Valmeyer’s Drew Maus pitches during a recent game. He’s 4-0 with a 2.37 ERA this spring. (Alan Dooley photo)

The wins keep coming for Valmeyer and Columbia on the baseball diamond, with other local teams still striving for consistency.

The defending Class 1A state runner-up Pirates improved to 20-4 on the season with a 5-3 victory at Alton on Saturday. The Pirates plated four runs in the first inning to make an early statement and held on from there.

Michael Chism went 3-for-4 and Philip Reinhardt added two hits and an RBI. Andrew Whipple picked up the mound victory.

Valmeyer edged Wood River last Wednesday, 3-2. The Oilers plated a run in the top of the seventh to tie the game, but the Pirates answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh to win.

Reinhardt went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Riley McCarthy added two hits for the Pirates.

Valmeyer defeated Red Bud last Tuesday, 11-1. Reinhardt, Cole Juelfs and Michael Chism collected three hits each for the Pirates.

The Pirates hosted Marissa on Tuesday and will battle Mt. Zion at Busch Stadium this afternoon. Valmeyer plays at O’Fallon on Saturday.

Reinhardt, the son of head coach Greg Reinhardt, leads the Valmeyer offense with a .461 average to go along with 23 runs and 18 RBIs. The sophomore southpaw is also 2-2 on the mound with a 1.58 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.

Senior catcher Tyler Kempfer is hitting .421 with 22 RBIs, and classmate Cole Juelfs is hitting .412 with 33 runs and seven stolen bases to go along with a 5-0 record and 1.40 ERA on the mound.

Fellow seniors Whipple and Drew Maus are also doing well this spring. Whipple is hitting .372 and is 4-1 on the mound with a 3.10 ERA. Maus is hitting .346 with 27 RBIs and is 4-0 with a 2.37 ERA on the mound.

Eagles keep scoring
Columbia is on a roll, scoring runs in bunches in a 13-game winning streak that has them at 15-3 on the season. The Eagles have plated more than 10 runs in all but two games during the winning streak.

On Monday, an 11-run third inning propelled the Eagles to a 15-3 win over Marissa on Senior Day.

Senior Jordan Holmes homered and classmate Sam Spivey went 4-for-4 with three runs. Another senior, Alex Von Bokel, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and picked up the mound victory.

On Friday, Columbia won 7-6 at Mater Dei. Kyle Steve struck out seven over six innings and the Eagles had two hits each from Shane Wilhelm, Von Bokel, John Schoentag and Brandon Kuchinski.

In a rainy Wednesday night contest at GCS Ballpark, the Eagles were tied 6-6 after two innings against rival Gibault, but Columbia’s offense kept raining down hits en route to a 16-6 victory. 

Brennen van Breusegen went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and Shane Wilhelm went 3-for-4 with four runs. 

The Eagles played at Salem on Tuesday and will be at Breese Central on Thursday and at Triad on Friday.

Wilhelm is hitting .500 with 24 runs, 17 RBIs and 12 stolen bases to lead Columbia’s offense, followed by Holmes, Von Bokel and Dylan Hildebrand all at .421, van Breusegen at .393 with 29 runs, and Spivey at .340 with 23 RBIs and 19 runs.

Luke Watson leads the Columbia pitching staff at 4-1 with a 2.76 ERA.

Up-and-down ‘Dogs
Waterloo (11-7) sandwiched three wins between two tough Mississippi Valley Conference losses in recent action.

Waterloo lost 5-4 at MVC leader Mascoutah last Wednesday. The Bulldogs tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh, only to surrender the winning run in the bottom of the frame.

Danny Tharp led the way with two hits for the Bulldogs.

Waterloo won three games at Centralia in convincing fashion over the weekend. 

The Bulldogs prevailed 13-3 over South Central on Friday, as Quinten Albrecht went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. On Saturday, Waterloo toppled Wesclin, 12-2, and Centralia, 14-7. Marcus Heusohn went 4-for-5 with two triples in the win over Centralia.

On Monday, Waterloo dropped a 15-7 contest at home to MVC rival Highland. Quentin Albrecht homered and drove in two runs and Lucas Goodsell added a double and RBI. Nathan Albrecht took the loss on the mound.

Waterloo hosts Triad on Wednesday before battling Mt. Vernon at GCS Ballpark at 6 p.m. Friday. The ‘Dogs play a Saturday doubleheader at Mater Dei.

Quentin Albrecht leads Waterloo at .482 with five home runs, 21 RBIs and 20 runs, followed by Tharp at .434 with 14 runs.

Goodsell is 2-3 on the mound with a 2.30 ERA. Carter Chiasson is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA. 

Hawks slumping
Gibault (6-16) dropped games at Civic Memorial on Thursday, and against Lutheran South, 3-0, and Vianney, 16-0, in St. Louis on Saturday, followed by a 14-7 defeat at Alton on Monday.

The Hawks have dropped eight straight games entering Wednesday’s home contest against Mater Dei. Gibault plays at Nashville on Thursday and at Althoff and Belleville West on Saturday.

Mark Branz went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in Monday’s loss. Max Kostelac went 2-for-4 with a double.

In last Wednesday’s loss to Columbia at GCS Ballpark, Jake Green went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Branz leads the Hawks with a .450 average to go along with three homers, 19 RBIs and 23 runs, He’s 1-1 on the mound with a 3.26 ERA.

Tim Reinholz is hitting .328 with three homers, 21 RBIs and eight stolen bases.

Tigers tamed
Dupo (3-14) lost 17-2 to Red  Bud on Thursday. On Monday, the Tigers lost 7-2 to New Athens.

Robert Seager is hitting .333 for the Tigers, followed by Robbie Smith at .311 with 11 runs.

Adam Bradshaw is 1-3 on the mound with a 2.49 ERA and three complete games.

Dupo will battle Gillespie at GCS Ballpark on Wednesday and will be at Herculaneum on Friday.