Little League, Junior League begin playoffs

The road to the Little League and Junior League World Series begins this week and Ely teams are entered in district competition.The Ely Little League tournament team begins play in the Minnesota District Four Tournament at Grand Rapids on Friday, while the Ely Junior League squad starts district competition the same day in Marble.Ely’s Little League team will face Greenway at noon while the Junior team will play Hibbing at 12:30 p.m.District playoff action is the first step in a long series that continues through state and regional play and on to the World Series. The Little League World Series is at Williamsport, Penn., while Junior League teams are vying for the right to go to Taylor, Mich.The 12 players selected for Ely’s Little League tournament team were Pat Boedeker, Billy Foy, Greg Helget, Christian Kittelson, Patrick Heiman, Jory Johnson, Nick Mathews, Caleb Meskill, Taylor Skelton, Wes Snyder, Steve Weisinger and Megan Wognum. Coaches are Nick Wognum, Todd Heiman and Darrin Kittelson.In addition to district competition, the team will play in Ely’s annual Blueberry Tournament, set for July 29-31.Meanwhile, Ely’s 13-and-14-year-olds are getting set for the playoffs at Marble.Team members are Ryan Jerich, Mychal Ivancich, Jay Soderberg, Bryan Baier, Josh Ojala, A.J. Pope, Sam Westlin, Matt Kidd, Ryan Willis, Alex Povhe and Seth Weckman.Clarence Jordan and Bill Henning coach the team.