Monroe County will be represented by two teams at this weekend’s IHSA state high school baseball tournament in Peoria, as both Columbia and Gibault won supersectional titles Monday afternoon.

In Class 2A, Columbia (33-4) solidified a return trip to state by virtue of a 4-1 victory over Nashville at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Supersectional.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, a two-run double by Brody Landgraf was followed by an RBI triple off the bat of Tyler Rosencrans, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. They added another run on an infield single, and that was more than enough for starting pitcher Brady Mathews.

Mathews, a junior lefthander, is the son of former major league pitcher TJ Mathews, who was a key member of Columbia’s 1987 state champion squad.

Columbia, which placed third at state last season, will battle Chicago’s DePaul College Prep at 3 p.m. Friday in a Class 2A semifinal at Dozer Park. Other Class 2A teams at state are Joliet Catholic and Quincy Notre Dame.

In a highly anticipated showdown of top area squads, Columbia outlasted Father McGivney, 6-3, on Saturday to win the Breese Central Sectional title. 

With a fastball in the 90s plus a knee-buckling curve, Dom Voegele pitched six and two-thirds innings with 12 strikeouts for the victory. 

A two-run double by Jack Steckler in the sixth inning gave the Eagles some much needed breathing room. 

Columbia manufactured its first two runs of Saturday’s contest off Father McGivney starter Gabe Smith, an Ole Miss commit. In the bottom of the third inning, Alex Schreckenberg was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Landgraf reached on an error. Schreckenberg stole third, with the throw going into the outfield to allow him to score.

With a breeze blowing to left in the top of the sixth, Father McGivney freshman Isaac Wendler smashed a two-run homer over the left field wall to cut Columbia’s lead to 4-3. 

Voegele, who threw a fastball clocked at 95 miles per hour in the sixth inning, according to Prep Baseball Report Illinois, finished with 12 strikeouts over six and two-thirds innings.

Columbia advanced to the sectional final by virtue of a 10-0 blanking of Newton on Thursday. Landgraf and Voegele both had two hits and three RBIs for the Eagles.

Voegele, a University of Kansas commit, is hitting .504 with a 1.000 slugging percentage, 12 home runs, 50 RBIs, 55 runs, 19 doubles and 23 stolen bases to pace Columbia’s offense. 

As a pitcher, he’s 9-0 with a 1.16 ERA and 102 strikeouts over 60 and one-third innings. 

Other offensive leaders for the Eagles include Rosencrans (.390), Schreckenberg (.389) and Landgraf (.355).

Other key pitchers for Columbia are Lucas Riebeling (7-0, 1.18 ERA) and Mathews (5-0, 1.73 ERA).

Hawks keep flying

In Class 1A, Gibault (22-14) faced a tall order against a solid Jacksonville Routt Catholic squad and 6-foot-7 starting pitcher Ryan Oswald.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Hawks rallied for seven runs to take control of the Lincoln Land Community College Supersectional in Springfield.

Jack Keeven smacked an RBI double, Kameron Hanvey followed with an RBI triple, Hudson Blank blasted an RBI double, Brady Biffar helped himself with a run-scoring single, and then Ty Frierdich smashed a three-run homer to left to give Gibault a 7-1 lead. 

Biffar, a southpaw, went the distance on the mound in Gibault’s 7-3 win.

With multiple athletes from Gibault’s state champion basketball squad playing key roles, the Hawks will try to capture a state title in another sport this weekend at Dozer Park.

Gibault faces Goreville at 10 a.m. Friday in a Class 1A semifinal. Other Class 1A teams at state are Sterling’s Newman Central Catholic and Henry-Senachwine. 

The Hawks – who have not lost to a Class 1A team this season – captured the Greenville University Sectional title Saturday with a walk-off 5-4 victory over Christ Our Rock Lutheran.

Blank scored from first base on a sacrifice bunt by Biffar in the seventh inning. Hanvey collected two hits and went the distance on the mound for Gibault.

Christ Our Rock led 4-2 after the first inning but failed to score after that.

The Hawks advanced to Saturday’s sectional final by virtue of a 6-2 victory last Wednesday over Pawnee. Biffar pitched another complete game gem and Hanvey went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in that win. 

Hanvey leads the Hawks on offense this season with a .398 average to go along with 46 runs and 21 stolen bases. 

Blank is next at .396 with 35 RBIs and 34 runs. 

Daniel Darin is hitting .382 with a .591 on base percentage, five homers, 28 RBIs and 38 runs. 

On the mound, Hanvey is 9-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 59 innings. Biffar is 4-4 with a 3.28 ERA in 64 innings.

Waterloo falls

Waterloo ended its season Saturday with a 5-1 loss to Mascoutah in the Class 3A Mascoutah Regional final. 

Evan Davis and Max Oswald collected two hits each for the Bulldogs, who committed four errors on the day. 

Waterloo (23-12-1) advanced to Saturday’s final with a 6-5 win over Civic Memorial on Thursday. Nate Phillips struck out five in four solid innings pitched and collected three hits on offense – as did Davis.

Davis, a senior, led the ‘Dogs in hitting this season at .504 with three homers, 15 doubles, 44 RBIs and 38 runs. 

Bryce Reese, also a senior, hit .408 with 12 doubles and 28 RBIs.

Phillips led Waterloo’s pitching staff with an 8-1 mark and 1.05 ERA.