Ely’s Owen Marolt capped off the DQ Grill and Chill Classic in sterling fashion Sunday, tossing a no-hitter as Ely blanked Cook County 8-0 in five innings to close out a weekend of American Legion baseball in Ely and Soudan.
Marolt set the tone early, firing seven straight strikes to open the game and never letting Cook County find a rhythm at the plate. Marolt was backed by timely hitting and steady defense as Ely locked in a 3-1 finish during the 14-game, three-day tourney.
Ely got on the board in the bottom of the first after Drew Johnson and Ben Leeson reached on walks and Caid Chittum singled to load the bases. Louie Panichi launched a shot to the outfield that scored Johnson, but pinch runner John Warren was cut down at the plate. Cook County escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.
But Ely was right back in the second, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a single by Talen Jarshaw. Cook County pitcher Cade Smith walked home a run and was pulled for reliever Jake Mixdorf, who immediately was tagged for an RBI single by Ben Leeson. Chittum blistered a single to center field for another two runs, giving Ely a 4-0 lead after two.
Ely squandered an opportunity in the third when they failed to score with the bases loaded and one out but came roaring back in the fourth with three more runs to take a 7-0 lead.
By tournament rule, an eight-run lead in the fifth inning would win the game, and Ely wasted little time manufacturing the winning run. With runners on first and second and no outs, Chittum smacked a pitch to left field, with Stig Majerus beating the throw to the plate with a game-ending slide in the 8-0 shutout.
Ely opened tournament play on Friday with a 10-0 rout of McGregor. Hunter Halbakken pitched a one-hitter, while Sean Merriman went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. Chittum also collected a pair of RBIs.
Saturday’s early game against Duluth Lakeview had a promising start, with Ely taking a 2-1 lead in third on singles by Chittum and Marolt. Lakeview answered with four runs in the fourth and came back for a 6-3 win.
In the Saturday nightcap against Kenyon, Ely broke out with a huge seven-run sixth inning to break a 5-5 tie and cruised to a 13-5 win. Merriman had a strong outing at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Drew Johnson rapped a single and a double for two RBIs. Chittum and Halbakken also had run-scoring hits in the team’s big sixth inning. Ben Leeson pitched 1-2/3 innings of scoreless relief to get the win.
Head Coach Tom Coombe praised his team’s performance following the Cook County win, noting that it came at the end of a demanding schedule.
“Most of these guys are playing both Junior Legion and Legion, so between those two teams it was our ninth game in six days, including three on Saturday. I think we’re a little gassed – you play that much baseball in a short amount of time, you’re going to get tired, and it’s been hot and humid as well. So just to come out today and be sharp was good. I like that Owen set the tone right from the start with the first seven pitches of the game being strikes. It was his first career no hitter, as far as I know, and it all starts with pitching.
“Overall, to go three and one in this tournament is always, always, always nice. We played a Duluth East (Lakeview) team that’s a Class 4A school, and that was our only loss. I was pretty happy.”
With plenty of baseball still to play, Coombe likes the way his squad is coming together.
“It’s a good group,” he said. “We’re coming off of the high school season, which was very good (for Ely). And then we’ve added Louis (Panichi) and Talen (Jarshaw) from North Woods, and we’ve got some younger guys from North Woods as well, with Cedar Holman and Carson Johnson and John Warren. So that’s helped. We’ve got good depth and guys that are having a lot of fun playing baseball right now.”

Tournament results
Friday
Duluth Lakeview 9, Proctor 3
Proctor 6, Kenyon 5
Ely 10, McGregor 0

Saturday
Duluth Lakeview 9, Kenyon 0
McGregor 7, Taconite 4
McGregor 11, Cook County 7
Duluth Lakeview 6, Ely 3
Cook County. 12, Ely Jr Legion 6
Proctor 9, Taconite 1
Ely 13, Kenyon 5

Sunday
Grand Rapids 7, Taconite 3
Kenyon 7, Cook County 5
Duluth Lakeview 4, Grand Rapids 2
Ely 8, Cook County 0

Duluth Lakeview won championship at 4-0