ELY — The Ely Timberwolves softball team didn’t wait around to take control Saturday, scoring early and often on their way to a 19-0, five-inning rout of Cook County.
Ely struck in the opening inning and never let up, plating three runs in the first before breaking the game wide open with a seven-run third. By the time the dust settled, the Wolves had piled up 18 hits and scored in four of the five innings.
The tone was set right away. Zoe MacKenzie reached base and came around to score on a wild pitch, and Grace Flynn later delivered an RBI single as Ely jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
From there, the Wolves kept applying pressure.
The third inning is where the game turned into a runaway. Ely sent a parade of hitters to the plate, stringing together a mix of timely hits, walks, passed balls, and aggressive baserunning.
MacKenzie and Flynn each drove in runs with singles, while Lauren Anderson added a two-run hit. Anderson later scored on a passed ball, Lena Flom came home on a steal of home, and Makenzi Huntington followed with a run-scoring single as Ely stretched the lead to 10-0 before Cook County could record the third out.
The fourth inning brought more of the same. Julia Zgonc and Flynn each reached base to start the rally, and Flom drove them both in with a two-run single. Flom later came around to score on Peyton Huntington’s RBI single, extending Ely’s lead to 13-0.
Ely put the finishing touches on the rout in the fifth.
The Wolves added six more runs in the final frame as the lineup kept rolling. Zgonc delivered a two-run double to left, and another run scored on a passed ball during Flynn’s plate appearance before Flynn drew a walk. Anderson then reached on an error, and Flom capped the surge with a line-drive single to center that, combined with another defensive miscue, brought home the final three runs as Ely stretched the lead to 19-0.
While the offense was relentless, MacKenzie was just as dominant in the circle.
The right-hander threw a two-hit shutout over five innings, striking out six and walking one.
MacKenzie also led the way at the plate, finishing a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs scored. Zgonc added three hits, four runs, and two RBIs, while Flynn collected three hits and three runs. Flom drove in three runs, and Peyton Huntington and Anderson each added RBIs as Ely’s lineup produced from top to bottom.
Ely combined that offensive production with disciplined plate appearances, drawing five walks, and aggressive baserunning that resulted in eight stolen bases. The Wolves also played clean defensively, committing no errors in the field. The win capped a performance in which Ely combined aggressive baserunning, consistent contact, and steady pitching to overwhelm the Vikings from the outset.