The high school baseball regionals opened in style last week with two local teams hoisting plaques. 

One other local squad hopes to be doing the same this weekend. 

In the Class 2A Roxana Regional, Columbia (17-14) relied on its pitching to win the championship. 

On Thursday, Sam Donald and Mason Voegele combined for seven shutout innings on the mound as Columbia won 5-0 over Marquette. Donald struck out eight over six innings. Will Kleinschmidt went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Cash Bailey also contributed three hits. 

On Saturday, freshman hurler Connor Basinski was hard for Roxana hitters to solve in a 3-0 title winning victory for the Eagles. Basinski threw a three-hit shutout. Roxana committed four errors in the contest.

Columbia advanced to the Teutopolis Sectional, where it faced Effingham St. Anthony on Wednesday. The Eagles ended their season with a 7-3 loss.

Entering Wednesday, Kleinschmidt was hitting .423 with a .538 on base percentage to go along with 20 RBIs and 21 runs. Micah James was hitting .414 (.514 on base percentage) with 10 stolen bases, 21 RBIs and 25 runs. 

Basinski was 3-1 on the mound with a 2.03 ERA. Donald is 3-4 with a 2.73 ERA.

In the Class 1A Valmeyer Regional, Gibault (11-19) downed Valmeyer and New Athens to advance into the next round. 

Last Wednesday, the Hawks won 5-1 over Valmeyer as Peyton Schaefer pitched a complete game two-hitter with eight strikeouts. Nolan Snell went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, Kole Schilling went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Michael Wessel went 2-for-3 with two runs. 

On Saturday, an energetic Gibault bunch got ahead early and kept up the positive momentum with a 7-2 victory over New Athens. Carson Timmons toed the rubber for the Hawks, going the distance with four strikeouts. Tyler Frierdich went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, Schilling went 3-for-4, and Robert Pierpoint went 2-for-4. 

This was Gibault’s third straight regional championship. See photos from this win by clicking here.

The Hawks faced Hardin-Calhoun at the Greenville University Sectional on Wednesday night. The result was a 5-1 season-ending loss for the Hawks, who were held to five hits. See photos from this contest by clicking here.

Snell was the top hitter for the Hawks this season at .306 with 18 RBIs, followed by Wessel at .305 with 19 runs. 

Schaefer went 3-4 with a 3.55 ERA. Timmons was 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA.

Valmeyer (10-20) ended its season with Luke Blackwell as its top hitter at .425 with four homers, 16 RBIs and 31 runs. The top pitcher for the Pirates was Tallen Jakimauskas at 3-3 with a 3.23 ERA.

Dupo (4-17) ended its season in the Valmeyer Regional with a 4-2 loss to New Athens last Wednesday. Deegan Prater was the top hitter for the Tigers this season at .400 and was the top pitcher with a 3.39 ERA.

Waterloo (24-10) looks ready to give retiring longtime head coach Mark Vogel a proper send-off with a deep postseason run.

The Bulldogs closed out the regular season by winning four of five games against some larger schools. 

On Monday, Waterloo won 7-2 over Edwardsville as Patrick O’Donnell smacked two doubles and a home run. Max Oswald went 3-for-4, and the Bulldogs also got two hits each from Tanner Chamberlain, Caleb Papenberg and Brady Schmidt. 

On Saturday, it was a 12-5 victory for the ‘Dogs over Belleville West. Oswald went 3-for-3 with four RBIs, Trey Conrod went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, and both O’Donnell and Papenberg collected a pair of hits. AJ Sensel pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts.

Last Wednesday, Waterloo lost at home to longtime Mississippi Valley Conference rival Highland, 9-2, in Vogel’s final home game. Waterloo hitters struck out 11 times in the loss. 

Last Tuesday, Waterloo won 7-4 over Civic Memorial as O’Donnell had two hits and four RBIs.

Waterloo opens Class 3A Mascoutah Regional play Thursday against Freeburg. With a win, the Bulldogs would face either Mascoutah or East St. Louis in the regional final on Saturday for a berth in the Triad Sectional on Wednesday. 

O’Donnell is hitting .407 with eight homers, 32 RBIs, 35 runs and 18 stolen bases to lead Waterloo’s offense. Chaten Kirchner is hitting .375 with a .518 on base percentage. 

Carter Jones leads Waterloo’s pitching staff at 4-0 with a 2.36 ERA, followed by Conrad Lindhorst with a 2.68 ERA.