ST. CLOUD — It took a little while to get the second-seeded New Ulm Cathedral offense going Tuesday morning, but starting right-hander Levi Franta didn’t need much help to begin with.

Regardless, Franta got more than enough help at the plate as the Greyhounds shut out Yellow Medicine East 7-0 in the first round of the Class A State Baseball Tournament at Joe Faber Field.

“Curveball was working today,” Franta said. “It didn’t work really early in the game. I kept working on it and it started working and they kept chasing it outside, so I kept throwing it. And that fastball inside got really at them, too.”

The Sting (17-4) fall to consolation play with the loss and will take on Hinckley-Finlayson at 10 a.m. today at Bob Cross Field in Sauk Rapids.

The Greyhounds (20-5) will next play at 11 a.m. today back at Joe Faber Field against third-seeded Lyle-Pacelli. Franta earned the win in five innings of one-hit ball. He struck out seven, walked one and hit a batter.

YME, making its first-ever state baseball tourney appearance, got a strong effort on the mound from 6-foot-6 starting righty Bryce Sneller.

A costly error to open the fifth hurt the Sting, however, as Colin Anderson reached. Jake Finstad sac bunted Anderson up a bag before Kyle Seidl walked.

A wild pitch moved both Cathedral runners up before Franta was walked intentionally to load the bases. Sneller got Thomas Finstad to strike out swinging, but the Greyhounds poured it on after that.

Carter Haala’s two-run single to right moved Franta to third and put the Greyhounds up 3-0. Another wild pitch moved Haala to second before Brock Wellmann was walked and Matt Seidl was hit by a pitch to bring home Franta for a 4-0 lead.

That hit batter ended Sneller’s day on the mound as Nicholas Moritz took over in relief.

Logan Mielke then pinch hit with the bases full and turned a fastball into a double to deep right-center, clearing the bases and giving the Greyhounds the 7-0 lead.

“You’ve got to let the team hit, you get your chance eventually,” Mielke said of his pinch-hit double. “You’ve just got be up and ready, cheer on the team, getting ready for a base hit anytime you need it.”

Sneller was tagged for one earned run in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits, five walks and struck out five.

Moritz pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and no walks. Cody Dahlager had both of YME’s hits, finishing 2 for 4 with a double.

Kyle Seidl entered to pitch in the top of the sixth for the Greyhounds and ran into trouble right away as Dahlager had a leadoff double down the line in left. Back-to-back walks to Braden Nelson and Sneller loaded the bases.

“Cathedral’s pitcher did a really good job of keeping everybody off balance,” YME head coach Trevor Schulte said. “Cody just did what Cody does. He battled at-bats and forced the New Ulm guy to come at him and attack.”

Colin Anderson took over on the mound with no outs and picked up his teammate with a strikeout before forcing a lineout and groundout to escape the inning unscathed.

“Yeah, get a hit,” Schulte said with a laugh when asked what the team could have done differently to score in the situation. “If we would have gotten a hit there, it would have allowed us to settle in a bit more and maybe relax. We pressed a little bit… our kids did a really good job, but their pitcher did a great job. You’ve got to tip your hat to them.”

Kyle Seidl led the Cathedral bats, reaching on a pair of infield singles to go 2 for 3 on the day with a walk and two runs scored.

Franta helped his own cause in the third with a single to right-center that scored Kyle Seidl and gave the Greyhounds the early 1-0 lead.

Anderson finished the game with two hitless innings of relief, striking out one and allowing one walk.

The Sting will now compete for a fifth-place medal in the consolation bracket. With a win in today’s 10 a.m. game against Hinckley-Finlayson, Yellow Medicine East would play in the consolation bracket championship game at 2:30 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.

“We’re just going to keep fighting. We want to end on that positive note,” Schulte said about tomorrow’s consolation bracket. “We get the opportunity here in this consolation bracket to pick up a win. If we can pick up two, it’s a great ending to everything.”

The Greyhounds, who were bumped into consolation play at last year’s state tournament after an opening-round loss to Hayfield, are looking at this year as a new opportunity and a chance at redemption.

“It feels great to come out here and win,” Franta said. “Last year we got let down early, but this year we’re here to come back and win it all.”