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As the high school baseball season wound down, Brecken Sandberg emerged not only as an ace for the Ely Timberwolves but one of the top pitchers in Section 7A.
The summer season got underway Tuesday and Sandberg picked up where he left off.
The hard-throwing senior struck out 11 batters in just five innings of work, and the dominant effort on the mound helped Ely open the American Legion season with an 8-1 victory over Cook County.
Ely scored five times in the top of the third inning on a cool, damp night in Grand Marais, and that was plenty of cushion for Sandberg.
Other than a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, which led to a run-scoring double by the Vikings’ Hunter Gomez, Cook County was no match for Ely pitchers.
Sandberg left after the fifth inning, and senior reliever Elliot Levens retired six straight hitters, five by strikeout.
Levens also had two hits to help stoke the Ely offense, while Deegan Richards was two-for-four with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Ely’s Caid Chittum had three hits while Ben Leeson contributed two hits.
• Wednesday’s game with Two Harbors was rained out and Post 248 was set to play Hibbing, Thursday, after deadline.
