With regional play set to start, a couple of local teams look like contenders while others aim to shake the outward appearance of pretenders.

Waterloo (21-9) found out its Class 3A regional pairing last Wednesday. 

The Bulldogs open regional play May 29 against Freeburg in Mascoutah. The other schools in that regional are Mascoutah, Cahokia and East St. Louis.

The Monroe County Baseball Tournament was won by Waterloo on Saturday as the team downed Columbia and Gibault. 

In the 14-12 victory over Columbia, Max Oswald went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Conrad Lindhorst contributed two hits and two RBIs for the ‘Dogs.

In the tourney final, Waterloo won 12-0 over Gibault. Lindhorst went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Patrick O’Donnell struck out six in five innings for the pitching win. 

Waterloo continued its winning ways Monday with a 14-3 victory over Valmeyer. O’Donnell homered, and Rowan Schilling collected two hits with three RBIs.

On Tuesday, it was a 7-4 victory over Civic Memorial as O’Donnell tripled twice and drove in four runs.

This past Thursday, it was a 5-1 win for the ‘Dogs at home over Granite City. O’Donnell homered, and Chase Zimmerman picked up the pitching win after allowing just three hits over six innings. 

Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs picked up a 7-3 victory over Civic Memorial. Chaten Kirchner went 4-for-4 with two runs, and Carter Jones picked up the pitching win, going five and one-thirds innings.

Waterloo hosts Highland on Wednesday, plays Friday at Belleville West, and then plays Monday at Edwardsville. 

Kirchner is hitting .397 with a .532 on base percentage and eight doubles, followed by O’Donnell at .396 with seven home runs, 18 stolen bases, 26 RBIs and 29 runs. 

Lindhorst is the top pitcher for the Bulldogs with a 2.05 ERA over 41 innings. 

Columbia (15-13) smacked three home runs in its Saturday loss to Waterloo in the county tourney. Micah James went 3-for-5 with two round-trippers, and Cash Bailey went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs.

The Eagles won 15-7 over Valmeyer in the third place game Saturday. Mason and Xavier Voegele – the younger brothers of Kansas University star pitcher Dom Voegele – combined for the mound victory. Keegan Thompson doubled and drove in three runs for Columbia. 

On Thursday, Columbia won 9-2 over Litchfield. Connor Basinski struck out nine in six innings pitched, with Mason Voegele, Will Kleinschmidt and Brady Hemminghaus each driving in two runs.

The Eagles lost 5-3 at Pleasant Plains last Tuesday. The Eagles trailed 4-0 after the first inning but battled back.

Columbia opens Class 2A Roxana Regional play Thursday against Marquette. Others in the regional are Staunton, Althoff and Roxana. The regional final is 11 a.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to next Wednesday’s Teutopolis Sectional.

James leads Columbia in hitting at .434 with a .535 on base percentage, four homers, 10 stolen bases, 21 RBIs and 25 runs. Bailey is hitting .356 with six homers and 20 RBIs. 

Basinski is Columbia’s top pitcher at 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA over 38 innings.

Gibault (9-18) advanced to the county tourney final Saturday by virtue of a 4-3 victory over Valmeyer (10-19). The Hawks only had three hits in the contest. Nolan Snell had a hit and two RBIs.

A rematch between these two local rivals takes place 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Class 1A Valmeyer Regional. 

In Gibault’s loss to Waterloo in the county tourney final, Kole Schilling had the only hit for the Hawks. 

On Monday, the Hawks lost 11-3 to Breese Central. Robert Pierpoint went 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. Darrin Kunkelmann added two hits.

Gibault picked up an impressive 8-5 win at home over Belleville East last Wednesday, which was senior night. Layne Wilkens doubled and drove in three runs. Kunkelmann again added two hits. Peyton Schaefer pitched six solid innings for the mound victory. 

Michael Wessel is the top hitter this season for the Hawks at .301 with 17 runs and 13 RBIs. No other regular player for Gibault is hitting above 300. 

Carson Timmons has been the top pitcher for Gibault at 2-2 with a 3.61 ERA over 40-plus innings.

In a Saturday loss to Gibault, Valmeyer plated three runs in the first inning but nothing after that point. Landon Roy had two hits and two stolen bases, and Tallen Jakimauskas pitched well in defeat.

Last Wednesday, it was a 7-5 win for the Pirates at home over Dupo. Luke Blackwell homered and had four RBIs. Gavin Rau pitched six innings for the victory. 

Last Tuesday, Valmeyer lost 9-4 at Althoff.

In the Valmeyer regional, Dupo (4-16) won 5-1 over Lebanon on Monday to advance to a Wednesday game against New Athens. 

Brady Portell had two hits, three stolen bases, and two runs for the Tigers, who got a pitching win from Deegan Prater in addition to his triple and two RBIs.

Dupo ended its regular season with an 11-1 win over Lebanon. Thinh Staggs went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Prater added a hit, three stolen bases, and three runs. 

Prater is hitting .400 this season with 19 runs and 15 RBIs. On the mound, he leads the team with a 3.39 ERA.

Either Gibault or Valmeyer will be in the regional final against Dupo or New Athens at 11 a.m. Saturday at Borsch Park. The winner of this regional advances to Wednesday’s Greenville University Sectional.