Legion alumni game tonight, July 27

It’s a step back in time tonight at Veterans Memorial Field.
About 20 former Ely American Legion baseball players will don the red, black and white for a night of fun with the seventh annual Ely Legion Baseball Alumni Game.
The contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the local ballpark.
Teams will be divided prior to the exhibition game, and the organizers say the focus is on fun and sharing old memories.
“We’re excited that so many of our former players are coming back to participate,” said Tom Coombe, head coach of Ely’s Legion team. “We’ve had the game the last few years, and scheduling was a bit more difficult this year because of the state tournament coming up and so many other tournament weekends at our ballpark. This was more of a last minute decision but we decided to move forward with it.”
While the game will be loaded with recent Ely program graduates including Gage Merhar, Louie Gerzin, Will Gustafson, Ben Gantt, Nick Pecha, Cole Kellogg, Nick Mathews, Jory Johnson and Elliot Omerza, teams from the more distant past will also be represented.
Jim Erzar, who graduated in 1970 and has coached baseball in Deer River for over 30 years, has said he plans to play as does 1988 graduate and former Ely standout Bill Muhvich.
Early-1990s graduates Andy Housey, Tom Nemanich and Chris Fink have signed up as has Little League coach Chad Davis, a 1996 Mark Hernsmaa/David Chelesnik Memorial Award winner.
Also back are three Alumni game regulars - Ben Povhe, Alex Povhe and Andrew Olson.
All former Ely Legion players are welcome to attend and participate, although interested alumni are asked to be at the ballpark by 5:15 p.m. to try on uniform pants and jerseys.