Greyhounds oust Mankato Loyola

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NORTH MANKATO -- New Ulm Cathedral was able to prove in the Section 2A softball championship game that their first win against Mankato Loyola was not a fluke.

The Greyhounds were able to field themselves out of bases-loaded jams in the second and fifth innings to hold the defending state champion Crusaders to no runs, winning 1-0 to advance to the state tournament.

Cathedral will play the winner of Section 5A at 1 p.m. Friday, May 6 at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

Last year, the Greyhounds were eliminated by the Crusaders in the championship as Loyola went to their second straight state tournament appearance.

"In the beginning of the season, I never would have guessed this was going to happen," Mertz said. "My goal is win the Tomahawk, but I remember asking the first day of practice, 'How are we going to beat Mankato Loyola. What are we going to do different this year? It's all going to come down to us and them."

Mertz knew that hitting would be key. Last year, Loyola pitcher Amy Zellmer's strikeouts were in double-digits. So Mertz had the girls work on hitting. This year, Zellmer struck out six, but the Greyhounds also had six hits. Kelly Kuehn went 1-2, Julie Seifert was 2-3, Katie Gieseke was 1-3 and Melissa Kraus went 1-2. No Loyola player had more than one hit or was better than .333.

"We tried to move 'em up to second base and then get that one big hit," Mertz said. "In this game, you need to score first, and I knew if you could score on Mankato [Loyola], and put the pressure on them, that's going to really help."

The big hit of the game that put the pressure on the Crusaders was Nikki Fischer's hard-hit grounder up the middle to center that scored Kuehn, the game's only run.

"We were prepared for it," said Fischer, who was 1-3 for the Greyhounds. "We knew that she was going to pitch and that we had to hit it. This is the game that we had to show ourselves, and we did it all."

Not only did the Greyhounds avoid strikeouts and put the bat to the ball, they also backed up their pitcher in the field.

The two innings in which Loyola had their hits, the Crusaders loaded the bases. Both innings, the Greyhounds kept their wits about them and exited the innings errorless and without giving up a run.

With the bases loaded in the second inning, Kyley Hillesheim caught a fly ball in center for out two, and Liz Prunty slipped her glove under what could have been a ground ball single for the third out. in the fifth inning, Prunty again kept the shutout intact when she nabbed a grounder and threw the runner out at home for the second out. Shelly Waibel then caught a fly ball in right field to end the inning.

"I was nervous -- I just knew that we had to get the job done," Prunty said. "I had faith in our team that we were going to do it, so that helped me calm down a little bit."

"All of us working as a team [was key]," Prunty said. "I came up halfway through the season ... and they really give me confidence as a team. We all work together, and I think that's what's made us so successful."

Pitching, Seifert struck out just one batter and threw consistently throughout the game, giving up five hits, but she gives credit for the win to the team's defense.

"I was a little nervous a few times during the game when the bases were loaded and we had one out," Seifert said. "But I am so confident in my defense -- they have always pulled through, and I knew that if the ball was hit, they would be ... making the plays exactly how they did.

"The seventh inning, I was more excited than anything," she said. "So many years, it came down to Mankato Loyola and us, and finally we can say we're going to state."