With postseason play looming, the Waterloo High School baseball team got the jolt it needed by winning the Monroe County Tournament on Saturday. 

The Bulldogs (16-12) have now won four of their past five contests. 

Waterloo opened the county tourney with an 11-0 victory over Gibault at SPPS Field. Max Oswald continued his recent hot stretch for the ‘Dogs, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Jack Roessler pitched a complete game shutout.

In the tourney final played at WHS, Waterloo won 3-1 over Columbia. There were only five hits in the game, three by the Bulldogs and two by the Eagles. Waterloo pitchers Nate Phillips, Brian Lance and Drake Luedeman combined to shut out Columbia.

On Friday, the Bulldogs won 9-7 over Granite City. Roessler homered, with both Lance and Kaleb Buechler adding two hit.

On Thursday, Waterloo picked up a 7-5 victory over Mississippi Valley Conference foe Civic Memorial. Koby Osterhage went 2-for-2 with a homer and two stolen bases. Oswald added two hits and also picked up the save on the mound.

Last Tuesday, the ‘Dogs dropped a 13-12 contest at Nashville. Waterloo plated a run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game, only to see the Hornets scored in their final at-bat. Roessler went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs for the Bulldogs.

Waterloo hosts Belleville West on Friday before playing Monday at Edwardsville and Tuesday at Belleville East. 

Waterloo hosts a Class 3A regional and will open against Freeburg on May 23. 

Oswald is hitting .509 for the spring with 18 runs, followed by Osterhage at .385 with 19 runs and 14 stolen bases. Roessler is hitting .349 with 26 RBIs and 20 runs. 

Phillips is the ace of Waterloo’s pitching staff with a 6-2 record, 1.39 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 55 and one-third innings.

Prior to the tourney final against Waterloo, Columbia (22-6) won 12-2 over Valmeyer. 

Last Tuesday, the Eagles clinched the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference with an 11-5 win over Breese Central. It was the third straight conference title for Columbia.

The Eagles host a Class 2A regional but due to Tuesday’s rain, will take on Staunton in Alton on Wednesday. The regional final is set for 11 a.m. Saturday for a berth in the Greenville Sectional that begins May 22. 

Ben Simmons leads Columbia in hitting at .449 with 16 runs and 16 RBIs, followed by Cash Bailey at .329 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 16 runs. 

Columbia’s pitching staff is led by seniors Brady Mathews and Lucas Riebeling. Mathews, a lefty, is 6-2 with a 0.90 ERA and 60 strikeouts over 46 and two-thirds innings. Riebeling, a righty, is 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA and 51 strikeouts over 36 and one-third innings.

Gibault (12-21), the defending Class 1A state champion, is hosting a regional starting this week that also includes New Athens, Lebanon, Valmeyer and Dupo. 

During Saturday’s loss to Waterloo in the county tourney, the Hawks got two hits each from Brady Biffar, Tyler Frierdich and Jack Keeven. 

In the third place game of the tourney, Gibault picked up an 8-2 over Valmeyer. JJ Kinsey pitched a complete game for the Hawks, with Robert Pierpoint and Payton Schaefer collecting two hits each.

On Friday, it was a 19-0 win over Carlyle for the Hawks. Pierpoint and Ty Frierdich each had three hits and three RBIs. Tyler Frierdich drove in four runs. 

On Monday, Gibault lost 10-0 to Breese Central. The Hawks were held to just three hits in the game. 

Gibault hosts New Athens at 7 p.m. Wednesday at SPPS Field, with the regional final set to take place 11 a.m. Saturday. The winner of this regional advances to the Father McGivney Sectional on May 22.

Leading the offense for Gibault this spring is Tyler Frierdich at .363 with 17 runs and 25 stolen bases. Schaefer is hitting .354 with 14 RBIs and 16 runs. 

Biffar, a senior lefty, is the ace of the Gibault pitching staff with a 5-3 record, 2.20 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 51 innings. At the plate, Biffar is hitting .296 with 26 runs.

During the loss to Gibault in the county tourney, Chase Snyder went 3-for-4 for Valmeyer.

The Pirates (16-11) clinched the Kaskaskia Division of the Cahokia Conference by virtue of a 3-1 win over Marissa on Thursday. 

Snyder had a hit and RBI, Jacob Brown went 2-for-3 with a run, and Luke Blackwell struck out seven over four innings pitched. 

Valmeyer will take on the winner of Dupo vs. Lebanon to open Class 1A Gibault Regional on Wednesday at SPPS Field, hoping to reach Saturday’s final.

Snyder leads Valmeyer in hitting this season at .392 with 29 RBIs and 19 runs, followed by Blackwell at .375 with 29 RBIs and 29 runs. Landon Roy is hitting .354 with 35 runs and 24 stolen bases.

Blackwell is the pitching leader for the Pirates at 7-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 39 and two-thirds innings. 

Dupo (3-13) ended its regular season with a 3-2 victory over Lebanon on Thursday. The Tigers scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Connor Ballard had a double and RBI in addition to pitching six solid innings for the mound victory. 

Teegan Hargrove leads Dupo in hitting at .436 with 11 RBIs.

The pitching leader for the Tigers is Deegan Prater, who has an ERA of .369. 

Dupo opens regional play against Lebanon on Wednesday. With a win, the Tigers would take on Valmeyer on Wednesday night.