Waiting is over - tourney time is here

Host teams don’t typically fare very well in American Legion baseball state and regional tournaments.But Ely Post 248 may not be your typical host team.The hosts for this year’s Central Plains Division II Regional, which starts Thursday at Veterans Memorial Field, seem to have most of the ingredients needed to compete with the best small-school Legion programs in the upper Midwest.Ely, 26-10, enters the tournament following an impressive season and has a dominant pitcher in Nebraska-bound lefty Tim Scott.Post 248 also has good pitching depth and perhaps most important of all, plenty of big-game experience.Since dropping to the Division II level in 1997, Ely has made nine straight appearances in the district finals and earned six state tournament berths with five top-four finishes.Many of Ely’s current players were on the 2004 team that finished second at last year’s state tournament and a few were on the 2003 team that placed third.Add it all up, and coach Tom Coombe is hoping his team has what it takes to compete in the regional.“We’re going to be underdogs in every game that we play, but we were competitive the last time we hosted the regional (2000) and when Timmy pitches I think we can play with anybody,” said Coombe.Scott, the three-sport Ely star who will join the pitching staff at NCAA Division I Nebraska this fall, gets the pitching nod Thursday (8 p.m.) when Ely takes on the North Dakota champion in the finale of four first-round tilts.The 6-3 Scott has been Ely’s ace for two seasons, winning 18 of 19 games, including a 9-1 mark this summer. He has a minuscule 0.50 earned run average and has recorded 104 strikeouts in 70 innings.Behind Scott, Ely has developed considerable pitching depth. In seven district playoff games, the staff yielded only 15 runs, nine earned.Colin Moberly (4-2 win-loss record, 1.67 ERA), Billy Tibbetts (5-3, 2.57 ERA) and Phil Brodeen (5-1, 2.83) have all been effective for Post 248.“In a double-elimination tournament, you need pitching, and our pitching has been our biggest strength all summer,” said Coombe.At the plate, Ely has struggled, but the hosts have some hot-hitters in Curtiss (.408 batting average), Ryan Potter (.353) and Moberly (.322, 34 runs batted in).Ely’s first-round opponent will be determined over the weekend, when play wraps up in the North Dakota state tournament. Lisbon (37-7) had the best record of the eight teams vying for the state title.The rest of the regional field will take shape by Monday, as state tournaments in Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota wind down.In Minnesota, a wide-open state tournament began Friday at LeSueur. Sacred Heart (20-5), which won the 2000 regional, is part of a balanced group that includes Jordan, Warroad, Holdingford, LeSueur, LaCrescent, Pipestone and Eighth District entrant Nashwauk-Keewatin.The Wisconsin tournament featured top-ranked teams including Viroqua and Black River Falls.While three states send their state champions, both Minnesota and Wisconsin move second-place finishers on to regional play, with host Ely rounding out the eight-team field.Division II baseball is for teams that come from high schools with enrollments of under 400, or under 500, depending on the state.“There will be some great teams, and some great players, in this tournament,” said Coombe. “The Division I tournaments now are geared so much for the big schools and the teams that combine one, two or sometimes three high schools of 1,000 or more kids. This gives a chance for the smaller communities to compete.”Following Thursday’s first round, six games are set for Friday, including one at Soudan.The tournament winds up with three games Saturday - all at Ely - and Sunday’s 1 p.m. title game.Tournament passes, good for all 14 games, remain on sale for $10 at Zaverl’s Bar, the Ely Echo and Ely Dairy Queen. Included with the pass is a raffle ticket for various prizes, including a cash prize of $1,000 and coupons for free hotel stays. The prize drawing is set for Thursday evening.• Tournament updates will be available at the Echo’s internet site - www.elyecho.com.