Like an Army tank, the Millstadt Green Machine stormed through the Valmeyer Midsummer Classic in dominating fashion on its way to a tournament title over the July 4 weekend.

Millstadt, which leads the Mon-Clair League standings this summer at 14-4, outscored its opponents to the tune of 28-2 in its three wins, capped off by a 9-0 victory Sunday evening over the St. Louis Printers in the championship game.

Longtime Millstadt shortstop Tony Kossina was named the tourney’s Most Valuable Player after going 9-for-14 in the three wins – including 4-for-5 in the title game.

In Sunday’s final, Millstadt starting pitcher Chance Lehman was dominant in seven shutout innings. Brayden Biggs and Andrew Yancik kept the shutout alive with scoreless eighth and ninth innings.

The Green Machine broke through in the third inning with a pair of runs thanks to singles from Jake Stedman and Tony Kossina, plus a sacrifice fly off the bat of Joey Kossina. 

Millstadt added four runs in the fourth as Tony and Joey Kossina had RBI singles and Nick Muskopf stole home on a pickoff attempt.

The win marked Millstadt’s first Valmeyer tourney title since 2021.

The Green Machine advanced to the tourney final courtesy of a 9-1 victory Saturday over the St. Louis Spikes. Cal Kossina went 2-for-2 with four RBIs, which was more than enough run support for starting pitcher Evan Spears.

Millstadt opened the tourney Friday with a 10-1 win over the Monroe County Tribe as Stedman picked up the pitching win. 

The Printers got to this year’s title game in thrilling fashion, posting a pair of walk-off wins Friday and Saturday. 

On Friday night, the Printers trailed 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning to the host Valmeyer Lakers but still emerged victorious. Jamie Graeser led off the inning with a double, with John Sesti’s two-RBI single winning it for St. Louis.

The Lakers went up 3-1 thanks to an RBI triple off the bat of Jacob Rowold, who had four hits in the contest.

On Saturday, the Belleville Rockies tied a semifinal contest against the Printers, 3-3, in the top of the ninth – only to see the Printers type up some more magic. Randy Stokes led off the bottom of the ninth with his third hit of the game. He stole second and would come around to score on an error by Belleville’s leftfielder.

The Rockies battled the St. Louis Spikes in this year’s third place game on Sunday, falling 11-9. Belleville led 7-2 after two innings, Mike Hardin having a two-run homer, but then a rain delay occurred in the fourth inning. 

The Spikes plated four in the fourth and four more runs in the sixth inning.

On Friday, Belleville opened its tourney schedule with a 12-2 win over the STLMBL All-Stars. Rockies father-son duo Mike and Beau Breyman played together in the contest.

The Spikes also won their opening game on Friday, 5-1 over the Waterloo Buds. Anthony Benz pitched a complete game for St. Louis, which plated three runs in the first inning and another run in the second.

Waterloo scored its run in the sixth inning. George Schneider tripled and scored on a single by TJ Williams. 

Waterloo followed Friday’s loss with a 10-3 win Saturday over the Monroe County Tribe. Max Oswald hit the first home run of the tourney and Erik Kaiser picked up the pitching victory for the Buds. 

Likewise, Valmeyer won its second game of the tourney, 3-0, over the STLMBL All-Stars. Philip Reinhardt pitched a five-hit shutout for the Lakers.

Sunday’s consolation championship pitted the Buds vs. the Lakers. Rowold doubled and scored to give Valmeyer an early lead before the Buds took a 3-1 lead in the second. Valmeyer’s Andrew Whipple tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth inning on a grounder to third base. 

This game went into the 10th inning, which is when the Buds exploded for eight runs to pull off a 12-4 win. Schneider led off the inning with an RBI single, and later collected a second hit in the frame for Waterloo. 

Waterloo’s Ty Kueper left Sunday’s game against the Lakers after being hit in the head by a pitch. Waterloo manager Barry Grant said Kueper went to an urgent care facility for evaluation but said he will be OK.

League play resumes

Regular season action in the Mon-Clair League continues with Waterloo hosting the Spikes on Wednesday night, after which the Buds host Millstadt for a Sunday doubleheader.

Millstadt plays Friday night at Valmeyer. 

The Lakers host the Godfrey Hamms for two games this Sunday afternoon.