Many new faces in the infield for Cathedral

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Meet Jessica Lewis. Maybe you know the name, maybe you don't. But if the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds successfully defend their 2001 Tomahawk Conference softball title, Lewis will be one of the reasons.

Lewis, a senior first baseman for the Greyhounds, will be one of five new faces in the Cathedral infield for 2002. She's one of the players being inserted into the starting lineup as coach Bob Mertz reloads for a run at yet another Tomahawk Conference title.

"Our team has pretty good chemistry," Lewis said. "I think we can go pretty far. It would be disappointing not to win the conference, especially since I'm a senior. I don't think there's any reason we can't pull it off."

That's the way they think at Cathedral (17-5 in 2001). The Greyhounds lose five-sixths of their starting infield, including their No. 1 pitcher, and they think they're going to be better than last season.

"We're going to reload and be ready to go," Mertz said. "We're replacing five quality seniors, but there's no reason why we can't be as good as were last year, if not better. We're going to defend that Tomahawk Conference championship."

Gone are Kari Franta, Tessa Hodapp and Chandra Petersen, along with pitcher Dee Wilfahrt and catcher Bryanna Balbach. All except Hodapp at first base were two-year starters for the Greyhounds. Only sophomore Nikki Fischer returns at shortstop.

That's a lot of experience to lose from your defense. But that's not a problem when you have the players coming back that Cathedral has, and when you have the players the Greyhounds have coming up from a junior varsity side that went 14-0 in 2001.

Players from that squad include Shelly Waibel, Ashley Hillesheim, Katie Gieseke, Kyley Hillesheim, Danielle Fischer and Julie Seifert. Waibel in left field, Danielle Fischer in right and Seifert at third base are likely opening-day starters; Ashley Hillesheim will spell Seifert at third base and Kyley Hillesheim will see action at second base behind starter Liesl Genelin.

Lewis will take over first base, moving in from right field. The thought this new infield might not function well together scarcely enters her mind.

"We're pretty familiar with each other," Lewis said. "We've played together for some time, whether it was summer ball or on the B-squad. We know each other pretty well so I think it's going to be OK."

Mertz moved Lewis in from right field not just because he needed a first baseman, but also because he needed a leader in the infield.

"We needed some stability, some leadership in there," Mertz said. "Nikki has some of that, it's her second year, but she's only a sophomore. I needed to get a senior in there and I thought, 'Jessica.'"

The Greyhounds also will have a new pitcher and catcher. Junior Amber Franta, who went 4-1 with a 1.94 ERA last season, will take over the No. 1 pitcher spot and senior Abby Hofmeister will catch.

They, too, are not unfamiliar with each other.

"I've been throwing to Abby since the eighth grade, off and on," Franta said. "Abby does a good job behind the plate and we get along well."

Said Hofmeister: "Amber has come a long way. She's hitting her locations real well. She's looking pretty good, actually."

There are familiar faces, though, most notably senior Kristin Beranek. She'll be back for her senior season in center field and will again lead off the Greyhounds' batting order.

Beranek, though, may be hampered, at least initially, by an ankle injury sustained during the basketball season. She first sprained her ankle in December and then reinjured it in January.

Beranek said her speed moving straight ahead hasn't been affected, so Cathedral's leader in stolen bases with 18 last season will again be on the run. But the left ankle is still tender, particularly when she turns sharply to the left or stops quickly.

"It's not 100 percent yet," Beranek said. "We're working on it. It shouldn't affect me, I can still run. I am kind of concerned because it is taking a long time to heal."

Having Beranek healthy will be important, particularly offensively. Beranek had a team-best .435 batting average.

Cathedral hit only .275 last season. Genelin hit .318 and Nikki Fischer acquitted herself well at the plate during her freshman season, hitting .297, but the dropoff from there was steep. Mertz lists hitting as his primary concern for 2002.

"Right now, I don't like the way we look," Mertz said. "We don't bunt real well right now, we don't slap bunt real well right now. I'm really spending a lot of time working on hitting."

But the Greyhounds aren't pessimistic about that.

"We're inexperienced," Beranek said. "But we have a lot of good players off the B-squad team and they did real well last year. We just have to pick it up on offense a little."