Gibault’s Austin Sweeney races home on a pitch in the dirt, just ahead of a tag by Columbia reliever Andrew Hoguet, while Gibault’s Tyler Brinkmann watches Friday night at GCS Ballpark. (Alan Dooley photo)

Local high school baseball teams crammed in a few games this weekend between raindrops with conference play looming.

In a Friday evening showdown at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, the Gibault Hawks rallied for five runs in the sixth inning for a 6-5 victory over rival Columbia. Alex Stern and Tyler Brinkmann collected two hits apiece in the come-from-behind win.

Lamont Read pitched well for the Eagles before the bullpen surrendered the lead. Columbia (7-4) hosts New Athens on Monday. Cameron Touchette is hitting .706 with 13 RBIs and 12 runs scored to lead the Eagles.

Following the late night win, Gibault appeared to come out flat Saturday against defending Missouri Class 5 state champion CBC in St. Louis. The Hawks fell 10-2. Gibault (10-4) hosts the St. Louis Patriots on Monday. Trevor Davis (.553) and Drew Dugan (.400) are the leading hitters this spring for the Hawks.

Waterloo got back to its winning ways following a three-game skid, blasting Wesclin, 11-1, on Friday and edging CBC, 6-5, on Saturday.

Waterloo’s Erik Kaiser

Erik Kaiser was a one man wrecking crew at Wesclin, going 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and striking out eight on the mound in four innings pitched. Kaiser is hitting .462 with two home runs this spring.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs were held to four hits but made the most of them in the one-run win over CBC. Waterloo scored six runs in the third inning and made it hold up. Quinn Albrecht went 1-2 with an RBI and run scored. The Bulldogs (6-3) open MVC play at defending state champion Highland on Monday.

On the heels of an 11-1 win over Lebanon on Thursday, the Valmeyer Pirates looked to continue their winning ways Saturday at Althoff. The Pirates put up a fight but dropped two close games, 2-0 and 9-8.

Pitching and defense ruled in the first game. Cole Juelfs struck out six in 4.3 innings pitched but was saddled with the tough-luck loss for the Pirates. Tyler Kempfer went 2-for-3 at the plate.

In game two, Valmeyer rallied from being down 8-3 to tie it in the top of the seventh before Althoff scored in the bottom of the seventh for a walk-off win. Mark Nappier blasted two home runs with five RBIs in the loss. Jake Krekel went 3-for-4 with three runs scored for the Pirates (6-5-1), who play at New Athens on Tuesday. Krekel leads the team in hitting at .474.

Dupo (7-3) continues to pile up the wins, toppling Marissa on Thursday, 12-3, and beating Roxana on Saturday, 10-7. Brandon Roth went 3-for-5 in Saturday’s win. Against Marissa, Taylor Stanek went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. Collin Roth and Drake Harvell also hit home runs. Dupo hosts Lebanon on Tuesday.