Errors haunt Cathedral

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It was not the type of game that Cathedral head softball coach Bob Mertz wanted to end the regular season with, preparing for postseason play.

The Greyhounds committed six errors, three of those coming in the seventh inning, as they fell to Le Sueur-Henderson 6-5 Thursday afternoon in nonconference softball.

All six of the Giant runs were unearned.

Misty Fitzpatrick picked up the win for the Giants, allowing six hits while striking out one and walking four.

Andrea Haala was touched for the loss for the Hounds, pitching the final 2 1/3 innings in relief of the starter, freshman Amber Franta. Franta struck out six in her 4 2/3 innings, walking five.

Jess Budor had two hits and two RBIs for the Giants, with Megan McFarland also driving in two runs.

No Cathedral player had more than one hit.

"It was tough," said Mertz. "Against Sleepy Eye Public we had two errors in the first game and four (errors) in the second game; we did not give our pitchers a lot of support and I felt bad for Amber (Franta) and Andrea (Haala). We juts are not making the plays right now; it was a very poor effort on our part."

The Giants would threaten in the first two innings, putting runners on first and second with two outs. But on both occasions, Franta got out of trouble.

That would not be the case in the third inning, however, as she walked Lynn Bender to lead off the inning and Kim Late was safe on an error by shortstop Natalia Haala. A one-out wild pitch advanced the runners before Megan McFarland lashed a single to center field for a 2-0 lead.

But the Hounds would counter that with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Chandra Petersen reached on an error and went to second on a wild pitch. Singles by Kari Franta and Kristin Beranek loaded the bases before a fielder's choice and a Jenny Helget single tied the game. Natalia Haala's ground ball handcuffed second baseman Emily Schaeffer and allowed Andrea Haala to score the go-ahead run.

But in the fourth inning, that "E" word again came into play.

After Franta set down the first two hitters of the inning, a single and a hit batter put runners on base. Latke's ground ball to third glanced off the glove of Andrea Dittrich to load the bases, and Budor made that miscue hurt when she drove a two-run single to center for a lead that LSH would not lose.

Tessa Hodapp reached on an error in the fourth and Peterson was safe on an infield single, but Hodapp was out trying to steal third as Peterson took second. A wild pitch advanced her to third before another wild pitch tied the game.

"We lost (three) runners on base on steal attempts," commented Mertz. "We have a double steal going on and the runner (at first) knows that she has to come up short to get the run across and did not. We score that run and it is a different game."

Cathedral, which opens their sub-section playoffs Monday at Le Center, threatened in the bottom of the sixth when Natalia Haala singled and Dittrich walked but failed to score.

The Giants used that as an incentive in the top of the seventh to score twice on an infield hit, a sacrifice bunt and two errors on the same play to score one run. The third error of the inning added an insurance run.

Cathedral cut the lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the inning when Andrea Haala walked, took second on a groundout, swiped third and scored on a throwing error.

"'We did come back today, but unless we play better we will be done," said Mertz. "I cannot remember a Cathedral team playing so bad so late in the season."

The Hounds' B-squad won 14-4 to end their season at 20-1. Liesl Genelin and Stacy Seidl each had two hits. Ashley Hillesheim got the win, allowing six hits and fanning five.

The Cathedral C-squad ended its season undefeated at 17-0 by outlasting the Giants 10-9. Sam Bode got the mound win, with Krissy Bode getting the save.

Kristen Dietz went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double to lead the bats. Teammate Melissa Kraus had the game-winning triple in the seventh.

LE SUEUR 002 200 2 -- 6 5 3

CATHEDRAL 003 100 1 -- 5 6 6

WP--Fitzpatrick, LP--A.Haala.