Gerzin no hits Esko, Ely among final three

Ely's American Legion baseball team staked Louie Gerzin to an early lead and the senior righthander took things from there.

Gerzin overcame some early control issues and dominated over the last four frames, finishing with his first career Legion no-hitter and 12 strikeouts in a 4-2 Ely win over Esko Saturday at Veterans Memorial Field.

The victory put Ely into the final three in the Eighth District Division II Playoffs, but a severe thunderstorm washed out Saturday night's scheduled clash with Two Harbors. The two  teams will instead meet at 4 p.m. Sunday, with the winner advancing to meet International Falls at 6:30 p.m. in the district championship tilt.

Gerzin struggled in two previous starts against Esko, but was firmly in command for much of Saturday's game.

Ely took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, then yielded a pair of unearned runs in the third as Esko scored without benefit of a hit.

But Gerzin recorded a key strikeout to escape further damage, then rattled off five more strikeouts in a row before Esko put two runners aboard by way of walk in the fifth. Again Gerzin dug deep and notched a strikeout, and didn't allow a baserunner the rest of the game.

For the year, Gerzin improved to 5-3 and now has 96 strikeouts in 50 innings on the mound.

Cole Kellogg singled and scored Ely's first run on a wild pitch, and the hosts plated two more runs in the second when Pat Huisman's hot shot down the third base line caromed off an Esko fielder's glove and into the outfield.

Esko got its two runs in the third and that's how it stayed until the sixth, when Elliot Omerza's sacrifice fly brought in Jeff Willis with an insurance run.

Ely (20-11) finished with 10 hits, with Huisman going three-for-three and both Gerzin and Kellogg adding two hits apiece.

Ely also played host to VFW baseball action Saturday, with the Eighth District Tournament getting underway with games at Ely, Soudan and Virginia.

Grand Rapids and Hibbing both went 2-0 for the day and will meet in the last winners' bracket game at 5 p.m. Monday. Four other teams, including host Ely, are 1-1.

Ely bounced back from a 9-1 opening round loss to Proctor by beating Duluth East B 4-2. Andy Krunkkala was the winning pitcher while Kellogg notched a two-run single.

Ely meets West Duluth at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.