The senior left fielder was able to touch all four bags in the first inning of Game 1 after a hit and a fielding error brought him all the way home, then he followed that up with a true inside-the-park home run, the first of his career, in the fourth inning.

“That was bad,” joked Rieser. “I’m not in good enough shape for that … It’s been a couple years coming. It just shows the work. Shows the work we put in as a team too, because we’re always working.”

Rieser and the rest of the Greyhounds won both games in five innings, topping the Mustangs 16-2 in Game 1 and 22-2 in Game 2. With the wins, Cathedral improves to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in the conference.

“I think a lot of people [on the team] put in a lot of work in the offseason,” Rieser said. “And that’s a huge part of every sport. Coming into the season ready to play and still working hard in practice every day. Playing for each other as a team is a big part of it too.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Cathedral’s Alex Portner throws over to first base after getting the out at second during a Tomahawk Division baseball game against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Thursday at Mueller Park.

Cathedral did suffer one significant loss as Josh Forstner, the starting pitcher in Game 1, collided with BLHS’s first baseman during a play, exiting the game with a lower leg injury.

Forstner recorded two strikeouts and one walk in two hitless innings before being replaced by Alex Portner on the mound, who closed out the game with two strikeouts and two earned runs on two hits in three innings. At the plate, Rieser was 4 for 4 with his home run, five RBIs and three runs scored, while Portner was 2 for 3 with four runs scored. Lane Ruch was 2 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored, while Evan Blekestad was 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Cathedral opened the game with a four-run first inning, highlighted by Rieser rounding the bases and a double from Blekestad. Cathedral upped the ante with a seven-run second inning, where Rieser, Eli Anderson, Ryder Collins and Evan Starke all recorded RBIs. Portner singled and came home on a hit from Anderson for the lone score of the third inning, and BLHS scored its first run of the game in the top of the fourth. But Rieser drove home three runs with his inside-the-park homer to cap off a four-run fourth inning to close out the game. BLHS managed one more run in the fifth, but Cathedral kept the rest of the inning clean for the win.

Henry Forst made the start and earned the win in Game 2, striking out four and allowing two earned runs on one hit in three innings. Nathan Murphy pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out two and allowing three hits. At the plate for the Greyhounds, Collins was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and three runs scored, while Camden Berg was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Blekestad added a hit, two RBIs and four runs scored, while Forst was 1 for 2 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

Rieser and Forst both picked up RBIs during a five-run first inning for the Greyhounds, then Cathedral recorded five runs before its first hit in the second, totaling six runs after five BLHS errors. The Mustangs put up two runs in the bottom of the second, but an Anderson triple kicked off a four-run third inning for a 15-2 lead. The Greyhounds added two runs in the fourth, then wrapped up the game with a five-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Blekestad.

Cathedral is scheduled to play at BOLD on Friday.