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This weekend’s Junior Legion event the first of five tournaments in town
The start of the summer means that once again Veterans Memorial Field will be a hub of activity in Ely.
A seven-team Junior Legion baseball event this weekend is the first of five separate tournaments to be held at the ballpark over the course of the next several weeks.
The z‘Up North Realty Classic began Friday and runs through Sunday at the historic ballpark, while in two weeks eight teams will be in town for the 36th annual DQ Grill and Chill Legion Classic.
Those tournaments are just the start of a full summer of action, with teams from dozens of communities coming to town - many for one or more nights - for various tournaments.
Teams from Kenyon, White Bear Lake, Hastings and Sacred Heart are among those that are part of the lineup for the DQ event, which started in 1988.
The Midsummer Classic was added to the tournament lineup in the early-2000s and has grown into perhaps the premiere Legion baseball event in northeastern Minnesota.
This year’s tournament is slated for July 11-14, and has expanded to four days for the first time in event history.
It involves a whopping 12 teams: Ely, Viroqua (Wisc.), Roseau, Edina, Warroad, Proctor, Aitkin, Crookston, Thunder Bay, Hibbing, International Falls and Moose Lake-Barnum.
“If you look at the Midsummer Classic, that’s one where every team stays multiple nights in town,” said Legion coach and tournament director Tom Coombe. “We’ve expanded to 12 teams and I even had to turn a couple teams away. That’s a tournament that brings hundreds of people to Ely every summer and is great for the local economy.”
The action continues 2021 with opening round action in the Senior Legion Division II Northeast Substate Tournament, and that tournament continues the following weekend on July 26-27 and leads right into the first round of the Junior Legion Division II Substate Tournament on Sunday, July 28, Ely has been selected to host the Division II Senior Legion State Tournament for 2025, which will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Legion state tourney held in town.
