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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Ely splits doubleheader with Mt. Iron-Buhl

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 5/17/23

ELY— The Wolves split a doubleheader with Mt. Iron-Buhl on Tuesday, thanks to a late-inning Ely rally that salvaged the nightcap. The Rangers took an early lead in the evening contest, racking …

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Ely splits doubleheader with Mt. Iron-Buhl

Posted

ELY— The Wolves split a doubleheader with Mt. Iron-Buhl on Tuesday, thanks to a late-inning Ely rally that salvaged the nightcap.
The Rangers took an early lead in the evening contest, racking up nine runs in the first three innings, capped by a five-run second inning, but that was all the scoring they could muster.
Meanwhile, Ely got on the board with a run in the first and two in the second, followed by two scoreless innings to leave the Wolves down 9-3 after four and half innings of play.
Ely found its sea legs in the home half of the fifth as they plated four runs and added five more in the sixth to take a 12-9 lead, which proved to be the final.
“I am very proud of how the girls kept themselves in the game,” said Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi. “We kept chipping away and put ourselves in a spot to win. I felt like the girls stepped up when they needed to.” 
Freshman pitcher Zoe MacKenzie, who struggled in the early going, finished up strong for the Wolves, going the distance, allowing just six hits and four earned runs to get the win.
Junior Hannah Penke had a big game at the plate, pounding three hits, including a double, in five at-bats, including an RBI and two runs scored. Eighth-grader Amelia Penke notched a hit and a walk, driving in a run and scoring twice, while senior Rachel Coughlin rapped a double.
In the opener, the Rangers, playing as the home team, put two on the board in the bottom of the first. Ely kept it close with a run in the top of the second, but a four-run MI-B spree in the bottom half of the frame put the Rangers up 6-1. The Wolves rallied with three runs in the fifth to cut the margin to 6-4, but when the Rangers put up three of their own in the bottom half of the inning, it was all but over. Ely went scoreless in the final two frames, while the Rangers added two more in the sixth for an 11-4 final.
Hannah Penke and eighth-grader Peyton Huntington both had two hits for Ely and each scored a run. Senior Kate Coughlin notched an RBI and a run scored on a hit.
The game was plagued with errors on the Ely side, as the Rangers racked up 11 runs on just five hits.