Sports

If one word was needed to describe the 2004 Ely VFW baseball season, the selection would be rather obvious: improvement.<BR><BR>After a four-win campaign and a two-and-out performance in postseason play last summer, Ely turned things around this year by finishing over the .500 mark, earning second-place in the Border Area playoffs and going 2-2 in the 10-team Eighth District playoffs.<BR><BR>Grand Rapids ended Post 2717’s season with a 3-1 district victory at Nashwauk July 30, but not before Ely picked up wins over Babbitt-Embarrass-Soudan-Tower and Duluth Central.<BR><BR>Ely, which also lost to Grand Rapids in the opening round, finished 19-17 overall and was a break or two away from reaching the final four of the district.<BR><BR>“We had a good season,” said Ely Head Coach Jim Wittrup. “Everyone on our team got better and improved from last year.

Josh Mathson rewrote Ely’s American Legion baseball record book with his hitting prowess and is the all-time leading home run hitter in Minnesota high school baseball history.<BR><BR>So it really shouldn’t come as any surprise that Mathson picked up another first last week.<BR><BR>He became the first two-time winner of the Mark Hernesmaa/David Chelesnik Jr. Memorial Award.<BR><BR>Mathson received the 2004 award, which annually goes to the Ely Legion baseball team’s most valuable player, prior to Post 248’s district tournament victory over Chisholm.<BR><BR>In five seasons of Legion ball, Mathson smashed his way into program history with a program-best 31 home runs and a lifetime batting average of .485.

The weight has been lifted. The pressure is off.<BR><BR>One could almost hear the collective sigh of relief at Veterans Memorial Field after Ely wrapped up the Eighth District Division II American Legion Baseball championship with a 10-5, Aug.

Practice sessions for Ely High School fall sports teams are set to begin Aug. 16.<BR><BR>All students must have physical examination forms on file before they will be allowed to practice.<BR><BR>The following teams will begin practice on the 16th:<BR><BR>• Football - All boys in grades 8-12 are to report to the high school locker room at 8 a.m.. Bring cleats and shorts to this first session. Boys in grades 10-12 will practice at both 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. through the first week. Boys in grades 8-9 will practice from 8 a.m. to 10:30.<BR><BR>• Girls Swimming and Diving - Sign-up will be held Friday Aug. 13 at 4 p.m., at the high school pool, for girls in grades 7-12. Practice begins Aug. 16.

Ely’s VFW baseball team couldn’t hold on to a 5-3 lead and fell 7-5 to North Shore in the July 25 title game of the Border Area playoffs.<BR><BR>But one could easily forgive Ely’s players if they found the championship contest to be a bit anticlimactic.<BR><BR>The night before, Post 2717 needed an improbable, seemingly impossible comeback just to reach the title tilt.<BR><BR>Trailing 13-1 in the seventh inning, Ely scored 12 times against Babbitt-Embarrass-Soudan-Tower to force extra innings, and went on to win 15-14.<BR><BR>Ely, listless for six innings, sprung to life in the seventh against BEST and recorded what’s believed to be the biggest comeback in Ely VFW history.<BR><BR>In the seventh, Ely sent 18 batters to the plate, with Paul Starkovich getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the tying run.<BR><BR>Consecutive hits by Matt High, Eric Urbas, Nick Furnstahl and Tyler Willis started the

Playing in the state tournament has become a welcome habit for Ely’s American Legion baseball players.<BR><BR>Five times in the last seven years, including twice in its home ballpark, Ely has been among final eight Division II Legion squads in Minnesota.<BR><BR>They hope to make it six-for-eight this weekend, when the 2004 event is held in Northfield and Dundas.<BR><BR>After a 23-1 regular season, Ely had the top seed and the role of favorite in the Eighth District playoffs, held over the weekend at Veterans Memorial Field.<BR><BR>And if all goes as expected, Ely will head for Northfield later this week and get set for a state quarterfinal game against the winner of the Second District, set for 4 p.m.

Josh Mathson made a name for himself by hitting home runs, becoming the all-time longball leader in Minnesota high school baseball history.<BR><BR>So it was fitting Monday that Mathson moved into first-place on Ely’s American Legion baseball career hit list with a round-tripper.<BR><BR>Mathson’s 410-foot homer at Cloquet Monday was his 30th in an Ely uniform, easily the most in program history, but it was also his 145th career Legion hit.<BR><BR>That gave Mathson more hits than any other player in Ely Legion history, and he passed previous hit king Steve Dunstan, a 1998 graduate who collected 144 hits during his tenure with the Legion squad.<BR><BR>Mathson, a 2004 graduate of John F.

With 23 wins in 24 games, it’s been nothing short of a dream season for Ely’s American Legion baseball team.<BR><BR>But four Eighth District rivals are itching to turn that dream into a nightmare.<BR><BR>This weekend, they’ll get their chance when Ely hosts the Eighth District Division II Tournament at Veterans Memorial Field.<BR><BR>Ely has the top seed and is heavily favored to defend its district championship and return to the state tournament for the sixth time in eight years.<BR><BR>And with the best record in northeastern Minnesota, a daunting lineup headed by home run king Josh Mathson, steady defense and an imposing pitching staff, the stars all seem to be aligned in Ely’s favor.<BR><BR>Post 248, which opens tournament play at 7:30 p.m. Friday, is nevertheless taking a cautious approach into the postseason.<BR><BR>“There are no guarantees,” said Ely Head Coach Tom Coombe.

Ely’s nine and 10 year old Little League All-Stars proved themselves again on the mound and at the plate in back-to-back games on day three of the District tourney in Hibbing. Christian Kittleson bagged two in-the-park home runs in the first game and batted .675 for the day. Billy Foy, Cody Bialik and Michael Freeman batted .500 in the two games. <BR><BR>Ely defeated East Itasca in the first match-up, 10-8. Ely pitcher Greg Helget struck out four and allowed only three hits through four and two-thirds innings. Then, with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Ely reliever Wes Snyder came in with a key strikeout to close the inning. <BR><BR>The sixth inning was a real nail-biter. With Ely ahead 10-8, East Itasca had the tying runs on second and third with two out. In a perfectly executed 6-3 put out, short-stop Kittleson put an exclamation point on East Itasca’s elimination from the tourney.

All but two teams will advance to the district playoffs, but that doesn’t mean that this weekend’s Border Area VFW playoffs are without significance.<BR><BR>The five-team, double-elimination playdown starts Friday at Ely’s Veterans Memorial Field.