Monroe County baseball bragging rights go to Columbia this year, as the Eagles edged Waterloo and blasted Gibault to win the county tournament in Valmeyer on Saturday. 

Columbia (21-7-1) picked up a 3-1 victory over Waterloo in its opening game, then won 12-0 over Gibault (14-17) for first place. 

Waterloo (15-15) scored first against the Eagles. With two outs and runners on first and third, Waterloo executed a delayed steal for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. 

Columbia tied the game on a Lucas Riebeling RBI triple to right-center in the fourth inning. Riebeling added another RBI hit in the sixth inning. 

Dom Voegele struck out seven in five innings pitched for the victory. 

Evan Davis and Garrick Schmidt each had two hits for the Bulldogs. 

In the tourney title game played at Borsch Park, Porter Fike was the star for the Eagles. He hit his first home run and pitched six shutout innings in the 12-0 victory over Gibault. 

Gibault advanced to the tourney title game with a 17-10 victory over Valmeyer (6-20). Tyler Frierdich went 3-for-3 with a home run, two stolen bases and five RBIs, and Hudson Blank went 3-for-5 with two triples and four RBIs for the Hawks. Daniel Darin added two hits and four stolen bases and Kameron Hanvey had two hits and three stolen bases. 

In the tourney’s third place game, Waterloo won 13-3 over Valmeyer. The Pirates were held to just two hits.

Josh Dluhy, Nate Phillips and Aiden Licklider each had two hits for the Bulldogs. 

Regional play began this week for Class 1A and Class 2A schools Gibault, Dupo, Valmeyer and Columbia. 

In the Class 1A Gibault Regional, Dupo (3-13) won 7-3 at Lebanon on Monday. Nate Ticer and Logan Stevens each went 3-for-4 and Chance Hunter pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts for the Tigers.

Dupo next faces Gibault in the regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at SPPS Field in Waterloo. 

Stevens is hitting .382 with 12 stolen bases and Ticer is hitting .333 with 10 runs to pace Dupo’s offense. Hunter is hitting .326 in addition to a 2.64 ERA in 45 innings pitched. 

Prior to the county tourney, Gibault lost 10-6 to Columbia last Tuesday. Blank went 3-for-4 and Darin allowed just three earned runs in five innings pitched.

Darin is hitting .437 with a .611 on base percentage, four homers, 35 RBIs and 32 runs to go along with a 4-2 pitching mark and 2.73 ERA for the Hawks.

Hanvey is hitting .435 with 12 doubles, 31 RBIs, 42 runs and 22 stolen bases.

Blank is hitting .377 with 28 RBIs and 26 runs.

Also in the Gibault Regional is Valmeyer, which opened its postseason with an exciting 11-9 win at Borsch Park on Monday over Metro-East Lutheran. 

The Pirates trailed 9-6 before rallying for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Jordan McSchooler went 4-for-4 with three stolen bases and four RBIs in addition to pitching five and two-thirds innings for the victory. 

Evan Rowe-Brown went 2-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs. Clay Juelfs went 3-for-3.

Valmeyer will battle Marissa at 6 p.m. Wednesday at SPPS Field. 

On Thursday, the Pirates won 5-2 over Marissa. Elijah Miller went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Jacob Brown and Jake Killy collected two hits each and Landon Roy pitched four innings for the mound victory.   

Rowe-Brown (.361, 16 RBIs), Juelfs (.338, 16 runs) and Miller (.325, 22 runs, 26 stolen bases) are the offensive leaders this season for Valmeyer.

The winners of Valmeyer -Marissa and Gibault-Dupo will play in the regional final set for 11 a.m. Saturday for a berth in the Greenville Sectional on May 25.

Columbia begins its postseason Wednesday against Staunton in the Class 2A Marquette Sectional at Alton. With a win, the Eagles would face the winner of Marquette vs. Althoff at 1 p.m. Saturday for the regional title and a berth in the Teutopolis Sectional on May 25.

Prior to the county tourney, Columbia lost 4-2 to Mascoutah. The Indians plated two runs in the seventh to emerge victorious.

Last Wednesday, Columbia won 9-6 over Piasa Southwestern. 

Kyle McConachie (.408, 24 runs) and Logan Mueller (.406, five home runs, 24 RBIs) are the offensive leaders this season for the Eagles. Mueller is also 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA.

Waterloo, which lost 8-0 to Highland on Monday, has games Wednesday at Belleville East, Friday at home against Belleville West, Saturday at Busch Stadium against Alton and Monday at Edwardsville to close out its regular season. 

The Bulldogs open Class 3A Triad Regional play May 26 against Jerseyville. 

On Friday, Waterloo won 10-5 over Granite City. Davis went 3-for-4 with two runs and both Jack McFarlane and Bryce Reese had two hits. 

Aidan Karsten, a senior, pitched five innings for the senior night victory. 

Last Wednesday, Waterloo lost 4-3 at Mascoutah. Davis went 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Davis is hitting .500 with a .570 on base percentage, 14 doubles, 26 RBIs and 21 runs to pace the Bulldogs on offense. Phillips is hitting .333 with 13 runs.

Karsten is 4-4- with a 4.67 ERA. Nolan Veto is 2-2 with a 2.47 for the ‘Dogs.