Baseball teams keep eyes on the prize

Waterloo’s Drake Luedeman uses proper form while fielding a groundball during Saturday’s Monroe County Baseball Tournament. See more photos online at republictimes.smugmug.com.

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 (21-10) found out its Class 3A regional pairing last week. 

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.

On Wednesday, Waterloo suffered a 9-2 loss at home to Highland as the host squad was held to just four huts.

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 plays Friday at Belleville West, and then plays Monday at Edwardsville. 

Kirchner is hitting .380 with a .515 on base percentage. O’Donnell is at .388 with seven home runs, 18 stolen bases, 30 RBIs and 29 runs. 

Lindhorst is the top pitcher for the Bulldogs with a 2.80 ERA over 45 innings. 

Columbia (16-13) 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. 

Last 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 opened Class 2A Roxana Regional play Thursday against Marquette, winning 5-0 behind solid pitching from Sam Donald and Mason Voegele. The Eagles face Roxana in the regional final at 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 (10-18) advanced to the county tourney final Saturday by virtue of a 4-3 victory over Valmeyer (10-20). The Hawks only had three hits in the contest. Nolan Snell had a hit and two RBIs.

A rematch between these two local rivals took place Wednesday in the Class 1A Valmeyer Regional. The Hawks won 5-1, scoring three runs in the first inning. Snell and Michael Wessel each had two hits. Peyton Schaefer threw a complete game two-hitter with eight strikeouts.

Gibault will face New Athens (13-9) in the regional final set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Borsch Park for a berth in Wednesday’s Greenville University Sectional.

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. Schaefer pitched six solid innings for the mound victory. 

Wessel is the top hitter this season for the Hawks at .316 with 19 runs. Snell is hitting .304 with 17 RBIs.

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.

Blackwell was the top hitter this season for the Pirates at .425 with four homers, 16 RBIs and 31 runs. Chase Snyder hit .329 with 19 RBIs.

Jakimauskas was the top pitcher for Valmeyer with a 3.23 ERA in 34 and two-thirds innings.

In the Valmeyer regional, Dupo (4-17) 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.

On Wednesday, the Tigers lost 4-2 to New Athens.

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.

Corey Saathoff

Corey is the editor of the Republic-Times. He has worked at the newspaper since 2004, and currently resides in Columbia. He is also the principal singer-songwriter and plays guitar in St. Louis area country-rock band The Trophy Mules.
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