The Waterloo Buds climbed to .500 on the season courtesy of three wins this past weekend in Mon-Clair League baseball action. 

Meanwhile, the Valmeyer Lakers improved to 9-3 with three more wins and the Millstadt Green Machine lost two of three to fall to 5-4 on the season.

Waterloo (6-6) posted a 9-1 victory over the Southeast Missouri Tropics on Saturday. 

Elijah Dale picked up the pitching win after striking out five over five scoreless innings. Preston Wright went 4-for-5 with a home run, double and three RBIs. Nate Albrecht went 3-for-5 and Erik Kaiser went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

On Sunday, the Buds swept a doubleheader over Edwardsville, 4-1 and 7-1.

In game one, lefty Matt McGilvary threw a complete game with six strikeouts. Albrecht went 3-for-3 and Kaiser added a hit and RBI.

In game two, Levi Ebersoldt struck out eight over six solid innings pitched. Kaiser, a former righty flamethrower at Waterloo High School, closed it out in the seventh inning with three strikeouts. 

Albrecht and Trey Kueper each went 2-for-3 with RBIs and Brendan Brock went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The Buds, under first-year manager Barry Grant, hope to continue their winning ways with a trio of home games this weekend. Waterloo hosts the Cape Girardeau Capahas this Friday night and hosts the St. Louis Spikes for two on Sunday. 

Braeden Dobbs is hitting .379 with eight runs and eight RBIs to lead the Buds.

Valmeyer kept its hold on the Monroe Division courtesy of wins over the Spikes and Capahas.

On Saturday, the Lakers won 8-3 over the Spikes. Mark Nappier went 3-for-4 with a home run and Trevor Davis went 2-for-4 with a triple in addition to pitching four and one-third innings with six strikeouts for the mound victory. 

On Sunday, Valmeyer won 10-9 and 3-1 over Cape Girardeau.

In game one, the Lakers trailed 9-4 after three innings before mounting a rally. 

Kenny Otero had a double and four RBIs and Davis added a hit and three RBIs. Collin Kessler pitched two scoreless innings for the win in relief.

In game two, Otero pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts and Jacob Rowold went 1-for-2 with two runs.

Valmeyer hosts Edwardsville this Saturday afternoon before taking on the Tropics at Borsch Park for a Sunday doubleheader.

Rowold leads the Lakers in hitting at .457 with nine RBIs. Davis is hitting .429 with 10 RBIs.

Millstadt lost to Edwardsville, 8-3, on Saturday and split with the Tropics on Sunday. 

In Saturday’s game, Edwardsville led 6-0 after two innings and never looked back. Tony Kossina went 2-for-4 and Colin Shea went 2-for-5 with two RBIs for the Green Machine. 

In game one on Sunday, Joey Kossina had two hits for Millstadt in a 6-1 loss to the Tropics. 

In game two, a seven-run fifth inning rallied the Green Machine to an 8-5 victory. Jack Toenjes and Hunter Grupe each went 4-for-4 with two RBIs to pace Millstadt’s offense. 

Millstadt will battle the Spikes in Fairview Heights on Saturday before playing two at Cape Girardeau on Sunday. 

Toenjes leads the Green Machine in hitting at .531 with nine RBIs and Tony Kossina is hitting .419.