Ely eliminated in semifinals

Ely misfired on an opportunity to score in the top half of the seventh inning while Two Harbors cashed in on its own chance in the bottom half of the frame, and that was the difference in a 5-4 Two Harbors victory Sunday at Veterans Memorial Field.

Tim Bott's two-out single to center just evade the glove of Ely's Jeff Wilis and brought Luke Small in with the game-winning run in the Eighth District Division II playoff semifinal.

The loss ended Ely's season while Two Harbors advanced into the championship game later in the night, when it lost 9-3 to International Falls.

Ely (20-12) trailed 3-0 and 4-2 in the contest, but rallied to tie the game with two runs in the sixth and had a chance in the seventh.

Louie Gerzin's third hit of the game started the rally, and he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch.  But Gerzin was stranded 90 meet from home, as reliever Kyler Kinn coaxed a pop-up and a lineout to end the threat.

That set the stage for the bottom of the inning, and Small singled to center with one out to start the rally.  Small stole second and after Ely's Will Gustafson recorded a strikeout, Bott delivered his second hit of the game to end it in walk-off fashion.

Two Harbors broke a scoreless deadlock by scoring three times in the bottom of the fourth, all with two out, against Ely starter Pat Huisman. The key blow was Easton Best's two-run double, while Nate Bauck surprised the crowd and the Ely defense with a two-out steal of home.

Gerzin got Post 248 on the board in the top of the fifth with his second home run of the season, a two-run blast to left.

Two Harbors answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth but Ely countered with two runs in the sixth, with Gustafson lining a run-scoring double and Jeff Willis tying it with a single to right.