Cathedral preps for state tournament run

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -Despite all of the odds, the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds softball team is heading to the state tournament after their section championship win over Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s. The Greyhounds won two games against one of their biggest Tomohawk Conference rivals to clinch a spot at this year’s Class A state tournament.

Cathedral is no stranger to competing at state. The program historically is one of the best teams not only in our area but the entire state.

The Greyhounds last trip to Caswell Park for state took place in 2019. Now, they are back as one of the final teams left standing.

“You know I’ve been here a few times and it never ever gets any worse,” said head coach Jamie Kuehn. “It’s sweet every single time. It’s the best feeling. Especially for these girls, you have to hand it to them, they never gave up. The first game, especially when we were down and then in the second game they put on 10 runs against a good St. Mary’s team. It was just the icing on the cake.”

“We’re very excited,” said senior pitcher Megan Holland. “We came into the game very motivated because we knew we could beat them, we just had to execute everything the best that we could. And we did exactly that and we’re all very excited to come back next week for the tournament.”

If the team is to make a run later this week towards a state title, it’ll take a strong defensive effort behind star pitcher Megan Holland.

“Megan is a gamer, she will never give up,” Kuehn said. “You ask to take her out of a game and she gets angry. So, she’s going to be so hard to replace next year and I’m so happy she gets to end her senior year on a really high note.”

“For pitching, I just hit my spots the best that I can and I let my defense take care of it if they put it in play,” Holland said.

The Greyhounds are playing their best softball at the right time of the season. Even though the team is unseeded, it’s a program that’s always dangerous once the state tournament lights come on.

“We’re just going to keep this momentum going hopefully and carry that through to Thursday and Friday,” Kuehn said. “Everybody that gets to state knows how to play softball so you have to bring it every single game and never give up. As the girls say, don’t let your foot off the gas.”

The Greyhounds will look to capture their first state title since 2014.

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