Mertz wins 400th

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It was really a pretty unmemorable first game. There were few hits and plenty of errors.

But one memorable thing emerged from New Ulm Cathedral's 6-3 Tomahawk Conference softball win Tuesday afternoon over the Wabasso Rabbits. Bob Mertz got his 400th win.

"It's nice to get it out of the way right away," Mertz said. "All winter long it was in the back of my mind. What a nice way to get it out of the way, beating a very good team."

It was a win Mertz wished he could have celebrated last year. Earning his 400th win last year would have earned Cathedral (1-0, 1-0 Tomahawk) the conference title.

Mertz, who is the winningest high school softball coach in Minnesota, admitted he considered it an accomplishment, but still, he didn't tell his players before the game what a win would mean. They didn't find out until a short ceremony following the game where Cathedral athletic director John Vetter presented Mertz with a plaque commemorating the milestone.

"I'm glad that we could be the team to do it," Cathedral third baseman Chandra Petersen said. "And I'm glad we did at our first home game, too."

Petersen played a big role in getting Mertz his 400th win, which also was an important early-season Tomahawk win for the 10th-ranked Greyhounds. Petersen collected a pair of Cathedral's five hits on the day, and had two sacrifices and an RBI.

Both teams struggled offensively, showing the effects of both the Rabbits and the Greyhounds only having practiced outside once prior to the game. Wabasso was only able to muster three hits off Cathedral's Dee Wilfahrt (1-0).

"We didn't hit the ball till the fifth or sixth inning," Wabasso coach John VanLoy said. "She's a real good pitcher, no doubt about that. You can't take anything away from her, but we knew that coming in. We knew we had to be ready and we just weren't."

Wilfahrt cruised until back-to-back hits from Andrea Fennern and Amanda Frank broke up the no-hitter in the top of the fifth inning and denied the shut out. Wilfahrt was one out away from getting out of the inning when Fennern blooped a single to shallow right field and Frank followed with a slicing soft liner that just dropped inside the right foul line for a double that scored Fennern.

Wabasso (0-1, 0-1) mounted another threat in the top of the seventh, capitalizing upon three Cathedral errors to score a pair of runs. But the Greyhounds ended the threat when Annie Moore flied out to right fielder Jessica Lewis and Lewis gunned down Amanda Frank at third.

Wilfahrt started the game in mid-season form, retiring the Rabbits in order in the first. Cassey Price reached on an error in the second, but no Wabasso runner got past second base until the fifth.

Wilfahrt went the distance for the win, allowing one earned run on three hits. The senior struck out five and walked three.

"Being that it was the first game, I think I did pretty well," Wilfahrt said. "I know I can do better next time, but it was good. I think my biggest thing was that I kind of got down on myself when I shouldn't have. That's pretty much my big thing."

Wilfahrt got the run support she needed from an opportunistic Greyhound offense. Cathedral made the most of five hits off Jenny VanLoy (0-1), who allowed only one earned run, but walked six.

Junior Kristin Beranek got the Greyhounds off to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, walking, going to second on a sacrifice by Petersen and then scoring on the first of the Rabbits' five errors. Wilfahrt got Cathedral a 2-0 margin in the second, scoring on Nikki Fischer's RBI groundout after reaching on a walk.

The Greyhounds added three unearned runs in the fourth, taking advantage of three Wabasso errors, and singles from senior Kari Franta and Petersen. Lewis scored Cathedral's final run in the bottom of the sixth inning on a double steal after reaching on a lead-off single.

For the Greyhounds, who lack power in their lineup, it was exactly the way Mertz had planned it.

"We're going to run, we're going to go," Mertz said. "We're going to make them throw the ball around and hopefully throw it away. There's going to have to be some people who get big hits ... but other than that if we can do the little things right, we'll be alright this year."

And the Greyhounds doing the little things Tuesday added up to a big win for their coach.

"I didn't know that (it was his 400th win), so I'm pretty excited," Wilfahrt said. "I think it's great that we did it today."

Wabasso will host Buffalo Lake-Hector Monday. Cathedral will travel to Sleepy Eye High Monday.

WABASSO 000 010 2--3 3 5

CATHEDRAL 110 301 x--6 5 4

Jen.VanLoy and Jes.VanLoy. Wilfahrt and Balbach. W--Wilfahrt, 1-0. L--Jen.VanLoy, 0-1. HRs--None.