Two rivals met on the softball diamond last week, and the result was a well-played contest. 

Waterloo (9-2) traveled north on Route 3 to face Columbia (11-2) last Wednesday, with both squads enjoying strong starts to the season. 

The result was a narrow 2-1 victory for the Eagles. With the score tied in the bottom of the seventh, a bases loaded fielder’s choice resulted in the winning run sliding just ahead of the throw home. Ava Brown had two hits for the Bulldogs. Harlie Rainbolt and Elle van Breusegen collected two hits each for Columbia. Paige Froess was the winning pitcher for the Eagles.

Waterloo flipped the script this past Friday at home against Belleville West, winning in walk-off fashion. Down 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bulldogs plated four runs in the final frame for a 10-9 victory. Brown again had two hits for Waterloo, driving in three runs. Samantha Juelfs, Riley McDermott, Isabella Riesing and Mallory Thompson also contributed two hits each.

On Monday, the Bulldogs won 13-7 over Triad in a Mississippi Valley Conference affair. Brown and Megan Armbrecht collected three hits apiece, with Juelfs adding two hits and three RBIs.

Waterloo played Wednesday at Mascoutah, winning 12-7. Juelfs led the way, going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs.

Waterloo hosts MVC foe Highland on Monday. 

Brown is hitting .500 with 20 RBIs to lead the Bulldogs on offense. Aidan Dintelman is hitting .464 with 11 RBIs in addition to her 8-1 mark and 1.75 ERA in the pitching circle.

Prior to its win over Waterloo, Columbia posted a 4-0 victory last Tuesday over Freeburg. Emily Webb pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and the Eagles got two hits each from van Breusegen and Reagan Mathews. 

This past Friday, the Eagles topped Freeburg again – this time by a count of 11-1. Rainbolt went 3-for-3. Mathews and Froess each had two hits and three RBIs. Webb was the winning pitcher again, posting 10 more strikeouts. 

Columbia played Tuesday at Roxana, winning 13-1 with homers from Kaylee Bosch and Reese Jarrard.

Columbia hosted Roxana on Wednesday, winning 16-1. Reagan Jarrard went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Mathews went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

On Thursday, the Eagles picked up a 5-2 victory over Wesclin.

Columbia hosted Granite City on Friday, winning 13-0 for its ninth straight victory. The Eagles travel this coming Tuesday to Wood River. 

Leading the way on offense so far this season for the Eagles is van Breusegen at .520 with 13 runs and seven stolen bases. Reese Jarrard is hitting .423 with 11 runs. Rainbolt is hitting .419. 

Webb has a 4-1 pitching mark with a 1.40 ERA and 46 strikeouts over 30 innings. 

Gibault (5-7) lost two of five recent contests. 

On Monday, the Hawks dropped a 12-5 contest to Sparta. Gibault committed four errors on the day. Karina Jerkatis went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs.

Last Friday, it was a 17-7 loss at Father McGivney despite a 2-for-2 day at the plate from Sophie Winkeler, who homered and drove in four runs. 

Last Tuesday, Gibault won 14-2 at Valmeyer. Ashley Murphy went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in addition to striking out 11 in six innings for the pitching victory. Winkeler and Hope Chambers added two hits apiece.

Gibault played Tuesday at Althoff, winning 17-0 thanks to Hawks hitters drawing 13 walks. The Hawks lost 12-1 on Thursday at Marissa. Gibault plays Saturday at Okawville and Monday at Wesclin. 

Lauren Lanham is the top hitter for the Hawks at .485 with 19 runs and nine stolen bases. Jerkatis is hitting .455 with 13 runs.

In the loss against the Hawks, Valmeyer (2-5) was led by Avery Proffer’s 2-for-3 day with a homer and two RBIs.

The Pirates – with only nine players on their roster this spring – picked up a win Friday on their new diamond in Old Valmeyer, 17-4 over Cahokia. 

Valmeyer played Tuesday at New Athens, falling 11-0, lost 10-6 to New Athens on Thursday, and then hosts Marissa this coming Tuesday. 

In addition to Proffer, top hitters thus far for Valmeyer have included Madisyn Huddleston and Ally Coats. 

Dupo (4-8) went 1-5 in recent action.

On Monday, it was a 6-5 victory for the Tigers against Marissa. Adrienne Latimer went 2-for-3 with a home run, with Kylie Kloess, Kaylyn Woods and Kylie Pierce each wrapping out two hits.

Last Wednesday, Dupo was held to just three hits in a 12-6 loss to Chester. 

Last Tuesday, the Tigers dropped an 8-3 contest to Marissa with eight errors on defense. Woods and Keara Prater collected two hits each. 

Dupo played Tuesday at Steeleville, losing 9-3. Dupo hosted Gillespie on Wednesday, falling 19-5, lost 6-5 to Steeleville on Thursday despite a 3-for-4 showing and three RBIs from Addison Thompson. Dupo plays Tuesday at New Athens. 

Kloess leads the Tigers in hitting at .517 with 13 runs, followed by Pierce at .474 and then Latimer at .450 with 10 stolen bases and eight runs.