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Ely’s Junior Legion baseball team made a statement - and earned a trip to the state tournament.
Post 248 showed off flashy defense with outstanding pitching and mixed in more than enough timely hitting to dominate this week’s Division II Northeast Substate Tournament.
The top-seeded Ely team lived up top billing and cruised to the substate title Wednesday night, riding a four-run first inning and the pitching of Hunter Halbakken, who threw a no-hitter in an 11-1, five-inning victory over host Proctor.
The win capped off a tournament run in which Ely won three times in four day, outscoring opponents 39-8 in the process and earning a berth to the Division II State Tournament, which starts Friday at St. Charles.
Ely, now 12-4, earned the number- one seed for the tournament but was on a mission of sorts after finishing as the runner-up in 2023.
The title game rout, together with a 17-4 win over Esko to start the playoffs and Tuesday’s 11-3 winners’ bracket decision against Proctor, left no doubt.
“I thought if we could play the way we played, and I knew we could play that way, we would be in good shape, but you just never know,” said Ely head coach Jim Wittrup.
Halbakken dominated on the mound in the finals, never giving up a hit, while senior-to-be Caid Chittum fanned nine in a complete- game win over Proctor on Tuesday.
The pitching was combined with stellar defense, including three double plays.
“Defensively, this is probably the best defensive team I have had in 26 years,” said Wittrup. “We barely have 20 errors in 16 games or whatever and if you don’t give them extra outs, you win some games. We hit well enough and we throw strikes, I thought if we could do that we were fine and it turned out we were.”
Halbakken only fanned two batters in the championship game, but was in command throughout, inducing weak contact and backed by his defense.
A walk and a throwing error led to Proctor’s only run in the title game, but it came in the second inning after Ely had built a fourrun lead.
Halbakken picked a runner off second base to end the threat and Proctor never had another base runner.
Halbakken, Chittum and Talen Jarshaw, who got the win in Sunday’s first-round game, combined to give up only eight hits in the entire tournament.
“You’re pretty confident when you’re running Hunter and Caid out there that for sure you’re going to be in the game, and that gives everybody confidence,” said Wittrup. “And Talen had a couple of hiccups, but the defense bailed him out and we were off to the races.”
It was off to the races in the title game as well, as Owen Marolt’s bases-clearing double was the key blow in a four-run first.
“Against Proctor the first time it was the same thing where we got three in the first and three in the second and got up 6-0,” said Wittrup. “Tonight we were hoping for the same kind of start and we loaded the bases but all of a sudden there’s two outs and we’re thinking we might not get a run and then Owen comes through and just crushed it. Then we got four and then it’s just go out and play defense and get out of there.”
Marolt finished with two hits and four runs batted in for the winners, while Halbakken helped himself with two singles and two RBI.
Drew Johnson collected another two hits and scored three runs while driving in two, and catcher Ben Leeson had a run-scoring hit with three runs scored. Leadoff man Sean Merriman also scored two runs.
Ely reached the finals by downing Proctor Tuesday, as Chittum went the distance on a four-hitter with nine strikeouts.
He also had three hits at the plate, scoring three runs and knocking in two.
Brady Eaton contributed two hits with two runs scored for the winners, Merriman had two hits, Tyde Brecke scored two runs and Johnson chipped in with a two-run single.
Ely turned two double plays early on against Esko and a 12-run bottom of the fourth put the game away.
“We had some early jitters but those double plays got us out of a jam, and against Proctor Tuesday we made a big defensive play and we ended the game on a 1-6-3 double play, which you’re not going to see too often at the Junior Legion level,” said Wittrup.
Jarshaw struck out five batters in four innings on the way to the win and Johnson had the highlight of the fourth - a three-run inside the park home run. Brecke had a bases-clearing triple and scored twice, while Merriman scored three runs.
Leeson had a huge afternoon at the plate as well, getting two hits and two RBI with four runs scored. Chittum finished with two hits, two RBI and three runs scored.
Ely fell short to Esko in last year’s tournament but turned the tables this year and dominated the field.
“Every year you start with this as the goal and a lot of times you come up short,” said Wittrup. “It’s awesome when you complete a goal and make it to state.”
Ely figures to have a tall order in Friday’s quarterfinal, taking on Luverne, located in the southwest corner of the state, at 3 p.m.
But Post 248 is looking to further its mission and bring back a trophy from St. Charles, located near Rochester, “Like I told the kids, a lot of great players from Ely have never got the chance to play in a state tournament,” said Wittrup. “This is something to be proud of. They should be really happy about what we did. If we keep playing fundamental baseball we should have a good tournament and hopefully do some damage.”
• To raise funds for the team’s trip, the Ely Baseball Association will hold a special “Dinner at the Ballpark,” from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The concession stand will be open, and a brief program, which will serve as a sendoff, is set for 6 p.m.
The entire community is invited to attend and take part.
