While the St. Louis Cardinals are all the rage since they opened their season last week, don’t forget there’s plenty of great high school talent on the local diamonds this spring. 

The Columbia High School baseball team is 7-3 on the season. 

The Eagles won 8-0 over Salem on Thursday, courtesy of a complete game shutout by Logan Mueller. He struck out seven and walked just one. Kyle McConachie went 2-for-3 with a home run, Dominic Voegele added a hit and three RBIs, and both Reed Drabant and Jack Steckler contributed two hits apiece.

Last Tuesday, the Eagles gave unbeaten Breese Central a battle before falling late, 8-5. Columbia held a lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning, only to see Breese Central rally in its final at-bat. Mueller went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Eagles. He is hitting .348 on the season and is 3-0 on the mound with a 2.02 ERA.

McConachie leads the Eagles in hitting this spring at .440 with nine runs scored.

Columbia battled Roxana on Tuesday, winning 5-0 on a pitching gem by Voegele. He threw a complete game no-hitter with 13 strikeouts. At the plate, Voegele went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mueller homered in the win.

The Eagles host Freeburg on Thursday, battle Belleville East and Mater Dei in Belleville on Saturday, and play Monday at Marquette.

Waterloo (6-8) had a busy past few days.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs lost 4-3 to Belleville East. The game was tied into the seventh inning before the Lancers pulled out the victory. Garrick Schmidt went 2-for-3 to lead Waterloo’s offense.

On Saturday, Waterloo defeated rival Gibault but lost to O’Fallon. 

Gibault held a 1-0 lead over the Bulldogs after six innings, but Waterloo plated two in the top of the seventh. After Gibault tied it in the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs scored four in the eighth and held on. Evan Davis picked up the pitching win in relief for the ‘Dogs following a solid start by Ethan Horvath. Aidan Karsten and Bryce Reese each had a hit and two RBIs for Waterloo.

Waterloo then lost 14-3 to O’Fallon. Chase Veto had two hits and Davis collected a hit with two RBIs.

Schmidt is hitting .538 with a .625 on base percentage so far this spring. Veto is hitting .429 with 12 runs and nine RBIs. Davis is hitting .382 with 12 RBIs and 10 runs. Karsten is 2-2 on the mound with a 1.78 ERA for the ‘Dogs.

On Tuesday, Waterloo dropped a doubleheader at Triad, falling 11-2 and 6-3. Davis had three hits and Noah Meyers added two hits in the game two loss.

The Bulldogs play a Saturday doubleheader at Pinckneyville before hosting Highland on Monday and facing Mt. Vernon at GCS Ballpark in Sauget on Tuesday.

Gibault (6-8) has lost three straight entering play this week.

Last Tuesday, the Hawks dropped a 7-6 contest to Father McGivney. Andy Altes collected three hits and both Kameron Hanvey and Jude Green added two hits for Gibault.

On Saturday, Gibault lost 6-3 to Waterloo and 25-1 to O’Fallon. 

Hanvey went 2-for-3 in the loss to Waterloo. Hanvey and Darin had the only hits in the loss to O’Fallon.

Hanvey leads the Hawks at the plate this spring with a .541 batting average and .679 on base percentage. His 23 runs rank second in the entire St. Louis area. He also has seven doubles, 12 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Darin is hitting .394 with a .636 on base percentage and 20 RBIs. The southpaw is also 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA.

Gibault plays a Saturday doubleheader against Okawville and will host Wesclin on Monday.

Valmeyer (2-8) lost 15-0 at Steeleville last Tuesday, with Elijah Miller collecting the lone hit for the Pirates.

Clay Juelfs leads Valmeyer in hitting this spring at .429 with five runs. Evan Rowe-Brown is hitting .364.

The Pirates played Tuesday at Dupo, winning 8-0. Miller pitched a complete game one-hitter with seven strikeouts, and Landon Roy went 3-for-4 with two runs for Valmeyer, which hosts Lebanon on Thursday and battles the St. Louis Patriots at GCS Ballpark on Monday. 

Dupo (1-4) picked up its first win of the season last Tuesday, 3-2, over New Athens. 

Logan Stevens went 2-for-3 with a triple and RBI for the Tigers. Chance Hunter pitched a complete game on the mound for the victory. 

Stevens is hitting .545 with five stolen bases and Hunter is hitting .444 to go along with his 1.95 ERA to lead the pitching staff.

Dupo hosts Steeleville this Thursday.