After winning the Class A State Championship this year, Cathedral now holds the record for most state tournament appearances in Class A and most Championships of any class, appearing in 19 state tournaments and winning eight of them.

Cathedral’s legacy is due in no small part to Bob Mertz, head coach of the Greyhounds for 39 years. Mertz helped lead Cathedral to seven of its state titles from 1993 to 2014, with a overall coaching record of 802-141 (.850) by the time he returned in 2018.

However, this season was the first time the team won a title without Mertz coaching, though, his granddaughter, sophomore Abbey Hillesheim, was on the team and played an instrumental role in the Greyhounds’ state tournament run.

“It’s a really big honor,” Hillesheim said. “Cathedral’s been known for being pretty successful every single year, and it’s really a good feeling to be able to be a part of that and a part of such a successful team. And I think it just comes with out team chemistry, how we’ve all known each other for so long. With such a small school, it really helps us be able to work as a team and know what we want to do for our school. I think it was really nice and it felt really good to be able to contribute any way that I could to such a successful year.”

New Ulm Cathedral’s Abbey Hillesheim delivers a pitch during the first game of the Section 2A Softball Championship against United South Central on May 30 at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

Hillesheim was in her first season on the varsity roster and was unexpectedly thrust into the role of starting pitcher.

“I was really unsure what I was going to have to do,” Hillesheim said. “I knew Madelyn [Haala] was having issues with her elbow, but I wasn’t 100% sure what she was going to be able to do and not do, so I kind of just played it by ear knowing that I was going to have any role that I could and make the best of it. So when [head coach] Jamie [Kuehn] told me that I was going to be pitching, I had worked myself in the winter and was kind of preparing for the chances that I might have. It was a little bit of a shock to me but I was more than ready to do it.”

Hillesheim came through for her team, going 14-1 in the circle with 58 strikeouts and a 2.05 ERA in 88 2/3 innings pitched.

“We’re very proud of her,” Mertz said. “She did have a nice year pitching and an outstanding state tournament. The team was really really special.”

Mertz also pointed out that Abbey’s mom, Shannon, also won a state tournament in her sophomore year under Mertz’s coaching.

Mertz said that something that really stood out to him about this year’s team as a whole was the defense.

“This year we had a really good defensive team,” Mertz said. “I don’t remember the last time we had such a good defensive team. We were so strong up the middle with our two seniors Kiah Helget at short and Alexa Hornick at second and then Jenna [Hotovec] out in the outfield. They were just so good. They had great softball IQ. And offensively, one through nine we were solid. And I thought the shortcoming our team might be pitching, but as it was, they excelled also.”

Hillesheim was supplimented by seventh-grade pitcher Jayde Altermatt this season, who began making starts during the week of April 21, where the Greyhounds played five games over the course of four days. Altermatt ended up having a great season as well, going 12-1 with 89 strikeouts and a 1.2 ERA in 81 2/3 innings pitched. The two pitchers complemented each other’s styles well.

“Jayde Altermatt had been doing a really great job at the junior high level,” Mertz said. “And we brought her in. She has a little more speed than Abbey, she’s not as accurate and she needs to get a changeup. Abbey has a nice changeup, and Abbey has very good location.”

While Altermatt took the main pitching duties in the state tournament, Hilleshiem took her presence at the plate to the next level, hitting the first two runs of her career in the final two games of the season in the state semifinals and championship game.

Both home runs came at pivotal points of the games, with her first homer against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton getting the Greyhounds on the board and her second against Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley giving Cathedral the lead. Hillesheim’s play at the plate led her to be selected to the All-Tournament Team, an honor that surprised her.

“I knew once I wasn’t pitching that I was going to have to step it up at the plate and do my part offensively, and I was honestly just hoping to get some base hits,” she said. “I was looking for any way on, and I just got ahold of a ball right and it went out. I was really happy about it, but I wasn’t looking for it at all.

“I was really excited, I’ve never hit a home run before, those were my first two. So it was a really great feeling knowing I could do it, and that I could do it for my team and for my group of seniors who I look up to a lot. I know they were really happy for me and I was happy for myself and the fact that they came at such an important time was even a better feeling. It made it like twice as good.”

Hitting was one of the areas that Hillesheim felt she had improved most over the season as she turned in a .304 batting average over 56 at-bats with six doubles and eight RBIs.

“That was kind of a goal I had going into the season too,” Hillesheim said. “I wanted to be agressive at the plate and make contact when I could. But I also think my knowledge of the game and my understanding of when to do what has also improved. My catcher Jaylin [Hartness] and I talk about it a lot, if I’m in the circle pitching, what I have to do with each batter and what we can do to throw them off course. Knowing where to throw, what to pitch, just really got better as the season went on and as I got more experience.”

Hillesheim’s offensive improvement also stood out to Mertz.

“It was very nice seeing it this year, and I’m really proud of her,” Mertz said. “She had a great offensive state tournament, going 4 for 6 and hitting two home runs … I’m really just so proud of her and the whole team.”

Mertz is also very impressed with Hillisheim’s work ethic and drive to improve her game.

“She works very hard,” Mertz said. “She wants to play at the next level, and she really works at it. She’s got a personal trainer working with her in summer, she puts the extra time in with the batting and pitching coach. She’s got an athletic body, and she’s really got a neat hitting stance. I see a lot of really great things happening for her as the next two years go on.”

This offseason, Hillesheim wants to work more on her pitching, with eyes set on returning to the state tournament next year.

“I’m for sure going to work on my pitching,” she said. “I don’t play basketball anymore, so now I spend the winter working on pitching a lot. And I’m sure I’ll work on my hitting a lot and my mental game too and working on setting mental goals that I can accomplish next season.”

Mertz got a chance to coach his granddaughter last year on the JV team, but now happily watches her from the stands, though he is never hesitant to offer advice if asked.

“It was a fun year, a fun experience,” Mertz said. “Watching a state tournament happen where I wasn’t a part of it. Jamie will text me every once in a while and talk to me and ask for my two cents. I’ll usually give her my three cents, but she’s really open to accepting help when she can get it, and that’s why they’re as successful as they are.”

Hillesheim, for her part, says one of the biggest things she has learned from her grandfather was how to approach the game.

“He teaches me that I need to be ready for whatever comes my way,” Hillesheim said. “He’s taught me determination and resilience and how to be the best that I can be at whatever. He’s obviously helped me with mechanics and fundamentals, but also just really knowing what to do and how to live in it. That’s been super helpful, to have the right mindset and work hard.

The only way Mertz officially helps the team now is by driving the bus. However, as he points out, that job might be more important than it first seems.