Waterloo got the best of Columbia in the recent Monroe County Baseball Tournament, and both teams will play against each other again Thursday with their seasons on the line.

The Bulldogs and Eagles have gone in opposite directions since that May 17 contest. Waterloo (20-13-1) was hovering around the .500 mark at the time but has picked up wins against Highland, O’Fallon and Edwardsville after the county tourney title.

Jeremy Rettig pitched a complete game against O’Fallon on Thursday and Kane Osterhage and Ryan Aycock contributed two hits each. On Monday, the ‘Dogs posted an impressive 7-4 win over Edwardsville. The big blast came off the bat of Christian Schmidt, who hit a three-run homer. Tyler McAlister added two hits.

Meanwhile, Columbia (19-10) hasn’t won since its first game of the county tourney against Valmeyer. The Eagles lost 11-1 to Mascoutah on Friday and 3-1 to Alton Marquette on Thursday. Columbia has  scored just two runs during its four-game losing streak.

Columbia is seeded second and Waterloo third in the Class 3A Waterloo Regional. They will play against each other Thursday at 4:15 p.m. at WHS, for the right to play for the regional title on Saturday. Mascoutah has the top seed and will play the winner of East St. Louis vs. Cahokia.

Quentin Spivey is the leading hitter for the Eagles with a .414 average. Josh Fleming is the team’s top pitcher with an 8-3 record and 1.59 ERA.

Austin Campbell is the top hitter for the ‘Dogs at .417, but Osterhage is hitting .500 since his late-season call-up. Austin Nunnery is the team’s top pitcher with a 6-2 record and 1.51 ERA.

Gibault, Valmeyer done

Only two local high school baseball teams remain as Gibault and Valmeyer lost last week in regional play.

After beating Dupo earlier in the week, the Hawks were defeated Thursday by Nashville in the Class 2A regional, 3-1. Zach Neff ended his successful high school career with a bang, pitching well in defeat and adding two hits at the plate. The Hawks finished with a record of 21-12.

In the Class 1A New Athens Regional, Valmeyer lost a nailbiter to Okawville, 5-4, ending their season at 13-22. The Pirates lost their final three games (Columbia, Gibault, Okawville) by one run each. Earlier this spring, Valmeyer suffered one-run losses to Althoff and Okawville.