Two seemingly unlikely teams will face off in the Mon-Clair League playoff championship this weekend in Valmeyer. 

The defending champion Valmeyer Lakers and St. Louis Spikes tied for the best regular season record, but neither team will be playing for the postseason trophy. 

Instead, it will be St. Clair County rivals Millstadt and Belleville squaring off for the title.

The Millstadt Green Machine blasted Edwardsville at home Saturday, 14-5, then outlasted Valmeyer on Sunday, 12-8, to make the finals. 

Millstadt’s bats sizzled in the summer heat all weekend. 

In Saturday’s win, Patrick Mendiola went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs to pace the Green Machine. Tommy Mohan also homered and Colin Shea went 3-for-4 with two runs. 

Millstadt’s Kossina brothers – Tony, Cal and Joey – collected two hits each. 

All of that offense was more than enough for Millstadt pitcher Evan Spears, who threw seven innings for the victory. 

On Sunday at SPPS Field in Waterloo, an eight-run fourth inning put the Green Machine up comfortably against the Lakers. Millstadt extended that lead to 11-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, after which Valmeyer rallied for six runs in the bottom of that frame.

The Green Machine held on, however. 

Joey Kossina and Connor Patton collected three hits each for Millstadt, with Brian Lupa contributing two hits and three RBIs. Cal and Tony Kossina, Mendiola and Colin Shea all added two hits.

Jake Stedman pitched five and two-thirds innings for the mound victory, with Garrett Herring going the rest of the way in relief.

For the Lakers, lefty Jacob Thompson took the loss on the hill and Adrian Martinez homered.

Thompson was the league’s top pitcher this season at 6-1 with a 1.25 ERA. Philip Reinhardt, also a southpaw, went 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA but pitches less innings.

The top hitters for the Lakers this season included Kameron Hanvey (.328), Evan Davis (.321, 11 RBIs) and Matt Helm (.311, 22 RBIs).

The top hitters this season for Millstadt have been Tony Kossina (.422, 28 runs, 10 stolen bases), Lupa (.350, 21 RBIs), Joey Kossina (.349, 19 RBIs) and Cal Kossina (.341, 21 RBIs, 24 runs).

Stedman is 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA. Kamden Casey is 1-2 with a 2.55 ERA.

Millstadt finished the regular season with a 13-12 record, which put them as the No. 3 seed for the playoffs.

The Belleville Rockies (11-14) were the No. 5 seed entering Saturday’s tilt with the No. 4 Waterloo Buds (12-13). 

The Rockies outlasted the Buds on Saturday in Millstadt, 5-3, to survive and advance. 

The Buds were led this season on offense by Alex Schreckenberg (.442), Nate Albrecht (.374), Ty Kueper (.356) and Eric Creech (.346).

Matt McGilvray, a lefty, was Waterloo’s top pitcher with a 2.78 ERA.

Next up for the Rockies following Saturday’s upset was a date with the top-seeded St. Louis Spikes in Waterloo on Sunday. 

Belleville trailed 6-4 after seven innings to the regular season champs, only to rally for a run in the eighth and three more in the ninth for victory. 

The Spikes got homers from Gerrion Grim and Jaxson Grubbs – plus three hits from Mason McMurray – but it just wasn’t enough.

The top hitter for Belleville this season has been Jake Isaacs (.424, 33 stolen bases, 11 RBIs).

On the mound, the Rockies are led by Brayden Knoebel (3-3, 2.28 ERA) and Tyler Jowett (1-1, 2.78 ERA).

So now the stage is set for a best-of-three finals between Millstadt and Belleville. 

Game one is at 5 p.m. Saturday at Borsch Park in Valmeyer, with game two to follow at about 7:30 p.m. 

Game three, if necessary, will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday. 

All games are nine innings in length.