VFW surging toward playoffs
Ely’s VFW baseball team is making a hard charge toward the postseason.Seven wins in eight games last week pushed Ely’s record over the .500 mark and put the team in good position for a high seed in the Border Area playoffs, which start Friday at Virginia.A 6-2 loss to league-leading Virginia Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Field was the only blemish in an otherwise perfect week for Post 2717, now 15-12 overall and 5-3 in league play.Wednesday, Ely hammered Deer River 15-3 to cap off the busy stretch in which it scored 10 runs or more in four of seven wins.It looks as if Ely will be seeded either second or third in the six-team league playoffs, behind Virginia and perhaps Eveleth. The local squad has an automatic bid in the district tournament, which starts July 30 at Ely, and three other league teams will also advance to the 10-team, double-elimination event.Andrew Olson had three hits, including a triple, in Wednesday night’s five-inning, non-conference win. Nick Furnstahl added a two-run double and Erik Urbas finished with two hits and two runs batted in.That was more than enough to back the pitching of Ben Povhe. The sophomore-to-be finished with a four-hitter and nine strikeouts.Virginia nicked Furnstahl for unearned runs early in Tuesday’s game, then added insurance with a late-hitting flurry.The winners held off an Ely rally in the seventh, when the hosts left the bases loaded. Furnstahl fanned four and Ernie Horvat led at the plate with two hits.Horvat picked up the pitching win in the nightcap, a 7-5 Ely win. The lefty tossed a complete-game seven-hitter with three strikeouts. He also helped his own cause by going three-for-three and driving in two runs.Ely had an easy time of it Monday, beating Mt. Iron 14-2 in a five-inning home game.Povhe ripped two doubles and knocked in four runs, while Furnstahl doubled, tripled and added two RBI. A.J. Pope also chipped in with two hits.Last Friday, Ely swept Mesabi East 7-3 and 11-4 in Border Area Action.Povhe struck out 10 and gave up five hits in the first game, and Horvat tossed a four-hitter with three strikeouts in game two.Olson, Jake Ojala and Pope all had two hits in the opener, while big hitters in the nightcap included Urbas (two hits), Povhe (two hits) and Jon Henning (two hits, two RBI).The day before, Ely won 14-2 and 4-3 at Silver Bay.Lekatz pitched a one-hitter in the opener and ripped two hits (with three RBI) at the plate. Urbas had three hits including a pair of doubles, while Povhe and Ojala also had two hits.Jake Wognum got the pitching win in the second game, Horvat got a save and Bryan Cole contributed a run-scoring hit.• Ely is at Soudan Sunday to take on BEST, and the squad finishes regular-season play Tuesday with a home doubleheader against International Falls (11 a.m.)
