Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Logan Mielke slides into third safely during a first-round game with Martin County West in Section 2A Baseball Tournament on Thursday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral pounded out 17 hits and added 12 stolen bases as the fourth-seeded Greyhounds opened Section 2A play with a 17-0 win over 13th-seeded Martin County West Thursday afternoon at Johnson Park.

The game was stopped after 4 1/2 innings because of the 10-run lead rule.

Levi Franta got the pitching win for Cathedral, now 17-4. The senior right-hander allowed just two hits — a first-inning infield single to Cameron Meyer and a fifth inning base hit to right field to Lucas Larson. He struck out seven.

Larson took the loss for the Mavericks (1-15). He went four innings and struck out one.

Elijah Rieser — batting from his No. 8 spot in the order — had three hits and two RBIs along with four stolen bases.

Jake Finstad, Colin Anderson, Franta, Logan Mielke and Alex Portner each had two hits. Anderson had two doubles, with Franta and Caleb Forstner each doubling. Logan Mielke added a triple.

Cathedral now faces fifth-seeded Mankato Loyola, a 3-1 winner over Heron Lake-Okabena/Lakefield, Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Johnson Park in Section 2A winner’s bracket play.

For the Greyhounds and head coach Alan Woitas, it was a case of coming out right away.

“We came out from get-go today and were ready to play and we hit the ball well today,” Woitas said.

And Franta, with just a few minor speed bumps in the game in three hit batters and two walks, dominated the Mavericks.

“He has been a real good pitcher for us for the last three years and he rose to the occasion today,” Woitas said. “He may have given a little too many free bases, but he will fix that moving forward.”

Cathedral plated three runs in the bottom of the first when Finstad led off with a double. An Anderson flyout to center moved him to third. A Franta single made it 1-0.

Franta had three RBIs in the game total.

Mielke followed with a single before an Elliot Schabert ground ball resulted in an error and two runs scoring.

The Greyhounds pushed five more runs across in the bottom of the third on five hits and a MCW error — all coming after there were two outs.

Forstner doubled and Brock Wellmann reached on an infield single.

A double steal scored Forstner, with a Rieser base hit scoring pinch runner Josh Forstner.

Alex Portner’s base hit upped the lead to 6-0 before a walk to Finstad and an Anderson two-run double had the Greyhounds in cruise control at 8-0.

Cathedral then salted the game away in the fourth when it sent 13 men to the plate and banged out seven hits in a nine-run inning.

Mielke started the inning with a triple to center field and Schabert walked. After a groundout scored a run, Cathedral added eight more runs.

“We got a lot of different people in the game today,” Woitas said. “A lot of people contributed. Our seven, eight and nine hitters had a good day [with six hits]. This win gets us into the double-elimination portion of the tournament. There are some really good teams in this section. It is going to be a grind here on out — you are going to have to play your best each game.”