Milestone win was 'special' for Mertz

NEW ULM -- Cathedral High softball coach Bob Mertz said that his 400th career win was special in that "it started us out 1-0 on the season and beat a good Wabasso team in the process.

"That maybe made it all that more special. But I have been doing it long enough (21 years as the Hounds' head coach) and have been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time in terms of New Ulm. New Ulm is a hotbed for softball and baseball; the town is so supportive of both programs. The summer program helps us; I have not had so many people congratulate me, since I got married, when I got that (400th) win.

"I am happy that I got that win out of the way right away, so now there is no pressure on the kids."

Mertz said that his philosophy in coaching is that "I have high expectations. My belief is that you manufacture runs; you take what you can get. You make things happen before they happen to you."

Mertz called that "the golden rule in reverse. You do onto others before they do it to you.

"I tell the girls that right away, and they pretty much buy into it. They know that they will have to bunt because we do not have good hitting teams all the time, but we have some pretty smart ballplayers. They know that I like spending weeks in the gym working on fundamentals."

Mertz, who just turned 52, began his head coaching career at Cathedral in 1980, taking over for Bill Brinkman. His first season the Hounds went 14-4 and that success would continue from there. He won his first Tomahawk Conference title in 1989 which sparked a run of conference crowns that went from 1989 until 1995. They did not win the conference title in 1996, but did win the section title that year.

Also in that span from 1989 until 1995, Mertz and the Hounds recorded section titles in 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. They would win state titles three straight years from 1993-95.

Now sitting with a career record of 400-75, Mertz said that he is thankful that he has had good athletes. "We know about the Steph Klaviters, Miram Haglers and Sarah Kuehns, but the supporting cast; players like Annie Grausam, who played for me for three years, and the Rachel Haubrichs -- names that nobody remembers but they were important to us."

Mertz also said that assistant coaches Karan Whitmyer and Jo Benning "have been with me for so long that they know my expectations."

He said that he does not know how long he wants to coach yet. "That will depend a lot on how much I enjoy it. A couple of years ago, I went to talk to (Cathedral Athletic Director) John Vetter and I told him that I had enough," he recalled. "But he talked me into staying on a little longer, and I am glad that he did because I really am enjoying it. It is a great group of girls this year, with five senior leaders."

He said that the future is bright for Cathedral softball. "It (how long he will coach yet) is a year-to-year thing," he said. "I am 52 years old (Thursday), so I gave them a day off. But I look at eighth graders Sam Bode and Kristy Dittrich and seventh grader Toni Hall, who is going to be a special ballplayer, and I really want to coach them. If the chemistry is there in the future, I will continue because I love it."

For the record, Mertz has captured nine conference titles, 13 subsection crowns, five section titles, three state titles along with one state consolation crown and one state academic championship.

WINNING COACHES IN NEW ULM: With Mertz' 400th career win, New Ulm now has four coaches with outstanding win totals. New Ulm High hockey coach Tom Macho has 303 career wins and Eagle baseball coach Jim Senske has a mark of 637 career wins that will never be touched.

Also, New Ulm High softball coach Jim Pearson currently has 353 wins for his career.

SPRINGFIELD ENDS SHARED TIME PROGRAMS: A cost-cutting decision by the Springfield School Board to slice paired softball and baseball pairing with Cedar Mountain and Comfrey next season "will have an effect" on the Springfield High School baseball program next year.

"We do have some nice players Cedar Mountain and Comfrey coming up," said Tiger coach Bob Fink. "But the numbers have not been there. In fact, we only have one kid in junior high from either Cedar Mountain or Comfrey who is out for baseball. We have three who are in ninth or tenth grade and we have a juniors from Cedar Mountain (Trent Bode) and Keith Schumacher from Comfrey. We have one senior, Adam Fischer, from Cedar Mountain."

Fink said that in the pairing of Cedar Mountain with Springfield in baseball that in his first five years of coaching, 23 of the 25 players from Cedar Mountain "have started in their senior year. That was one reason that we were so strong; I believe that we won (Tomahawk) Conference titles three of those five years. In fact, one year we had more starters from Cedar Mountain than from Springfield."

But Fink said that that success somehow dropped as the numbers fell in players from Cedar Mountain.

"I had a summer tournament last year and the 7th and 8th graders from Cedar Mountain took second in that tournament," he said. "They had five or six players on that team who were exceptional, but a none of those kids came out for baseball this year."

He did say that there are two players from Comfrey who are now in the ninth grade "who will be outstanding players."

There is no longer any support for the VFW baseball program in Morgan, which hampers the kids who want to play baseball.

That has meant a reteaching of baseball when Fink go those 10th grade players into the Springfield baseball program. "The last six years in April, our winning percentage is right around .400 while in May that improves to .700."

Fink did say that working with the Cedar Mountain and Comfrey players "was just an outstanding experience. Ninety percent of those kids that I had were not only good ballplayers but outstanding young men."

EAGLES KEEP TRADITION: One of the "mystics" at New Ulm High in baseball is its ability in the past to come from behind. That habit occurred again Tuesday afternoon when the Eagles came from behind in the last two innings to beat Mankato West 3-2 in their season opener.

"It was almost as if we were beaten (down 2-0 in the top of the seventh with two outs an no runners on base) and then all of a sudden we got a couple of runs to tie it and then win it in the eighth," said coach Jim Senske. "That was a nice comeback win for us."

Senske called it a "typical first-game-of-the-season performance. Pitchers had difficulty throwing strikes and hitters did not know the strike zone very well; we have not been outside except for two days and have had very little hitting practice outside, so that should get better."

Senske commented that the defense "was pretty solid for us. We did get a couple of clutch hits from people who we hope will be there."

He was again especially happy with that comeback win, beating West and former assistant coach Ethan Anderson, now the head coach of the Scarlets.

"That was a good sign," he said. "I think that this come-from-behind win continues the New Ulm mystic; we have done this a lot over the years. This was obviously the first time with this club and hopefully they will be the type of team that will fight and claw back this year. Let's hope that we don't have to do this often."

Senske said that starter Craig Spelbrink "struggled. He did not have his normal velocity but he did OK once he settled down. Bob Wellmann (sophomore) came in and threw a lot more strikes and did a nice job in his first performance. We know what Spelbrink can do; he was not anywhere near up to form. Wellmann was going so well that we did not throw Andy Stolt as we intended to."

HEITZMAN HIGH ON DRAFT LIST: Chances are very good that New Ulm native Aaron Heitzman, now pitching at Minnesota State-Mankato, will be drafted this June.

The left-handed Heitzman's fastball has been timed in the mid-80's and Prospects Plus, published by Baseball America, has Heitzman as the third best college pitching prospect in Minnesota behind Minnesota's Ben Birk (who is controlled by the Florida Marlins) and the Gophers' junior Mike Kobow, who is from Hutchinson.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer