NUC sticks it to Loyola to advance

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NORTH MANKATO -- Over the last few years, New Ulm Cathedral and Mankato Loyola have crossed paths on the way to the state tournament.

In 2002, Loyola defeated Cathedral in the Section 2A championship game and in 2003, Cathedral repaid the favor by beating the Crusaders twice.

So it was no surprise that the two met again in the Section 2A playoffs, and the Greyhounds picked up where they left off a year ago, defeating the Crusaders 5-3 at Caswell Park.

The Greyhounds then defeated Madelia/Truman 10-3, thus putting Cathedral in the driver's seat for the rest of the playoffs. Cathedral has locked up a spot in the championship game and has to lose twice to whoever they face in the title game.

Julie Seifert got the win in both games. She said that seeing Mankato Loyola pitcher Amy Zellmer in years past helped the Greyhounds know what to expect.

"First of all, we were very confident going in," Seifert said. "We experienced Zellmer twice last year, so we were confident that we were going to get quite a few hits off of her, which we did. It just feels good to beat them again. It feels good beating them by more than one run."

Seifert said it also helped that Madelia/Truman upset Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, the top seed in the other subsection.

"We really confident," Seifert said. "We were pretty relieved too that Madelia upset JWP."

The Crusaders scored the game's first two runs, but Cathedral managed to tie the game in the second when Kirsten Prunty's triple scored Nikki Fischer and Katie Stueber.

Cathedral put together a rally in the bottom of the fifth when junior catcher Jessica Stadick struck out but reached first safely on a wild pitch. Becky Hosna and Kyley Hillesheim followed suit with back-to-back singles.

Seifert's RBI single to right scored Hosna and Fischer singled in two more runs for a 5-2 Cathedral lead.

Loyola scored one more run in the sixth but stranded two.

Hillesheim, Prunty and Seifert had two hits apiece for the Greyhounds.

In the second game, the Greyhounds struck right away, pushing three runs across. But the middle of the order for Madelia/Truman hit Seifert hard in both the first and third innings.

In the third inning, Mary Jacobs doubled and Amanda Heckman singled to put runners on first and third. Ashley Eager's double to right off the fence scored both Jacobs and Heckman. Laura Pace followed with a single, but Seifert got out of the jam when Megan Anderson grounded out to short.

Cathedral scored three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to break the game wide open. Seifert said the three runs in the fifth helped her loosen up more on the mound.

"That definitely helped," Seifert said. "We're a pretty clutch hitting team. The key was scoring three runs in the first inning too. That gives a nice cushion for whoever's pitching."

The Greyhounds now wait until Thursday to play again. Their opponent for the championship game will be determined on Tuesday. M/T takes on the winner of JWP and Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial to decide the opponent.

"I think in the first game with Mankato Loyola, we came in really positive and we really believed we were going to win this game," Cathedral coach Bob Mertz said. "I told the girls, this first game is more important than the second game. If you lose the second, now you only have to play one game on Tuesday, and then you can play Thursday again."

Katie Stueber came in and pitched two scoreless innings for Cathedral (20-3)

"Katie did a nice job, striking out five outta six," Mertz said. "That's going to be a bonus for her next year, coming back as a junior and being the ace pitcher. She's getting to experience this sub section, section pressure. That's all going to be a benefit to her later on."

Madelia/Truman (15-9) will play again at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the right to face Cathedral in the championship game.