Local fans of high school baseball have plenty of opportunities to catch some games over the next couple of weeks, with Waterloo, Gibault, Columbia, Dupo and Valmeyer all getting set for the busiest stretch of their regular season schedules.

Columbia

Although Columbia’s impressive nine-game winning streak came to a close Thursday with a 5-0 loss to Freeburg, the Eagles are still flying high at 16-5 heading into a full slate of games this week.

Columbia bounced back from the Freeburg loss to blast Marissa on Monday, 12-2.

The Eagles won their ninth straight last Tuesday, 14-1 over Red Bud. Quinten Spivey, Zach Mathews, Camren Shewfelt and Cole Foster each had two hits, with Mathews hitting his first varsity home run.

Brendan Wilhelm got the win on the mound. KJ Spisak also contributed with three RBIs.

“Against Freeburg, our offense struggled as we did not have very good approaches at the plate,” Columbia head coach Keith Jany said.

The Eagles are now in a first place tie with Freeburg with two conference games remaining. Josh Fleming took the loss on the mound, “even though he pitched well enough for us to win,” Jany said.

The Eagles play at Breese Central on Wednesday and host Wesclin on Thursday, Windsor on Friday and Belleville West on Saturday.

Gibault

The Hawks (15-9) picked up a big 7-1 win Monday at Alton after having dropped two “frustrating” games last week.

Lefty ace Zach Neff threw a two-hitter on just 79 pitches in the Alton win, striking out nine in the complete game performance.

“He was the Zach Neff that we expect to see out there every start,” Gibault head coach Andy Skaer said.

Neff helped himself at the plate, smacking a two-run single in the third inning. Dylan McCoy came through in the clutch as well against Alton, Skaer said.

“We had good situational hitting, which almost always leads to wins,” he added.

Thursday, the Hawks were outplayed by Civic Memorial in an 8-4 loss. Jordan McFarland was a bright spot offensively, hitting a two-run double.

Last Tuesday, the Hawks lost to St. Pius, 7-6, as their opponent scored on a walk-off base hit in the seventh inning. Gibault pitcher Austin Beccue was hurt by defensive miscues that led to four unearned runs for St. Pius.

“It was just a lackluster team performance,” Skaer said.

Gibault won Tuesday at Windsor, and will host Mater Dei on Wednesday, at Nashville on Thursday and at Althoff on Saturday.

Waterloo

The Bulldogs continue to have a problem scoring runs, as evidenced by their current five-game losing streak. In those last five games, Waterloo (10-9-1) has only managed to score a total of seven runs.

“We’re just not right, right now,” Waterloo head coach Mark Vogel said. “We’re just back on our heels a little, so our kids and coaching staff are going to have to turn this around.”

The team’s strength all season has been starting pitching, and that has kept them in pretty much every game. But the lack of offense is starting to affect the defense, Vogel said.

Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs suffered a 4-3 loss to conference foe Triad. Austin Campbell went 2-for-4 in the loss.

On Saturday, Waterloo lost close games to Wesclin, 4-2, and Centralia, 5-1. On Monday, the ‘Dogs fell to another conference opponent, 6-0 to Jerseyville.

“It’s my job to try and find a spark,” Vogel said. “We’ll keep working through this.”

Waterloo hosts Civic Memorial on Wednesday before playing Friday at Busch Stadium against Jacksonville. Admission to the stadium is free for the 4 p.m. game. On Saturday, the ‘Dogs play a doubleheader at Mater Dei.

Valmeyer

The Pirates (10-17), won two of three games last week.

Last Tuesday, Valmeyer slipped past Lebanon, 3-2. Dakota Maus tossed a three-hitter on the mound with eight strikeouts.

Mark Nappier drove in two runs with a double in the sixth inning, and Griffin Seidler got the game-winning RBI later in sixth.

Last Wednesday, Valmeyer beat Hancock, 7-3. Pitchers Ryan Unterseh and Mark Nappier combined for a no-hitter with six total walks issued.

Hunter Brewer was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and four stolen bases. Zach Koonce was 2-for-3, and Maus had a double and stolen base.

On Friday, Valmeyer suffered a tough loss to Red Bud, 7-4. Nappier and Zach Williams had two hits each in defeat.

Valmeyer played Tuesday at Marissa and hosts Dupo on Thursday.

Dupo

The Tigers will try to claw their way back to the .500 mark following recent losses.

Dupo defeated Marissa last  Tuesday, 8-2, behind a solid pitching performance from Jordan Prange. Austin Francis hit a two-run homer to lead the offensive attack.

But then the team lost to Breese Central last Wednesday, 9-1.

“We issued seven walks and one hit by pitch,” Dupo head coach Brad Daubach said.

Collin Roth had three hits to lead the offense.

That loss was followed by a Thursday loss to Lebanon, 2-1. Corey Biggs pitched six strong innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs. The bats went silent after a first inning RBI single by Francis.

“We struck out 15 times against their starter. The game had some controversy in the sixth when Joey Mirabal reached first base and was called safe, only to be appealed on an out/safe call by the home plate umpire,” Daubach said.

This took place with one out, then the next two batters walked and Chance Hagler hit a fly ball to left, that would’ve scored the tying run. Instead, it was the final out of the inning.

Friday, Dupo lost to Althoff, 11-1, in five innings.

The Tigers play Wednesday at GCS Ballpark against Gillespie, then travel to Valmeyer on Thursday.