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For Ely’s Junior Legion baseball team, it was almost like starting anew.
A series of weather-related postponements kept Post 248 off the field for nearly two weeks.
On Monday in Blackduck, Post 248 rode the strong pitching of Caid Chittum to a 12-1 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader.
Ely split that twinbill but bounced back Tuesday with a vengeance, scoring 11 first-inning runs on the way to a 15-5 victory over Taconite.
Post 248 is now 5-2 for the season.
Chittum was dominant in Ely’s return to action, firing a two-hitter and recording eight strikeouts. The only Blackduck run was unearned.
At the plate, Chittum helped his own cause with three hits including a double, along with two runs scored and four runs batted in.
Talen Jarshaw ripped two doubles in the victory, while Sean Merriman had three hits including a double and two RBI. Hunter Halbakken added a two-run single.
The nightcap went to Blackduck 9-4 as Ely struggled in the field.
Losing pitcher Ben Leeson allowed only three earned runs and three hits while fanning three - all in three innings of work.
Brady Eaton worked in relief, while the Ely offense got run-scoring hits by Eaton, Chittum and Owen Marolt. Tyde Brecke scored two runs.
Ely put Tuesday’s home contest away early, sending 16 batters to the plate while reaching double digits in the bottom of the first.
Chittum stoked the offense with two hits, two runs scored and three RBI, and Marolt scored three times while connecting with two hits.
Merriman scored three runs, Jarshaw had a double and three RBI, and Stig Majerus contributed a run-scoring double.
On the mound, Marolt went four innings, giving up three hits with four strikeouts.
• Ely fell 8-0 to International Falls’ Senior Legion team as an extra game in the DQ Grill and Chill Classic.
Grant Chittum had two of Ely’s six hits, while Majerus was tagged with the pitching loss. He went five-and-two-thirds innings, allowing eight hits and fanning five.
• Post 248 takes on Proctor in a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Monday. Another home date, with Chisholm, follows Tuesday at 5 p.m.
