Ely to host VFW districts

Neither coach Jim Wittrup nor the members of Ely’s VFW baseball team would be upset if history repeats itself.The last time Ely hosted the Eighth District VFW Tournament - in 1999 - Post 2717 won four straight games and claimed both the district title and a trip to the state tournament.Ely, 18-12 and on a late-season surge, opens play in the 10-team, double-elimination district playdown Saturday at Veterans Memorial Field.The first-round opponent as well as the game time won’t be determined until the completion of subdistrict playoff action Monday.But whatever team matches up with host Ely, it will have to battle a squad that has been as hot as the weather during the month of July.Heading into the Border Area playoffs, which started Friday at Virginia, Ely had won 10 of its last 11 games, including a 6-5 win over BEST last Sunday at Soudan and a doubleheader sweep of International Falls two days later.Ely is one of several teams with its eye on a district run.In the Border Area, Virginia claimed the top seed in subdistrict competition while Eveleth was ranked second.Defending district champion Hibbing and Grand Rapids are two formidable powers out of the Itasca Area, while Duluth Central had the top seed in the Lakes Area entering subdistrict play, with Hermantown and Duluth East right behind.Four Border Area teams and three squads apiece from the Itasca and Lakes areas form the tournament field.The tournament begins with eight games Saturday - four here and four in Virginia - and continues in Ely the next three days with the title game set for 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 2. The champion advances to the state tournament at Marshall, set for Aug. 12-15.Ely tuned up for postseason play with its victory over BEST.Trailing 5-4 going into the sixth, Nick Furnstahl tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Ben Povhe followed with a run-scoring double that put Ely in front.Ely extended the lead in the seventh with a bases-loaded hit by Furnstahl, but heavy rains came before the end of the inning, forcing the game to be called.The final score reverted to 6-5, the score at the end of the last completed inning.Pat Lekatz pitched two innings in relief of Povhe to get the win on the mound.Andrew Olson added two hits.