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Wolves reach 7A Final Four Softball team finishes fourth in section with deepest playoff run ever
Ely’s high school softball team may have surprised everyone but themselves with a deep run in the section playoffs.
Powered by two upsets against third-seeded South Ridge, the Timberwolves reached the 7A Final Four for the first time in program history.
Silver Bay ended Ely’s season Tuesday, pulling away late for an 11-2 victory, but by then the Wolves had won three games in the 7A tournament and wound up fourth overall.
The Wolves, who finished 13-7 overall, won 12 of their last 16 contests with a lineup that included just one senior - Hannah Penke.
Penke ripped three hits and knocked in five runs in Tuesday’s 10-7 victory over South Ridge.
That put the Wolves up against Silver Bay, who brought Ely’s season to a close in a contest at Cloquet. The postseason run followed a slow start that included some close defeats against some of 7A’s top teams.
But the Wolves rebounded, built confidence, and put themselves among the section’s elite at the end of the season.
“We were a good team,” said Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi. “Three of those losses were right away at the beginning of the year. We didn’t play well that week, but we kept improving and in the end beat some good teams.”
Lassi said that after nine wins in 11 games to end the regular season, the Wolves had confidence going into the postseason.
“I told the girls that in the four years I’ve coached it was the most confident I had been going into the playoffs,” said Lassi. “We knew we belonged there and kept building confidence as we went.” The future for Ely softball also looks bright with the return of pitcher Zoe MacKenzie, who logged nearly all of the innings in the circle, and almost the entire starting lineup.
The only senior starter was Penke, although her departure will create a void.
“The one starter that we do have to replace is going to be difficult just with what Hannah could do on both offense and defense, not to mention the leadership she brought,” said Lassi.
The future, however, is bright for the Ely program given a lineup that had plenty of youth, with freshmen and sophomores contributing and even a seventh grader as Lindi Zemke stepped in Tuesday and picked up her first varsity hit in a playoff start.
“We have some younger players who might be able to step up and fill some spots and we have some good younger kids in that seventh and eighth-grade level,” said Lassi.
Moose Lake-Willow River and Cherry were set to square off Thursday for the 7A crown and a berth in the state tournament.
Tuesday’s Games
Penke’s big bat fueled the Wolves in Tuesday’s first contest.
She ripped a two-run double in the first inning, a two-run single in the third and knocked in a run in the second as the Wolves built an 8-3 lead early on.
That was enough of a cushion for MacKenzie, who scattered 13 hits and worked out of trouble to preserve the victory.
The Wolves made the most of their eight hits, with Clare Thomas doubling in a run and Amelia Penke getting a hit with two runs batted in. Ella Perish scored twice.
Silver Bay scored seven runs in the last two innings capitalizing on four Wolves errors to end Ely’s season.
The Wolves were limited to two hits, one each by Thomas and Perish.
Perish lined a two-run triple to get Ely on the board.
May 23 Games
Fresh off an opening- round win over Floodwood, Ely opened the double- elimination phase of the tournament by upsetting South Ridge 11-9.
The Wolves trailed 6-2 after two innings but exploded with six runs in the top of the third.
They added three more runs in the fifth to seal things as Penke went two-for-four with two runs scored and two RBI.
Freshman catcher Payton Huntington added two RBI and Maija Mattson was two-for-four with two runs scored.
MacKenzie went the distance, striking out five while yielding 11 hits.
Moose Lake-Willow River, the defending 7A champion, sent the Wolves into the elimination round with a 5-1 win at Grand Rapids that day.
The Rebels scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to open a tight game.
Huntington’s single in the top of the fifth drove in Julia Zgonc for the Wolves’ only run.
Mattson went three-forthree for the Wolves but Ely’s offense was otherwise limited.
MacKenzie allowed 10 hits while going the distance.
