Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Wolves top Deer River 27-24

Improve to 8-8 as the season winds down

Keith Vandervort
Posted 5/26/21

DEER RIVER–The Timberwolves came out on top of a wild affair here on Tuesday as the two opponents scored a combined total of 51 runs with Ely up 27-24. The win improved Ely’s record to …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Wolves top Deer River 27-24

Improve to 8-8 as the season winds down

Posted

DEER RIVER–The Timberwolves came out on top of a wild affair here on Tuesday as the two opponents scored a combined total of 51 runs with Ely up 27-24. The win improved Ely’s record to 8-8 with two games left in the regular season.
It looked like a blowout in the early going as Ely jumped to a 17-1 lead, but the Warriors battled back to make a game of it. Good defensive play by Ely helped at times. “I thought we played really well offensively,” said Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi. “At times during the game we definitely needed to tighten up our defense. We allowed quite a few unearned runs. Rachel Coughlin provided some spark on the defensive side of the ball, turning two double plays in key spots.”
Coughlin also went 3-5 at the plate, with four RBIs and two runs scored, while seventh-grader Bella Davis was three-for-three on the day. Kate Coughlin had two hits in three at-bats and scored five runs and Zoe Mackenzie was 2-5, with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Ella Perish had three hits in six at-bats, along with two RBIs and two runs scored.
“I was really happy with the production from the bottom of our lineup with some of our younger girls,” said Lassi.
It was a rough day for pitchers on both teams. Ely pitcher Katrina Seliskar allowed 11 hits and issued six walks, while striking out five Deer River batters.
Ely’s scoring bonanza was in marked contrast to their contest in Cherry last Friday, when they fell 10-0 to the Tigers. The Wolves ran into a buzz saw as Tigers hurler Lauren Staples pitched a perfect game, striking out nine Ely batters along the way.
Ely struggled in a home contest last Thursday, as they fell 14-7 to Mt. Iron-Buhl. Ely put up some stats, knocking out nine hits on the afternoon, including a triple by Sydni Richards who went 3-4 at the plate and knocked in three runs. Rachel Coughlin also hit a triple and scored one run. Charly Flom had two hits while Katrina Seliskar and Madeline Kallberg each had a hit and an RBI. Kate Coughlin also added a hit.
Seliskar allowed ten hits, while notching six strikeouts and allowing five walks.
“We gave up a big second inning,” Lassi said. “We gave up eight runs and that changed the complexity of the whole game. At one point, we were down 12-2 but we kept fighting back, which I was happy to see. We kept fighting and we ended up playing the full seven innings. We made things interesting in a couple of innings with the bases loaded. I was happy with the way they kept their heads up and kept playing.”
Ely was set to host Northeast Range on Wednesday after the Timberjay’s presstime and was scheduled to finish the regular season on Thursday at Two Harbors. Section 7A Northern Division seeding was expected to be announced on Saturday with playoffs set to begin Tuesday, June 1. Coach Lassi speculated that a fifth-seed playoff ranking would send Ely to fourth-seed Littlefork-Big Falls.