Sports

by Tom Coombe
Down to their last three outs, the Ely Timberwolves rose to the occasion on Tuesday.
A triple by Charly Flom started the rally while Rachel Coughlin’s key blow finished it off.
Coughlin’s bases-clearing double in the bottom of the seventh gave the host Wolves a 5-4 victory over Cromwell in a Section 7A high school softball playoff encounter.
The seventh-seeded Wolves, who improved to 11-5, needed three runs in the final frame to down the 10th-seeded Cardinals and move into the double-elimination phase of the tournament, which started Thursday at Grand Rapids.
It looked like Cromwell (5-10) might eke out a victory, especially after the Wolves stranded two runners in the fifth.
But Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi held out hope, particularly given a seventh-inning that started with Flom, his lead-off hitter, at the plate.

by Tom Coombe
Home-field advantage will likely go to the Ely Timberwolves when the Section 7A high school softball playoffs begin this week.
In a season ransacked by a slow-arriving spring and a slew of weather-related postponements, it appears that the Wolves have won just enough to stay among the top-eight teams in the section and secure a home playoff game on Tuesday, at 4:30 p.m. at the high school softball field.
Final seeding will be determined over the weekend, and games with Silver Bay and Floodwood will likely determine the Wolves’ spot, but it looks as if Ely could be placed anywhere from sixth through eighth in the standings.
After Tuesday’s opening round, play moves on to neutral sites at Grand Rapids and Cloquet as the tournament moves into a double-elimination phase.
Ely split two high-scoring affairs on Monday, moving to 8-4 on the season.

by Tom Coombe
Mason Davis had himself quite a week.
In a span of just over 48 hours, Davis not only had his first home run of his high school baseball career, but turned in a dominant performance on the mound.
The senior threw a no-hitter Monday, fanning 11 batters in a 11-1 five-inning home victory over Littlefork-Big Falls.
Davis, who hit one out of the park two days earlier at Blackduck, has helped fuel a recent hot streak for the Wolves.
They’ve won seven straight games to improve to 8-3 overall and are putting themselves in prime position for a high seed when the Section 7A playoffs begin May 31.
Before then, the Wolves will be busy, with three games this weekend as part of the annual Veterans Memorial Showcase, and five more in as many days in a stretch that starts Monday in Virginia.
Ely figures to be battle-tested, and experienced by the time the playoffs begin at the end of the month.

by Tom Coombe
Mason Davis had himself quite a week.
In a span of just over 48 hours, Davis not only had his first home run of his high school baseball career, but turned in a dominant performance on the mound.
The senior threw a no-hitter Monday, fanning 11 batters in a 11-1 five-inning home victory over Littlefork-Big Falls.
Davis, who hit one out of the park two days earlier at Blackduck, has helped fuel a recent hot streak for the Wolves.
They’ve won seven straight games to improve to 8-3 overall and are putting themselves in prime position for a high seed when the Section 7A playoffs begin May 31.
Before then, the Wolves will be busy, with three games this weekend as part of the annual Veterans Memorial Showcase, and five more in as many days in a stretch that starts Monday in Virginia.
Ely figures to be battle-tested, and experienced by the time the playoffs begin at the end of the month.

by Tom Coombe
Ely’s high school girls track team piled up points in numerous events, but field events remained their strength Tuesday at Aurora.
The Timberwolves were second among four teams at a meet hosted by Mesabi East, but the Wolves had two of the top-three places in two field events and top-three outings in three others.
Senior Ande Visser won the discus with a personal record throw and was second in the shot put, while her younger sister Sarah was second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
Ely’s Kellen Thomas, Natasha Fulkrod and Audrey Thomas also had top-three finishes in field events.
The Ely lineup had strong contributions all around for the day, with ninth-graders Raymus Cavalier and Anna Dunn giving the Wolves a one-two showing in the 3,200 meter run.
In the hurdles, senior Lauren Olson (300) and junior Morgan McClelland (100) had runner-up showings and Ely had four second-place relays.

