s double put Ely on the board in the fifth inning and trimmed the Thunder Bay lead to one.
And in the bottom of the seventh, Ely put two runners aboard before Foulds worked out of the jam.
Th e Thu nd e r Bay righthander finished with a six-hitter and four strikeouts, while Halbakken was brilliant in defeat, giving up two unearned runs while tossing a five-hitter.
“It was a very well pitched game on both sides,” said Coombe. “Hunter deserved a better fate but we didn’t take advantage of some chances we had at the plate.”
It was a similar story the following evening, as Fergus Falls ace Brody Krein, a high school all-state selection, tossed a three-hitter and struck out six.
Fergus Falls scratched out a run against Ely starter Owen Marolt in the first inning, and Hunter Powers’ two-run homer in the fifth inning provided for the only offense.
Marolt tossed a complete game in defeat, scattering eight hits.
Evan Leeson, Sean Merriman and Tyde Brecke had Ely’s only hits.
The strong pitching continued Saturday and Ely’s bats came alive against substate rival Aitkin.
A six-run first inning settled things early, with Marolt’s run-scoring double putting Ely on the board and Stig Majerus adding a pivotal blow - a three-run home run that easily cleared the left field fence.
That was plenty of support for Caid Chittum as he struck out six batters in four innings to get the win.
Merriman was two-fortwo with two runs scored and a two-run double, while Majerus finished with four RBI and Johnson singled and scored twice.
The bottom of the fourth was Ely’s big inning on Sunday as Merriman and Halbakken both delivered clutch, back-to-back, two-run singles in the bottom of the fourth.
That was all the cushion that Cedar Holman needed.
The junior-to-be picked up his first Legion pitching win and it was a gem.
Holman went the distance, allowed five hits and walked just one batter while keeping a potent Roseau team off the board.
• St. Louis Park won the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record and downed Viroqua, WI 9-1 on Sunday to clinch the title.
LeSueur-Henderson and Fergus Falls went 3-1, followed by Ely, Viroqua, Cloquet and Thunder Bay all at 2-2.
