ELY— The Timberwolves suffered their toughest outing of the season here on Monday as Eveleth-Gilbert racked up ten runs in the top of the third inning en route to a 21-0 rout.
That big third inning has been part of a pattern of late for the Wolves, according to Head Coach Frank Ivancich. “Our inability to stop our opponents’ big innings is still plaguing us,” said Ivancich. “We just cannot seem to stop those crooked innings, which have put us in a hole in many of our games.”
There was no salvaging Monday’s outing, as Golden Bears pitcher Brandon Lind hurled four innings of no-hit ball. Ely eighth-grader Jack Mathias connected for Ely’s only hit in the fifth inning.
The Bears knocked out Ely starter Will Davies in the third inning, but his relief didn’t fare much better as Eveleth-Gilbert racked up 11 more runs in the fourth frame. The Bears earned most of those runs, with a total of 19 hits on the afternoon.
The Wolves had more success over the weekend as they hosted the two-day Veterans Memorial Showcase. Saturday provided the bright spots as the Wolves topped Cook County 12-5 in the opening matchup and staged a late rally to top International Falls 10-9.
In the opening act, Jacob Towley led the Wolves with three hits and three runs scored in addition to picking up the win from the mound. Towley allowed just four hits in five innings worked, allowing three runs, while notching two strikeouts and issuing five walks. Eddie Prijatel and Will Davies tallied two hits and two runs scored apiece. Erron Anderson posted three RBIs, while Chase Sandberg added two.
The Wolves pulled the rabbit from the hat in the day’s second contest, as they rallied from a 9-0 deficit after three innings to top the Broncos. Erron Anderson’s walk-off hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh made the difference as he drove in Logan Loe from second on an opposite field shot. Loe, who went 3-4 on the afternoon, had led off the inning with a base hit. Davies followed with a hit of his own to put runners on first and second. A fly-out and a strikeout left it up to Anderson, who broke a 9-9 tie to deliver the win.
Anderson connected for three hits in the game along with two RBIs, while Mason Davis added three hits and scored twice. Prijatel added two hits.
Gunnar Hart came on in relief for Ely, tossing two scoreless innings to notch his first varsity win.
The Wolves struggled on the opening day of the showcase, slipping 11-6 to Carlton and 10-3 to Silver Bay. Ely jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the Mariners, but Silver Bay battled back in the top of the fourth with six runs on five hits to take a 6-3 lead. Ely threatened in the fifth, as they loaded the bases but couldn’t get a runner in. The Mariners added four more in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach. Lane Anderson led Ely with three hits while Prijatel and Davies added two hits apiece.
In the opening matchup, Carlton took advantage of Ely miscues to score seven runs in the first two innings. Ely pitching allowed five walks and the defense committed two errors in the early-going to give the Bulldogs the advantage.
Ely trimmed the lead to 7-3 after plating three runs on three hits in the third, but Carlton responded with two more runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Loe took the loss for Ely, while Davies and Joey Bianco led with two hits apiece.
The Wolves are set to wrap up their season on the road, with games set for Thursday at Nashwauk, Tuesday in Littlefork, and the regular season finale on Thursday in Two Harbors.