Two local high school softball squads that have starting strong this spring are set for a rivalry clash later this week. 

Columbia (7-1) travels this Friday to Waterloo (6-1) in a battle between Monroe County rivals. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m.

The Eagles are flying high after winning five of six recent games. 

Last Tuesday, Columbia blasted Belleville West to the tune of 15-5. Five Eagles hitters collected two hits each, including Paige Froess. She drove in four runs.

Last Wednesday, the Eagles won 11-0 at Mater Dei. Froess, Jaylyn Brister and Elle van Breusegen each had three hits. Froess allowed just two hits in the pitching circle over six innings. 

On Thursday, Columbia pulled off a 7-6 victory against Mascoutah as van Breusegen went 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Brister and Paige Webb added two hits each, with Webb also striking out 12 in a complete game pitching effort.

Columbia traveled south to Marion on Saturday. splitting a pair of games. The Eagles won 15-1 over Zeigler-Royalton. Froess went 4-for-5 with two RBIs, van Breusegen went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and both Brister and Eva Crabtree collected three hits.

In the second game on Saturday, the Eagles lost 1-0 to Marion. 

On Tuesday, Columbia won 17-3 over Wood River. Reagan Mathews went 2-for-3 with a home run and the Eagles got three hits each from van Breusegen and Reese Jarrard.

Leading the Columbia offense so far this spring is van Breusegen with a .633 batting average and 15 runs scored. Froess is hitting .536 with 11 RBIs, and Brister is hitting .462 with 15 RBIs.

Those fearsome Eagles hitters will likely face Waterloo senior pitching standout Mia Miller on Friday. 

Miller, who is 3-1 with a 0.00 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 20 and two-thirds innings pitched so far this season, recently became Waterloo’s all-time career softball strikeouts leader.

The Bulldogs won some more recent games here in the early going.

On Wednesday, Waterloo won 22-3 at home over New Athens on Wednesday. Raelyn Melching went 3-for-4 with two homers and seven RBIs. Haley Tomanovich also homered and drove in four runs. For photos from this game, click here.

On Thursday, the ‘Dogs slid past Trico, 2-1. Melching went 3-for-3 and Mallory Thompson homered.

Last Wednesday, Waterloo posted an 8-5 victory over O’Fallon. Aidan Dintelman struck out 10 during a complete game in the pitching circle and also went 3-for-4 at the plate. Maddie Gummersheimer and Melching drove in two runs each.

Last Thursday, Waterloo won 6-1 over Red Bud. Miller struck out 12 in a complete game four-hitter. Ava Brown and Kate Lindhorst drove in two runs each.

Last Friday, it was an 11-5 victory for the ‘Dogs over Wood River. This time it was Samantha Juelfs with the complete game pitching effort. Jensyn Collmeyer went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Dintelman also had three hits. 

Melching leads Waterloo in hitting at .591 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. Dintelman is hitting .500.

In other local softball action, Valmeyer is 1-3 following recent losses.

On Thursday, Valmeyer scored a run in the first inning but lost 4-1 to Marissa.

The Pirates lost 7-6 last Wednesday to Okawville. A four-run fifth inning proved key for the Rockets, who were able to hold on late. Brooke Miller went 3-for-4 with a home run for Valmeyer, who also got two hits each from Payton Similey and Rylee Nagel. 

Last Friday, Valmeyer’s offense was not able to do much of anything in an 8-0 loss to Trico. Pirates hitters struck out 11 times on the day.

Valmeyer plays this coming Tuesday at Steeleville.

Gibault (2-4) is hoping to use two recent victories as a springboard to more consistent play.

The Hawks won 15-0 over Cahokia last week and then split with Marissa, winning 8-3 before falling 12-1.

Among those playing well in the early going for Gibault include Emma Steibel, Myah Ticer, Hope Chambers, Ashley Murphy and Chloe Lancaster.

Gibault lost 11-1 at Okawville on Monday.

Gibault hosts Wood River on Monday. 

Dupo (0-3) lost 13-1 to Sparta last Thursday and 11-1 last Wednesday to Staunton. 

Keara Prater, a freshman, had two hits and a run in the Thursday loss.

Adrienne Latimer and Jaylee Long collected Dupo’s only two hits in the Staunton loss. 

Dupo hosts New Athens this coming Tuesday.