In a battle of top baseball squads, Millstadt split with Valmeyer on Sunday to maintain its spot in first place in the Mon-Clair League.

In game one, the Green Machine (16-6) handed Lakers lefty Jacob Thompson his first loss of the season. Tony Kossina and Connor Patton collected two hits each for Millstadt in the 4-2 victory. 

Jake Stedman pitched a complete game for the Green Machine with six strikeouts. 

Game two was a 6-5 win for the Lakers (14-8). Valmeyer plated four runs in the first inning and two more in the second inning, then barely held on from there.

Matt Helm smacked a grand slam for the Lakers, who also got two hits and two runs from Trevor Davis. Philip Reinhardt was the winning pitcher for Valmeyer. 

For Millstadt, former minor leaguer Lee Cruz had a homer and three RBIs in the loss.

Up next for the Green Machine is the resumption of a postponed game against Waterloo on Friday, followed by Millstadt hosting Belleville for a Saturday doubleheader. 

The top hitters for the Green Machine this season are Karl Peters (.456, 26 RBIs), Brian Lupa (.425), Cal Kossina (.353) and Tony Kossina (.347). 

Stedman is Millstadt’s top pitcher with a 4-0 record and 2.91 ERA over 33-plus innings. 

Up next for Valmeyer is the resumption of a contest against Godfrey on Saturday in Waterloo, followed by a doubleheader that afternoon in Waterloo against the Waterloo Buds. 

The top hitters for the Lakers this season are Kameron Hanvey (.415), Helm (.404, 22 RBIs), Cole Juelfs (.350), Trevor Davis (.348) and Evan Davis (.339).

Thompson is Valmeyer’s top pitcher with a 5-1 record and 1.88 ERA over 41 innings. 

The Waterloo Buds (9-12) lost three of four games over the weekend. 

On Saturday, the Buds lost 9-7 and won 4-3 over the St. Louis Spikes. 

In game one, the Spikes got three hits each from Gavin Huebner and Jake Radosevich. Waterloo plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning but fell just short.

In game two, the Spikes scored three in the first inning but Waterloo rallied with four runs in the fourth for a 4-3 win. 

On Sunday, Waterloo lost 10-6 and 9-5 to the Godfrey Hamm’s.

The Buds host Godfrey on Friday night after resuming their game with Millstadt, then host the Lakers this Sunday afternoon. 

The top hitter for Waterloo this season is TJ Williams at .465 with 19 RBIs. 

The top pitcher for the Buds is Landon Moore with a 2.94 ERA.