Brodeen blanks Ely in baseball duel
Finesse prevailed over power as BEST downed Ely 1-0 in an old-fashioned high school baseball pitchers’ duel Tuesday afternoon at Soudan.The Beavers’ Phil Brodeen and Ely’s Tim Scott both tossed two-hitters, but that’s where the similarities ended between the two pitchers.Brodeen kept Ely off-balance with his curve ball, striking out 11 and getting the Timberwolves to flail at many pitches out of the strike zone.Scott, meanwhile, blew his 80 miles per hour fastball by the Beavers for much of the day, fanning 10.The game’s only run came in the third inning, when Brodeen supported his own cause with a two-out single to left, driving home teammate Jake Curtiss.Brodeen escaped jams in the first, third and sixth innings, stranding runners at third in all three frames.The senior junkballer also got stronger as the game moved along, retiring 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, including six in a row to end the game.“It was Phil’s day,” said BEST Head Coach Tom Coombe. “He pitched a smart, smart game and proved you don’t have to have an overpowering fastball to be effective.”Scott was nearly as spectacular in defeat, working his way out of a second-inning jam in which the Beavers had runners at second and third with no outs, and overpowering BEST hitters on several occasions.“He threw well enough to win,” said Ely Head Coach Frank Ivancich. “He seems to get better every game. He missed a few spots but overall he threw very well.”The Ely lefty also had the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the second, when he sprinted off the mound on a squeeze bunt attempt, fielding Seth Bjornrud’s bunt and tagging Donny Poderzay out at the plate.“I thought that might come back to haunt us,” said Coombe. “We had a chance there and couldn’t score, and Timmy made a great play off the mound.”But BEST came right back in the third. Jake Curtiss walked and stole second. He appeared to be picked off later in the frame, but during a rundown he slid safely into third when Scott’s throw to the base was high. Two pitches later, Brodeen singled to left to put BEST on the board.Ely got a double from Paul Starkovich in the first, but the junior was stranded at third. Scott reached third base two innings later, but Brodeen got back-to-back outs to escape further trouble.In the sixth, Scott reached on an error and got to third with one out, but again Brodeen came up with the pitches he needed, recording a strikeout and getting Jay Olson to ground out to third.Brodeen retired the side in the seventh, including two strikeouts, finishing off a frustrating day for the Wolves.“We didn’t make adjustments real well,” said Ivancich. “We have to be more disciplined at the plate and swing at strikes, and what we’re struggling with right now is our attitude. We can’t have a negative attitude if something bad goes wrong. One bad at bat and you defeat yourself.”“Phil should have had a win at AlBrook earlier in the spring, but we made some mistakes on defense and let them get back in the game,” said Coombe. “He just turned in a heck of an effort against Ely. I don’t know if he’s had a better game.”Brodeen and Reichensperger had BEST’s only hits.Carlton 14, Wolves 4The Bulldogs pounded out 16 hits against the Wolves and took advantage of seven Ely errors.They did their damage early in the April 29 nonconference game, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first and plating three more in the second.That was too much for the Wolves to overcome.Starkovich had two hits at the plate and suffered the loss on the mound. He was relieved by Nick Furnstahl.• The Wolves were at home over the weekend for games with Silver Bay and Hermantown and they’re back in action today with a home tilt (4:30 p.m.) against Chisholm.At the end of the week, Ely hosts Virginia on Friday and has a Saturday twinbill at Duluth, with games against Proctor and Duluth Marshall.
