Ely Legion takes down Hibbing

HIBBING—Clinging to a one-run lead heading into the seventh inning, Ely American Legion coach Tom Coombe was hoping for some insurance runs.

Coombe got what he wanted as Post 248 scored four times, and they needed those runs as Ely came away with a 6-3 victory over Hibbing Tuesday at Al Nyberg Field.

Coombe knew that the firepower Post 222 had on offense would eventually break through, so getting those extra runs was important.

“I knew that having some insurance would be nice,” Coombe said. “I was not comfortable at all going 2-1 in the seventh. They’ve got some hitters and sooner or later, they were going to put some balls in play that would find holes, and they did in the seventh.

“We had some huge at bats in the top half of that inning. Cade worked that ball up the middle and Sammy with the two-run single to right. We had guys draw some walks, taking walks. That takes some discipline as well, not swinging at bad pitches. We put some things together in that seventh inning, and it paid off.”

It was Ely that got out to a 2-0 lead after three innings, scoring one time in the second and once in third.

In the second, Post 248 took advantage of three walks and a sacrifice fly by Brecken Sandberg to take a 1-0 lead.

In the third, a hit-by-pitch, a single by Erron Anderson and a fielder’s choice ground ball by Deegan Richards gave Ely that 2-0 lead.

“Their guy was not overpowering, but he kept us off balance,” said Coombe about early in the game. “We had to let enough of those pitches outside of the zone go to get some guys on base. We were able to scratch out some runs.

“Good teams can do that, and this team is starting to mesh where they’re showing that they can be a good team.”

Hibbing, on the other hand, couldn’t take advantage of some early wildness by Post 248 starting pitcher Sandberg.

Post 222 left the bases loaded in the first, then Hibbing left a runner stranded on third in the second.

“That’s baseball,” Hibbing coach Logan Radovich said. “It goes back to what we had going on at the beginning of the season, struggling to hit with runners in scoring position.

“Defensively, we didn’t play too badly. We gave up three hits and one error. You should win a lot of baseball games with that, but throw in a few walks here and there and that happens.”

Both teams had trouble making good contact as Ely only had one hit through the first six innings.

Hibbing only had two hits, but in the sixth, Dakota Kruse walked and stole second, taking third on a throwing error.

Luke Nelson hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

Fortunately for Ely, its bats came alive in the seventh.

With one out, Louie Panichi doubled and took third on a wild pitch. Ben Leeson walked, then Anderson was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Elliot Levens drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-1.

With two out, Radovich got the ground ball he wanted, but it was misplaced ro an error, allowing one run to score.

Sam Leeson hit a two-run single to cap the scoring.

“Part of that could be on me, too, for intentionally walking their three hitter,” Radovich said. “I thought, situation-wise, trying to get something rolled in the infield and get a force at the plate, or a twist up the middle.

“You live and learn from those kinds of situations. Tip the cap to them. They got a few hits in that inning that they needed. That’s baseball.”

Post 222 made things interesting in their half of the seventh.

Kaden Augustin singled, then with one out, Dane Mammenga singled. Noah Sundquist hit a ground ball to second. The throw to second was wild, allowing one run to score, making it 6-2.

Kruse hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3, but the game ended on a lineout to first.

“I was hoping that a third time through the lineup we’d have a better shot at making a comeback there,” Radovich said. “We started putting our bats on the ball but we struggled at the plate. We hit the ball right at their guys.

“There’s a few where we left the bat on our shoulder. We have to keep pounding that into these guys’ heads. You can’t do anything if you leave your bat on your shoulder. We have to put the ball in play, and try to make them work.”

Sandberg and Caid Chittum combined on a four-hitter for Post 248. They combined for nine strikeouts. They combined for seven walks, but Post 222 couldn’t take advantage with the extra baserunners.

“Brecken, with what you saw those first three innings, is what you get out of him,” Coombe said. “He throws hard. He’s tough to hit, but he can walk some guys as well. Caid doesn’t have as much velocity. He’s more of a pitcher. He’ll work to get guys out.

“It was an outstanding job by both of those guys. Defensively, other than that one little miscue in the last inning, we were solid.

Kody Bermis started for Hibbing, working 3.2 innings. He gave up one hit, struck out one and walked five. Logan Maxwell worked 3.1 innings, allowing two hits. He fanned four and walked four.