Cloquet VFW Baseball Team To Play For State Berth

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

July 31, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

HERMANTOWN- The Ely VFW team picked up two wins Tuesday over Hermantown and Cloquet to set up a re-match with Cloquet for the Section 8 VFW championship and a trip to the state VFW tournament next week in Mankato.

Cloquet, who had defeated Ely Monday night, had Ely on the verge of elimination Tuesday night with a 5-1 lead in the third inning. However, some costly mistakes allowed Ely to tie the game at 5-5 in the fourth inning, and score two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pick up the win and force a one game playoff on Wednesday afternoon.

Cloquet opened up district play on Saturday with a 10-6 victory over International Falls at Wade Stadium in Duluth. Mason Brenner was the winning pitcher and Brandon Conklin, Nate O’Hara, and Travis Bartlett each had two hits for Cloquet in the win.

Cloquet then went on to knock off Grand Rapids Saturday night by a score of 11-4 to advance in the District 8 Tournament. Ben Merrill picked up the win for Cloquet on the mound and it was Gavin Takkunen who went 4-4 to help Cloquet to the seven run victory.

The win over Grand Rapids set up a meeting with the two unbeaten teams left in the double elimination tournament as Cloquet shut down Ely by a score of 3-1 on Monday in Hermantown. Brandon Conklin pitched a five hitter and allowed only one run as Cloquet moved into the championship game Tuesday night.

Ely scored one run in the first inning to take the early lead, but a leadoff walk to Conklin in the third inning, followed by three hits, another walk and a hit batter all lead to a 5-1 lead after three innings. Jeff Sarkela had two hits in the loss, while Brandon Conklin reached base in all four plate appearances with three walks and a single.

Cloquet and Ely will meet again on Wednesday afternoon in Hermantown with the winner moving to the state district tournament. Either Cloquet or Ely will look to become the third northern team to capture the state VFW title since 2000. Duluth won in 2002 and Bemidji in 2011. Rosemount won the state title last year. Ely won the state tournament in 1972.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com