SILVER BAY — Ely opened Section 7A tournament play Tuesday with an emphatic 14-4 five-inning win over Floodwood before running into a much tougher challenge later in the day, falling 11-1 in five innings to second-seeded Silver Bay on the Mariners’ home field.
The seventh-seeded Timberwolves overwhelmed 10th-seeded Floodwood with speed, pressure, and timely hitting in the tournament opener, scoring 11 unanswered runs after briefly falling behind 4-3 in the third inning.
Ely broke things open in the fourth inning, scoring five runs while repeatedly pressuring the Polar Bears on the bases. Makenzi Huntington opened the rally with a triple and later scored when Zoe MacKenzie reached on an error. Zemke later added a two-run single, while Ella Perish drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. Zemke later scored on a Grace Flynn fly ball and Floodwood error as Ely stretched the lead to 10-4.
The Timberwolves finished the game with four more runs in the fifth.
The momentum Ely built in its opening-round win was short-lived against the host Mariners, who took control early and never let the Timberwolves gain much traction offensively.
Silver Bay collected 14 hits while steadily building the lead throughout the afternoon.
With the loss, Ely dropped into the elimination bracket of the double-elimination tournament.