Junior Legion eliminated in two at substate

Ely’s Junior Legion baseball team could never get its offense warmed up on Sunday.
The result was two defeats and an early exit from the Northeast Substate Tournament, held at Esko.
Virginia’s Daniel Moore scattered six hits in a 6-2 first round win, while Ely was unable to solve Cherry’s Gavin Constantine later in the day, and the Tigers pulled away late for a 12-2, six-inning triumph.
The losses ended a difficult summer for the Junior Legion, which finished 3-11 overall.
Virginia plated two unearned runs in the bottom of the second, taking early control of the first round game, and Ely misfired on a couple of chances to score against Moore.
Losing pitcher Bryce Longwell worked five innings, giving up six runs - four were earned. He struck out four an allowed eight hits.
Reliever Jacob Towley pitched a scoreless inning.
Towley also helped Ely get on the board when his hit to left was misplayed, allowing Longwell to score all the way from first.
Moore escaped with the bases loaded, and Ely never seriously threatened to get back into the game.
Zach Cheney had two hits and a run batted in for Ely, while both Erron Anderson and Jackson Levens doubled.
In the second game, Cherry took a 3-2 lead into the fifth, when it pulled away and scored nine runs over the last two frames against Cheney and reliever Harry Simons.
Only three of the nine runs that Cheney allowed were earned, and the righthander gave up six hits and notched four strikeouts. Simons struck out two in an inning-and-a-third.
Cheney had two doubles for Ely, scored a run and drove in one, and Levens doubled for a second straight game.
Longwell and Anderson had Ely’s only other hits.