Excitement is building in Waterloo as the Bulldogs softball team is now 17-0 following even more impressive wins.

The Bulldogs topped Jerseyville on Wednesday, 5-2, and took down cross-town rival Gibault on Thursday, 6-3. That was followed by a hard-fought 2-1 win Friday at Red Bud.

On Saturday, Waterloo traveled south and defeated Pinckneyville and Woodlawn to remain unbeaten under first-year head coach Matt Mason.

Waterloo edged Freeburg last Monday, 3-2, and put together a complete team effort in downing Dupo at home on Friday, 5-3.

Senior slugger Emelia Modglin upped her team-leading average to .588 with a 2-for-2 performance against the Tigers. She hit a double and home run and had three RBIs on the day.

Kylie Albrecht also homered for the Bulldogs in the win, and pitcher Kasey Bradley notched nine strikeouts for a complete game effort.

“Madi Kruse turned in a couple of nice plays defensively late,” Mason said of the Dupo game…

“Taylor Augustine had a double play to end the game.”

Mason said the team is clicking in all aspects of the game for its undefeated start.

“We have had solid pitching from Kasey Bradley and Mallory Meyer, and our defense has been solid overall despite a few errors,” Mason said. “We seem to be able to overcome the few errors that we have made by making key plays at the right time. The hitting has been solid, too, and we have definitely had some timely hitting from several places throughout our lineup and our bench.”

Also wreaking havoc at the plate is Erica Schaab, who is hitting .471 with three home runs and 18 RBIs.

The Bulldogs host Gibault on Thursday and play at Red Bud on Friday.

Other local softball action
Dupo (8-4) turned around from its tough loss to the ‘Dogs to play three games Saturday in Johnston City, winning two of them.

The Tigers blasted Murphysboro 11-1 and defeated Johnston City 6-5 before falling to DuQuoin, 6-1.

Megan Brown, who went 2-for-4 against Waterloo, continued her hot hitting with six hits, including a home run, in the two Saturday wins.

She leads the team with a .579 average.

Caitlyn Brizzi collected three hits against Johnston City and went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases in the DuQuoin loss.

Rachael Donald picked up the win on the mound against Murphysboro; Jessica Stansch won on the mound against Murphysboro but was the losing pitcher against Waterloo and DuQuoin.

Dupo hosts Steeleville on Thursday.

Columbia (6-1) only played one game last week, and the result was a 13-1 blasting of Belleville East at home.

Kalli Farmer and Kelly Metter each hit home runs for the Eagles and Taryn Pena continued her torrid spring with a 3-for-4 showing and two runs scored.

Pena is now hitting .610 with 16 RBIs this spring.

The Eagles play Thursday at Breese Central, Friday at home against Granite City and Saturday at home against O’Fallon.

It’s been a rough start for Valmeyer this spring, but the Pirates picked up their first two wins Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of Althoff.

Valmeyer won 15-9 and 10-3, as several Pirates enjoyed fine offensive days.

Jaymie Vanatta went 4-for-5 with three stolen bases in game one, and Miranda Kaufmann added three hits, including a home run.

Vanatta, Kaufmann, Grace Nappier and Blair Brady had three hits each for Valmeyer in the game two win.

Cierra Goldschmidt struck out 11 Althoff batters for a complete game.

Valmeyer plays at Marissa on Thursday.

Gibault is 4-9 on the spring following two losses last week.

The Hawks lost to Belleville East last Wednesday, 10-0, and suffered a 12-4 loss to Trico on Saturday.

Hannah Dengler and Morgan Wiegand collected the only two hits for Gibault in the Belleville game.

Lexi Poepper went 3-for-4 and Sophie Purcell and Paige Wriston collected two hits each against Trico.

Wriston leads the Hawks in hitting with a .400 average and 11 RBIs.

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