Waterloo Millers reliever Corey Vogel pitches during a game earlier this season. (Corey Saathoff photo)

All three local Mon-Clair League baseball teams are playing at or near .500 entering the annual Valmeyer Mid-Summer Classic set for the July 4 holiday weekend at Borsch Park.

The Valmeyer Lakers are 8-6 in league play following a Sunday doubleheader sweep of Fairview Heights.

“We played some outstanding defense on the day and the pitchers threw strikes,” longtime Lakers manager Dennis “Boog” Pieper said.

Valmeyer won the first game, 5-4, in nine innings and shut out the Redbirds, 3-0, in game two.

Andrew Hoguet, Dalton Day and Drew Bicklein pitched in the game one victory, with Bicklein earning the win. 

In game two, Easton Wallace threw six and two-thirds shutout innings and Cole Juelfs picked up the save. 

Offensively, Cameron Touchette hit three doubles on the day and Wes Degener added three hits. 

 For the season, Matt Reinholz leads the Lakers with a .472 average and 12 RBIs. He is followed by Mitch Meyer at .425 with 11 runs.

Wallace is 3-1 to lead the Lakers pitching staff.

Valmeyer opens Mid-Summer Classic play 4:30 p.m. Saturday against the St. Louis Printers.

The Waterloo Millers are 6-7 in league play entering the classic. The Millers split a Sunday doubleheader with Cape Girardeau, losing 6-4 and winning 8-7.

In game one, Waterloo took command with a four-run sixth inning only to see the Capahas answer with four runs in their half of the sixth.

Ethan Ruff, Chandler Purcell, Quinten Albrecht and Andrew Yancik collected two hits each in the loss.

In game two, Cape Girardeau held a 7-2 lead after four innings, but the Millers rallied for six runs in the fifth to emerge victorious.

Keegan Baxmeyer went 3-for-4 and Cory Lubinski went 2-for-4 with two triples and two RBIs. Ruff added a 2-for-5 showing with and RBI.

Relievers Corey Vogel, Trevor Davis and Yancik combined for six and one-third shutout innings for the Millers.

Lubinski leads Waterloo with a .536 average and nine RBIs this season, followed by Logan Mueth at .500 with eight runs.

Jeremy Rettig and Yancik have served as the leaders of the pitching staff.

Waterloo begins Mid-Summer Classic play 9 a.m. Saturday against the division-leading Belleville Rockies.

The Millstadt Green Machine is 7-7 on the season, going 2-2 over the weekend.

Millstadt won 15-0 and 8-2 over the Charleston Riverdogs on Saturday, but lost 9-4 and 5-1 to the St. Louis Spikes on Sunday.

Luke Glaeser went 4-for-6 with two home runs and six RBIs and Rob Beatty went 3-for-5 with a homer and six RBIs during Saturday’s twinbill. Rory Keen pitched a complete game with five strikeouts in the 8-2 win.

Tony Kossina went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the 9-4 loss to the Spikes. Beatty collected two of the team’s three hits in the 5-1 defeat.

Beatty is hitting .417 with 11 RBIs to lead Millstadt, followed by Kossina at .360 with nine runs. The team has six regulars hitting above .300.

Cal Kossina and Luke Vallandingham have led the pitching staff in the early going.

Millstadt opens Mid-Summer Classic play 2 p.m. Saturday against the St. Louis Spikes.