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May 2, 2000
Hounds get revengeBy BOB VARMETTE Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- New Ulm Cathedral athletic director John Vetter said games were no longer big, they were huge or large. The Greyhounds played like it. The McLeod West Falcons didn't. Taking advantage of Falcon breakdowns in almost every phase of the game, Cathedral took a 13-6 victory from McLeod West Monday at North Park in Tomahawk Conference softball. "This is a big win for us," Cathedral coach Bob Mertz said. "They had a lot of errors, but I said before the game we're a much better team than they are. We just got to put the bat on the ball and make them make the plays." McLeod West (8-2, 6-2 Tomahawk) didn't. The Falcons committed seven errors and stranded 11 in the game, leaving the bases full in the first and the sixth. Even the normally reliable Abby Tongen (8-2) had a bad day. Tongen lasted the entire game, but allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits, walking five. "They deserved to win, they played better tonight," McLeod West coach Bill Neubarth said. "They hit the ball well, they didn't make mistakes running. We made mental errors, and even mental errors will kill you against a team like this." The victory by Cathedral (5-2, 5-2) leaves both teams with a pair of conference losses. Both teams now trail conference leader Sleepy Eye High by one loss. "We felt we could maybe split with Wabasso to still win the conference if we beat these guys," Neubarth said. "But now we know we got to win all the rest of the games this year." Junior Dee Wilfahrt (3-2) got the win for Cathedral in relief of starter Andrea Dittrich. Wilfahrt gave up four runs on nine hits in six innings. Dittrich went one-plus before again having trouble with her pitching mechanics. Dittrich was charged with two runs on one hit; she walked two and hit two McLeod West batters. Wilfahrt entered in the second down 1-0 and inherited Laura Loncorich, who was Dittrich's second walk. A pair of singles, including a two-out blooper by Tongen down the line in right resulted in a 3-0 Falcon advantage. Steph Todd followed Tongen with a triple for a 4-0 McLeod West lead. "I knew this was a big game," Wilfahrt said. "After a while, I started getting into it. Once I got into it, it just felt good. ... I knew the team was behind me and they would come through." Cathedral picked up a pair of runs each in the second and third innings to tie the game at 4-all, then took the lead with a run in the fourth before exploding for five runs in the fifth. Wilfahrt started out the fifth with a fly ball that turned into a four-base error. Later in the inning, Laura Hazuka belted a three-run, inside-the-park home run. Hazuka finished 3-for-4 with four RBI. "(Tongen) had a real nice motion, it was easy for me to hit," Hazuka said. "She threw a lot of rise balls, which I like to hit. It just really flowed today." In junior varsity action, Cathedral (7-0) routed McLeod West 19-4 in five innings. Ashley Hillesheim went the distance, allowing five hits and striking out seven, and Jessica Lewis had a pair of triples and four RBI to lead Cathedral offensively. McLeod West will host a doubleheader with Wabasso at 4:30 p.m today. Cathedral will host a doubleheader with Buffalo Lake-Hector at 4:30 p.m. today. MCLEOD WEST 130 011 0 -- 6 10 7 CATHEDRAL 022 153 x -- 13 11 0 A.Tongen and Kreie. Dittrich, Wilfahrt (2) and Balbach. W--Wilfahrt, 3-2. L--A.Tongen, 8-2. HRs--Hazuka.
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