Sports

by Tom Coombe
Turnabout was fair play on Wednesday for Vermilion Range.
After losing to Ely in the season-opener three weeks earlier, the Tower-Soudan/Cook area squad got a bit of revenge at Veterans Memorial Field, defeating Ely 10-8 in Iron Range Baseball league action.
Ely’s 14-and-under team, which is in the midst of a busy regular season stretch, fell to 2-2 for the summer.
An early lead went by the wayside for Ely, as Vermilion Range capitalized on several errors to take a 5-2 lead in the top of the third inning.
Ely closed the gap to one, but the visitors countered and built a 10-4 edge through five-and-a-half frames.
In the bottom of the sixth and seventh, Ely scored twice in back-to-back frames but couldn’t come all the way back.
Drew Johnson scored four of Ely’s eight runs, and Jayden Zemke singled, walked and doubled during the contest.
Owen Marolt had a sixth-inning double.

by Tom Coombe
Familiar faces were first to cross the finish line in Ely’s annual Independence Day race around the Trezona Trail.
Just as he was a year ago, Michael Schwinghamer was the overall winner while Cailee Peterson repeated as female champion at the Janet Gensler Memorial Four on the Fourth.
Schwinghamer, 23, completed the Monday morning race in 21:32, while the 21-year-old Peterson, who was 12th overall, had a time of 25:36.
The event doubles as a fundraiser for Ely’s high school track teams and attracted 170 participants, slightly more than a year ago.
Taking second place overall was Dominic Solhol, 16, in 21:52.
Rounding out the top-10 male finishers were:
• Emmett Faltesek, 19, 21:55;
• James Schwinghamer, 21, 22:02;
• John Schwinghamer, 23, 22:49;
• Blake Gallardo, 22:52;
• Jasper Johnston, 19, 23:39;
• Peter Daniels, 24:53;
• Hudson Kingston, 38, 24:59;
• Sam Gausman, 25:17.

In the span of two decades, a July American Legion baseball tournament in Ely has gone from an effort to fill the local team’s schedule to one of the premiere regular season events in Minnesota.
Loaded with nine teams, including several of state tournament caliber, the 21st Sir G’s Midsummer Classic starts Friday, runs through Sunday, July 10 and promises a full weekend of top-flight baseball at Veterans Memorial Field.
Two of the teams, defending champion Roseau as well as Wadena, advanced to state tournament play both last summer in Legion ball and again during this spring’s high school season, with Roseau going all the way to the Class AA title game at Target Field.
Back in the field this year is Viroqua (Wisc.), a perennial powerhouse in Badger State baseball and led by coach Pete Swanson, who has amassed more than 1,000 career wins and both state and regional championships.

What is Pickleball? Pickleball is a paddle sport that was established 50 years ago. It’s the fastest-growing sport in the USA. It is ping pong meets tennis on a badminton court.
Ely has had the popular sport since 2011. It has grown from a dozen players to 80 players that signed up for Ely Community Education’s Summer Pickleball program.
Ely Pickleball players have formed the Ely Pickleball Club. The club organizes events and holds fundraisers, they also take care of the courts. The club also provides instructors for the introduction to pickleball classes, which are run several times a year.
Pickleball is very popular in Minnesota and is growing very quickly. There is a statewide trend in building tennis courts into Pickleball courts.
Pickleball courts are being developed in small towns, suburbs, and large cities across the U.S. From Redondo Beach, Calif., to Lincoln, Nebraska.

by Lori Casey
Thirty-three golf camp participants grades three to eight were definitely not swatting at golf balls last week at Ely Golf Club. Sand flies were swarming so the rhythm of play seemed to be swing the club, swat the bugs, and listen for that putt to sink! Throughout the week the pests seemed to decline and the winds helped create a comfortable atmosphere.
Several returning students from Ely, Duluth and Virginia welcomed newcomers from Iowa and Texas.
As in past years volunteer members of Ely Golf Club taught the game of golf to young girls and boys. The goal was to have fun, learn the game of golf or fine tune the “good” skills previously learned.
Tuesday through Friday coaches spent 90% of the time on the course. They taught a skill, tested for accuracy and practiced that swing in a game situation.

After finishing as section runners-up, the Ely Timberwolves have placed four representatives on the All-Section 7A baseball team.
Seniors Chase Sandberg and Mason Davis, junior Joey Bianco and freshman Caid Chittum all made the all-section squad as determined by area coaches.
All played key roles on an Ely team that went 19-8 and reached the 7A finals, falling to defending champion South Ridge 3-2 in the title tilt.
Sandberg started every game as catcher for the Wolves and helped anchor the defense, throwing out 15 base stealers during the course of the spring.
At the plate, Sandberg had a .375 on-base percentage and hit .277 with 23 hits and 17 runs batted in.
Davis emerged as one of the section’s top pitchers, going 5-1 on the mound with a 0.62 earned run average, notching 36 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched. He also was a starting outfielder and hit .338 with 26 runs scored.

The Northeast Range/Ely trapshooting team competed at the State Trapshooting Meet in Alexandria on June 14.
Overall out of 56 teams, NER/E placed eighth. There were approximately 875 shooters with 20 local athletes among them. Each participant shoots four rounds with 25 shots totaling 100 shots.
Caden Roseth and Kale Beno each got a perfect 25 during one of their rounds.
Julie Huseby coaches the local team, which involves a mix of Northeast Range (13) and Ely (seven) students.
This season was a challenge dealing with the weather and temperatures. A late spring with cold, snow and rain led to the state meet with temperatures near 90 degrees and a strong wind.
The following people have worked to make the program successful: Julie and Mark Huseby, Chad and Terri Loewen, Travis Loewen, Ed Zupancich, Mark Fridges, Ed Putzel and Rob Simonich.

Two Ely High School softball players have earned All-Arrowhead Conference recognition.
Senior Charly Flom and junior Kate Coughlin were two key contributors on an Ely team that won 11 games and reached the double-elimination portion of the Section 7A palyoffs, and both landed spots on an all-conference team picked by league coaches.
The duo helped spark an at-times dynamic Ely offense and anchored the top of a potent Wolves order.
Flom, Ely’s shortstop, was a multiyear starter and led the Wolves with 28 runs scored. She belted 23 hits for a .365 average and compiled a .459 on base percentage with two doubles, 10 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases.
Coughlin was the Wolves leading hitter and their most consistent power bat. She hit a team-best .500 with 29 hits overall and 31 RBI. That included seven doubles, a triple and a home run.
Coughlin led her team with a .531 on base percentage, scored 18 times and had 12 steals. She was Ely’s left fielder.

UPDATE: Ande Visser placed 10th in discus at the State Class A Girls Track Meet with a personal best throw of 108-8.

A former Ely Timberwolves standout had a busy 2021-22 school year, competing on not one but two teams at the collegiate level.
Erika Mattson, a 2020 graduate of Ely High School, was on both the softball and women’s basketball teams at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
A reserve infielder on a UWS team that won 33 games, Mattson saw limited duty for the NCAA Divsision III Yellowjackets.
Mattson scored seven runs, and was two-for-five at the plate with a .400 batting average and one run batted in.
UWS finished one game shy of qualifying for the NCAA Division III women’s softball tournament, and Mattson will be part of a strong returning nucleus for the Yellowjackets in 2023.
During the winter, Mattson was also part of the UWS women’s basketball team.
She came off the bench for the Yellowjackets (6-19) and averaged 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds per game.