Mon-Clair teams set for Midsummer Classic

Waterloo’s Ethan Ruff just beats the tag at third in the Millers’ 10-6 win over the St. Louis Printers
on Sunday. (Greg Stanek photo)

The Waterloo Millers and Millstadt VFW head into this weekend’s Midsummer Classic tournament riding nice winning streaks, while the Valmeyer Lakers are looking to bounce back into early season form after having lost five straight.

The Millers (16-2) took two games from the St. Louis Printers over the weekend to run their winning streak to 11 games and remain atop the Monroe Division, four games up on a surging Millstadt club.

The Millers took game one from the Printers, 7-4, as Brandon Musso picked up his fourth win of the season.

Waterloo got on the board in the first inning of the second game on an RBI from Craig Ohlau, then found themselves down 2-1 heading into the second after a Printers’ two-run homer.

The Millers took advantage of misplayed balls and timely hitting in the second inning to put up five runs, highlighted by L.J. Watson’s two-RBI double to open up a 6-2 lead.

Waterloo cruised the rest of the way to take a 10-6 win. John Auble went six innings to pick up his division-leading sixth win of the year.

“We played well. We hit when we needed to and the pitching was good and defensively we played well,” Millers player Jake Frierderich said after the game.

Frierderich (.412) and Jeremiah Bergheger (.469) lead the team in hitting and Nick Dunning leads in RBIs with 14.

Waterloo will face the Bel

leville Rockies at 9 a.m. on Friday to kick off the Midsummer Classic at Borsch Park in Valmeyer. The tourney continues all day Friday through Sunday.

Millstadt (12-6) took two from Valmeyer (9-9) on Sunday as they continue to turn their season around after a slow start. The VFW are riding a seven-game winning streak into the tournament.

Millstadt took game one from the Lakers, 10-1. Valmeyer kept game two close before falling 7-5.

“We have been playing very good ball lately and have been really hitting well and getting timely hits,” Millstadt coach Norm Toenjes said. “We had some injuries early on to some pitchers but we are getting them back now, so things are turning around. Waterloo has been playing very well. They will be hard to catch if they keep it up.”

Mitch Matecki leads the VFW at the plate (.442, 4 HRs, 24 RBIs) and Sam Lidisky leads the pitching staff (5 wins, 1.75 ERA).

After starting the season hot, Valmeyer has won just twice in their last 10 games.

“We need to find a way to jump on teams early in the game. Our team is not built to come back from three or four runs down. We need to start getting the lead early. Our pitching staff is good, but lately we have been allowing too many walks,” Lakers player Chris Rohlfing said.

Valmeyer’s top hitter is John Wuelling (.392) and D.J. Dillenberger leads the pitching staff (3 wins, 2.96 ERA).

The Millers enter this year’s tournament as the defending champs after beating the St. Louis Printers last year. Justin Dunning was named tournament MVP.

“We know we have to face a lot of good teams in there, but if we bring our A game, we will see what happens,” Frierderich said.

Waterloo has won the tournament five of the last eight years (2009 was canceled due to rain), and leads all teams with 12 total tournament wins.

“It’s always a very good tournament. There are always upsets… I just hope we win the first game so we can play three,” longtime Millers head coach Vernell Moehrs said.

Valmeyer is hoping to win the classic for the first time since 2003 (when they beat Waterloo 13-12) and carry that momentum into the second half of the season.

“The tournament is always exciting. The weather is supposed to be good, and we are looking forward to it,” Rohlfing said. “I think all eight teams are pretty evenly matched, so you can not take anyone for granted.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Republic-Times

The Republic-Times has been Monroe County's hometown newspaper since 1890. Serving Columbia, Waterloo, Valmeyer, Hecker and every town in between, we strive to provide the news that matters most to you in the timeliest manner possible. For more information on subscribing to the Republic-Times, call 939-3814 or visit the "Subscribe" page on this website.

Mon-Clair award winners

Mon-Clair finals set

HTC web
MonroeCountyElectric300X15012_19