Opposing teams have found it quite difficult to score against Ely’s American Legion baseball team.
That continued last weekend at Proctor, where Post 248 yielded only three runs in three games - winning them all to take the Division II Northeast Substate title.
Owen Marolt twirled a complete-game three-hitter on Saturday, blanking Proctor 6-0 in the championship game.
Caid Chittum’s bases- clearing triple provided the dagger in the bottom of the sixth, and Ely improved to 21-2 and earned a spot in this weekend’s state tournament in Glenwood.
Ely, which finished sixth in the state as the host team in 2025, was set to meet Parkers Prairie in a Friday afternoon quarterfinal tilt.
Post 248’s second state tournament berth in a row, and the 14th since 1997, was earned with pitching and defense.
In its last 13 games, Ely allowed only 14 runs, including five runs allowed in five playoff victories.
Last weekend, Proctor scored three times in the fourth inning of a July 24 winners bracket matchup that ended in a 7-3 victory.
Marolt’s shutout came the following day, while Hunter Halbakken and Cedar Holman combined to blank Hinckley in a 10-0, five-inning opening round win in the Substate Final Four.
For the year, Ely has allowed only 51 runs and its pitching staff has compiled a 1.87 earned run average.
“You win with pitching and defense and this team has proven that,” said head coach Tom Coombe, who picked up his 650th win in the title game against Proctor. “We don’t have a high-powered flashy offense but our pitchers throw strikes and our guys make plays behind them. That’s almost always a winning combination.”
In the finals, Marolt stranded two runners in the first and retired 16 straight batters at one point.
He took a one-hitter into the seventh, and despite a couple of hits in the final frame Proctor was unable to score.
Marolt, who recorded his fourth win of the summer, also finished with six strikeouts.
Tyde Brecke’s double led to a run in the first inning while Chittum singled and scored in the first and added the three-run triple in the sixth.
Stig Majerus, Ben Leeson and Drew Johnson all singled and scored runs for Ely. Evan Leeson singled and had a sacrifice fly.
• In Friday’s winners bracket showdown, Chittum tossed a five-hitter with eight strikeouts and was backed by a lockdown defense in a 7-3 victory against Proctor.
The hosts got to Chittum in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead, but that set the stage for an impressive Ely rally in the fifth.
Ben Leeson started with a double down the right field line and Johnson’s bunt single put runners at the corners.
Brecke drove in the tying run with a groundout and Marolt’s single put two runners aboard.
Chittum added a hit to give Ely the lead and Evan Leeson’s two-run single added insurance.
In the sixth, Majerus singled to start another rally and Brecke’s squeeze bunt brought in pinch runner Gunnar Skager.
Chittum set down Proctor quietly, and in order in the top of the seventh.
Ely finished with 10 hits against losing pitcher Tyler Berglund.
“Berglund was tough and we had beat him 1-0 the week before, but we got to him as this game progressed,” said Coombe. “I thought we kept our composure and played with a lot of poise, even after falling behind. And Caid got stronger at the end.”
• In the opening round, Halbakken threw a mere 40 pitches in four innings and dominated on the way to his sixth win of the summer. He allowed three hits.
Ely erupted right away, scoring five times in the first inning with Sean Merriman’s two-run single the key hit.
Merriman finished with two hits for Ely, while Brecke, Chittum and Evan Leeson all had one hit with a run batted in.
Johnson scored three runs.
