ELY— High school hurler Carter Gaulke achieved something last Friday that few pitchers could ever hope to accomplish— perfection.

Gaulke, who pitched a no-hitter earlier this season, topped even that illustrious performance in the opening matchup of a weekend tournament. Gaulke, a senior, retired 18 Virginia batters in a row, including 13 on strikeouts to pitch a perfect game. Gaulke allowed no hits and issued no walks in the standout performance.

The Timberwolves ten-runned the Blue Devils in the sixth inning, preventing Gaulke from pitching a full seven-inning game.

“I tried not to think about it too much,” said Gaulke as he continued to retire Virginia batters. “It was about the third inning that I knew I had a perfect game going. Heading into the sixth inning, Gaulke acknowledged his nerves were starting to fray, especially when he racked up a 3-1 count on a batter. But Gaulke went on to hurl two more strikes to retire that batter as well and keep his perfect game alive.

“Going into the game, I prepared like any normal game but when I got on the mound in the first inning, I could feel that it was going to be a special game,” he said.

Special is the word for it. “It doesn’t happen very often,” said Bob Madison, associate director for baseball at the Minnesota State High School League. “And it shouldn’t… it’s quite a feat.”

In fact, according to league records, it’s been six years since a pitcher tossed a perfect game in a league-sanctioned matchup in Minnesota. Indeed, only eight perfect games have been recorded in league play, dating back to 1964, when Dan Somrock, of Ely, pitched a perfect game against Tower-Soudan.

And Gaulke just missed a perfect game in a 22-0 rout against Mt. Iron-Buhl earlier this month, when he struck out 15 Rangers batters. In that game, Gaulke had allowed one walk while another batter reached on an error to spoil the run at perfection.

Head Coach Frank Ivancich said Gaulke has had an outstanding spring on the mound for Ely and that he tried to keep the team focused on defense and putting some runs on the board after the game went scoreless through three innings. “I knew he had a no hitter but no one really said anything about it,” said Ivancich. “Carter was plain and simply dominant. You don’t see a pitcher strike out the side in three innings as he did on Friday.  His control got better as the game went on.”