The Vermilion Ironwomen’s season came to an end over the weekend, but one of its top players was lauded by the Minnesota Community Athletic Conference.
Centerfielder Riley Roden was named MCAC North Division Player of the Week for her efforts.
The freshman from Monticello, who was one of the state’s top hitters all sesason long, went a sizzling 12-for-22 for the week with a .545 batting average.
Roden’s tear included two home runs, four doubles, 10 runs scored and 10 runs batted in. She added three stolen bases for good measure.
To top it off, Roden had a pair of victories in the pitcher’s circle as VCC closed out its season with a record of 7-13 in the division, and 7-16 overall.
Roden got the pitching victory May 5 in Ely, as Vermilion downed Hibbing 8-7 in the opening game of a division twinbill, which turned out to be the team’s only home outing of the season.

by Tom Coombe
Ely’s high school softball team was only temporarily deflated on Tuesday.
After coughing up a three-run lead in the top of the seventh, it looked as if the Timberwolves season-opening winning streak would come to an end.
But “not so fast,” responded Ely junior Madeline Kallberg, who calmly stepped up to the plate and ripped a bases-clearing double that gave the Wolves a 10-9 victory Mesabi East.
Kallberg’s one-out gapper capped a seesaw affair and gave Ely its fourth consecutive victory to open a late-starting 2022 campaign.
But the Wolves are making up for lost time, with the home win part of a furious stretch.
By May 13, the Wolves will have completed a stretch that includes eight games in 11 days.
Clare Thomas, Kate Coughlin and Rachel Coughlin all had two hits against Mesabi East, as did Kallberg, who finished with four runs batted in.
In the circle, pitcher Katrina Seliskar scattered nine hits.

There is a buzz in the robotics lab these days as the Northeast Range Iron Mosquitoes robotics team is heading down to Williams Arena in Minneapolis for the 2022 MSHSL Championship. The event will be held on Saturday, May 7, and Northeast Range’s team 5653 will face off against 35 other schools from around the state.
This year’s robotics team has been the most successful in school history, placing eighth and earning the right to be an alliance captain at the Great Lakes Regional with a 6-3 preliminary round record and forcing a game three in the quarterfinals.
In the Great Northern Regional, 5653 flew to new heights with a 6-2-2 preliminary round record, which was good enough for alliance captain status and the fifth seed.
Their alliance won the quarterfinal match-up, including winning game three by a single point (64-63). Advancing to the semifinals, they fell in game 3 by the closest of margins (66-60) to end their playoff run.

In what has turned into a sprint of a divisional season, freshman Ian Ritchie has proven to be a find for the Vermilion Ironmen.
The lefthander picked up two pitching wins in a span of a week, bringing his season total to four and emerging as a first-year surprise for the community college baseball team.
Ritchie went the distance Wednesday at Aurora, where Vermilion upended Hibbing 4-2 in the opening game of a Northern Division doubleheader.
He also was on the hill six days earlier in Brainerd, holding Rainy River to two runs through five frames in a game that VCC eventually won 12-9.
For the Ironmen, who starting Saturday have three doubleheaders in a span of five days to close out the regular season, Ritchie has been a constant in the pitching rotation.
The Hermantown graduate has wins in four of five decisions and dominated against Hibbing, yielding just two unearned runs while scattering six hits.

by Tom Coombe
A surprisingly potent offense and some timely defense proved to be a winning combination for the Ely Timberwolves.
Ely scored six runs in the first inning and four times in the sixth en route to a 13-11 high school softball victory over Mt. Iron-Buhl.
Tuesday’s season-opening contest was played on artificial turf and marked the first time outside for the Wolves, who have been confined to their gymnasium for indoor workouts for several weeks.
Ely also gained some revenge against the Rangers, who beat the Wolves twice in three tries last year including in the Section 7A playoffs.
“It was kind of crazy,” said Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi. “I think we had 14 hits,and it was our first time seeing live pitching, hitting outside, and we jumped on them early. It was a great start to the season.”