Sports

by Tom Coombe
Ely’s 14-and-under baseball team was cooled down a bit on Wednesday night, but only after a five-game winning streak.
International Falls scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh and rallied for a 15-8 victory over Ely in Iron Range Baseball action at Veterans Memorial Field.
The defeat came after several strong performances, including an 8-2 win at Greenway on Monday and a lopsided doubleheader sweep of Cook County on July 16,
Ely (7-6) rode the pitching of Brecken Sandberg at Greenway.
The righthander struck out 10 while going the distance, allowing just one hit.
A four-run explosion in the first provided all the offense Sandberg would need.
A two-run single by Caid Chittum was the key blow, and both Deegan Richards and Drew Marolt had base hits to open the inning.
Sammy Prijatel added two hits and Ty Walker drove in a run.
Some defensive lapses were costly against International Falls.

by Tom Coombe
Better defense and an improved performance at the plate led to a pair of victories for Ely’s VFW baseball team.
Post 2717 recorded splits in its last two twinbills, with Harry Simons’ bases-loaded single plating the winning run in a 7-6, second-game win over Cherry Tuesday night at Veterans Memorial Field.
In the opener, Ely fell 6-2 despite a strong pitching performance from Jacob Towley, who notched 10 strikeouts.
Five days earlier, Ely split two games with Esko, with Erron Anderson ripping three hits and Eddie Prijatel recording eight strikeouts in a 14-6 win. Esko took the nightcap 9-4.
Ely took a 3-6 record into Friday night’s matchup at Virginia and will host Proctor in a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Monday.
Early in the season, defense cost Ely in several defeats but progress was evident this week.
Post 2717 also revved up its bats in Proctor, site of the July 9 contests with Esko.

Sixes were wild Tuesday night at International Falls.
Ely scored six times in the first two innings, Ely pitchers yielded only six hits and the result was the sixth straight win this summer - without a loss - for the Senior Babe Ruth (Legion-age) baseball team.
Senior Bryce Longwell gained his second pitching win in as many starts, Cam McRoberts notched two strikeouts en route to the save and Ely did just enough at the plate to hang on for a 6-5 win against its district rival.
Ely (6-0) returned to the field after a July 4 hiatus and for the first time since Dalton Schreffler notched 11 strikeouts in a 4-3, July 1 win over Taconite.
Add a 17-6 win at Hibbing to the mix, and Ely is clicking heading into this weekend’s 10-team Sir G’s Midsummer Classic, set for Veterans Memorial Field.

Pitching is perhaps the most important aspect of any baseball team.
Early in what will be an abbreviated summer season, pitching has been the difference maker for Ely in Senior Babe Ruth Baseball.
Quality starts on the mound by Bryce Longwell, Danny Crockett and Dalton Schreffler have lifted the team representing Ely Legion Post 248 to a perfect 3-0 start.
Longwell worked six shutout innings on the mound in Tuesday’s home debut, a 9-1 win over Eveleth-Gilbert, while Crockett came within an out of a no-hitter as Ely picked up a 5-1, June 26 win at Grand Marais.
Ely also helped break in the new artificial turf field at Aurora June 25, with Schreffler effective for four innings in a 9-4 triumph.
The perfect start has been led by the work of a pitching staff that figures to be the strength of the Ely team.

by Tom Coombe
Solid pitching, impressive defense and just enough work at the plate proved to be a winning combination Wednesday night for Ely’s Junior League baseball team.
As baseball returned to Veterans Memorial Field for the first time in nearly a year, a good-sized home crowd had plenty to cheer about as Ely edged Eveleth-Gilbert 4-1 in Iron Range Baseball action.
The 14-and-under team rode the pitching of Ty Walker and Brecken Sandberg to the win.
Walker pitched four shutout innings, striking out seven and giving up one hit while Sandberg escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth with back-to-back strikeouts.
E-G nicked the reliever for a run in the sixth but that was it, as the two Ely pitchers combined on a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

by Tom Coombe
The first obstacle has been cleared on the road to a fall sports season at Vermilion Community College
On June 19, the National Junior College Athletic Association cleared the way for fall sports, including football and volleyball, to move forward in 2020.
But the national approval is just an opening step in the process.
Nicki Kosik, athletic director at VCC, said the seasons must also be approved by the Minnesota Community Athletic Conference - an alliance of more than a dozen junior colleges - as well as the state’s college and universities system.
A green light also figures to be necessary from the Minnesota Department of Health, which allowed youth activities to proceed with games in many sports, including volleyball, effective June 24.
Earlier in the month,VCC notified its students that the school year will begin on time in late-August, with classes being held in-person and students residing in on-campus housing.

by Tom Coombe
Opening day was a little bit later than usual, but slow-pitch softball has returned to Ely.
The local slow-pitch softball league, which has been in existence for several decades, resumed play Monday with six teams.
Defending champion Anderson/Nickerson Construction opened with two decisive victories but wins and losses were just a small part of the story at the three-field complex on Ely’s eastern edge.
“Everyone was just happy to be down there,” said Jerome Debeltz, a member of Ely’s city council and longtime organizer of the softball league.
After a spring full of uncertainty because of the coronavirus, the league remained on the shelf through May but organizers got together in early-June and formulated plans for a 2020 season.
They’ve taken several steps to enhance safety.

by Tom Coombe
Summer nights in Ely will have one very noticeable void this year.
Little League Baseball, which dates back to the 1950s in Ely, will go dark this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Although Ely Little League officials may yet form a travel team to play later in the summer, the traditional four-team in-house league as well as two programs for younger players will be scrapped for 2020.
“The board felt, after discussing the current youth sports guidelines, that any sort of season would be incredibly difficult to implement at the Little League level and the player ages,” said Derek Johnson, president of Ely’s Little League organization. “We also wanted to keep player safety in mind, and this was also a factor in the decision.”
In addition to four “majors” teams for those ages 9-12, the Little League in Ely also has five “coach pitch” teams and sponsors a twice-weekly T-ball program.

There may yet be some sort of summer baseball season in Ely.
While spring sports were cancelled and the American Legion baseball season was scrapped as well, all because of the coronavirus, Ely is joining numerous communities across the state in planning for a unique summer baseball campaign.
Practices are slated to begin Tuesday for three Ely area youth teams - although just when or even if they will play games remains uncertain.
Under Phase 2 of Minnesota’s “Stay Safe” initiative, youth sports teams may begin organized practice June 1, under guidelines released by the Minnesota Department of Health.
A special school board meeting in Ely is set for the same day to consider the Ely Baseball Association’s request to reopen the ballpark, which is owned by the school district.
It’s the first step toward a more traditional return to summer baseball, a longtime staple in Ely.

by Tom Coombe
Echo editor
Back to normal.
In today's new world, those three tiny words carry an oversized meaning.
Shagawa Lake and some invaluable, memorable family time made that clear to me on a sunny May afternoon.
Let's face it: since mid-March or so, nothing has been normal in Ely, in Minnesota, the United States or anywhere in the world for that matter.
For a time, Ely and much of the nation all but shut down, closing schools and businesses, ceasing travel and crippling airports and vacation hot spots.
Instead there were horrific images and mind-numbing statistics about the impact, and potential future impacts, of the coronavirus.