Two local high school softball squads recently celebrated conference titles as regional play gets underway. 

Columbia (22-5) won 8-0 at Salem on Thursday to avenge a May 6 loss and clinch a share of the Cahokia Conference championship. Emily Webb struck out 18 with zero walks in a complete game one-hitter for the Eagles. She is now 12-1 with a 0.63 ERA in the pitching circle this season. 

Last Wednesday, Columbia lost 8-6 at Edwardsville. Sam Augustine and Elle van Breusegen collected two hits each for the Eagles.

Last Tuesday, it was a 2-0 win for Columbia over Okawville. Webb was dominant again, striking out nine in a complete game. Augustine homered, and van Breusegen went 3-for-4.

Columbia opened Class 2A regional play at home Tuesday against Breese Central, winning 4-3 in walk-off fashion on a two-RBI single by Paige Froess. The Eagles play in the regional final this Friday for a berth in the Vandalia Sectional on Tuesday. 

Leading the way on offense for Columbia is SIUE commit van Breusegen at .477 with a .549 on base percentage, 12 stolen bases and 37 runs. Froess is hitting .388 with 21 RBIs. Emily Webb is 13-1 in the pitching circle with a 0.69 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 81 and one-thirds innings.

Waterloo (20-4) wrapped up its regular season this week before Class 3A regional play begins this Tuesday at Mascoutah, but the Bulldogs have already clinched a Mississippi Valley Conference title. 

On Saturday, a tough Chatham Glenwood squad came to town, winning 20-1 and 15-0 over the Bulldogs. 

Prior to that, Waterloo picked up a 10-3 win at Jerseyville last Wednesday. Samantha Juelfs went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Aidan Dintelman went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Waterloo hosted Triad on Tuesday, getting a walk-off home run by Mallory Thompson in the ninth inning to complete a 7-5 comeback win that gave the team a 9-0 record in MVC play.

The Bulldogs played Wednesday at Granite City, winning 18-3. Isabella Riesing went 3-for-3 with a homer. Riley McDermott also had three hits. Juelfs added two hits and four RBIs in addition to the pitching win.

Waterloo hosted Mascoutah on Thursday, completing a perfect MVC schedule with a 15-1 victory. Juelfs went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs. Dintelman and Ava Brown added three hits each. Megan Armbrecht had a homer and four RBIs.

Juelfs leads the Bulldogs in hitting at .512 with six home runs, 37 RBIs and 29 runs. Dintelman is hitting .440 with six homers and 27 RBIs in addition to an 18-2 pitching mark and 1.68 ERA.

In Class 1A, Gibault (9-14) opened New Athens Regional play Monday with a 7-6 win over Valmeyer (2-12). The Pirates outhit the Hawks, 9-6, and Gibault players struck out 14 times. Ashley Murphy went 2-for-3 with a homer, with Hope Chambers adding two hits and an RBI.

Gibault continued regional play Wednesday against Marissa, falling 10-0.

This past Thursday, Gibault closed its regular season with an 11-0 win over Father McGivney. Murphy struck out eight in five innings pitched, with Karina Jerkatis contributing two hits and Sophie Winkeler driving in two runs while scoring three runs.

Last Tuesday, Gibault lost 7-0 to Dupo. Chambers had two hits for the Hawks.

Lauren Lanham leads Gibault in hitting this season at .424 with a .525 on base percentage, 13 stolen bases and 34 runs. Jerkatis is hitting .404 with a .523 on base percentage and 20 runs. 

Chloe Lancaster leads the Gibault pitching staff with a 2.69 ERA in 28 and two-thirds innings. 

Prior to Monday’s regional loss, Valmeyer ended its regular season with an 18-1 loss last Wednesday to Dupo. The Pirates, with a total roster of only nine players, had two hits on the day. 

Dupo (12-9) got three hits from Kaylyn Woods and two more each from Keara Prater and Kaitlyn Roberts in its win over Dupo. Prater drove in four runs. 

Kylie Kloess went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Addison Thompson struck out 10 in Dupo’s win last week over Gibault. 

The Tigers faced Father McGivney in the Class 1A Centralia Regional on Thursday, winning 4-3 in eight innings. Woods went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Thompson going the distance in the pitching circle.

Dupo advanced to Friday’s regional final against Christ Our Rock Lutheran

Kylie Pierce leads Dupo in hitting at .467, followed by Kloess at .424 with 23 runs and 21 RBIs, and then Woods at .424 with 22 runs and 18 RBIs.

Thompson has a 1.63 ERA in the pitching circle.