Valmeyer’s John Wuelling watches as his home run clears the fence at Borsch Park during a recent game against Belleville. (Corey Saathoff photo)

Borsch Park will become “Baseball Heaven” this weekend for many fans of the game as it serves as the site of the 45th annual Valmeyer Midsummer Classic.

The annual tournament pits mostly Mon-Clair League teams against each other in a weekend of fun as part of Valmeyer’s annual Fourth of July holiday weekend festivities.

The Waterloo Millers are hoping to repeat as tourney champions; they currently sit atop the Monroe Division standings at 12-4.

The Millers swept a Sunday doubleheader against the always troublesome St. Louis Spikes, winning 4-2 and 12-7.

Freeburg standout Keegan Baxmeyer recently joined the club and enjoyed a breakout day for Waterloo. He hit a double with three RBIs in the game one win and followed that up with a 4-for-4 performance in game two with a double, triple and two runs scored.

Lucas Wetzler added an RBI double and Garrett Schlecht went 1-for-2 with a stolen base in game one. Nick Hummel pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits while striking out seven.

In game two, the Millers trailed 7-1 but plated 11 runs in the sixth inning to emerge victorious. Ben Klostermeier went 2-for-4 with five RBIs to support Baxmeyer’s big game. Corey Vogel was strong in relief, striking out three in an inning and two-thirds for the win.

Waterloo’s Jeremy Rettig delivers a pitch last summer at Valmeyer. (Alan Dooley photo)

Wetzler is hitting .404 to lead the Millers. Ken Wilson is next at .375, followed by Alex Wittenauer at .318.

Hummel is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA to lead Waterloo’s pitching staff. Jeremy Rettig is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA.

Wetzler is hitting .404 to lead the Millers. Ken Wilson is next at .375, followed by Alex Wittenauer at .318.

Hummel is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA to lead Waterloo’s pitching staff. Jeremy Rettig is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA.

The Millers open up Valmeyer Midsummer Classic play at 9 a.m. Saturday against the St. Louis Printers.

Breathing down the necks of the Millers in the division standings is the Millstadt VFW “Green Machine,” which dropped a 7-1 contest to the Printers on Sunday to fall to 11-4 in league play.

Millstadt’s offense could only muster three hits on the day. Cal Kossina took the loss on the mound.

Millstadt is led on offense by Tony Kossina (.444, 12 stolen bases), Cal Kossina (.441) and Rob Beatty (.389, 15 RBIs).

Cory Renois leads the Millstadt pitching staff with a 2-1 record and 1.71 ERA.

Millstadt opens Valmeyer Midsummer Classic play at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against the Cape Girardeau Capahas.

The Valmeyer Lakers are staying in the thick of the Monroe Division race following a slow start. The Lakers split a Sunday doubleheader with St. Clair Division leader Fairview Heights, losing 4-1 in the first game but pulling out a 7-6 win in game two.

Ben Thoma went 2-for-4 with a home run in the game one loss.

In game two, Fairview Heights scored five runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-4 lead. It stayed that way until the seventh when the Lakers mounted a rally.

Thoma, Mitch Meyer and John Wuelling singled, and then a wild pitch made it 6-5. Andy Skaer appeared to have grounded out, but the Fairview Heights infielder threw the ball away, allowing two runs to score in a Lakers win.

Jacob Hill came on strong in relief for the victory. Wes Degener collected three total hits on the day.

“We have a nice ball club. We were just missing a few guys early on,” Lakers manager Dennis “Boog” Pieper said. “Timely hitting is the key. If we do that, look out because we can score a bunch.”

Matt Reinholz leads the Lakers in hitting at .463 with 12 RBIs. He is followed by Degener at .375 and five stolen bases. Jeremiah Bergheger is hitting .366 with 12 RBIs and Wuelling is hitting .326 with 10 RBIs.

Valmeyer’s pitching staff is led by Andrew Bicklein, who is 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA.

The Lakers open Valmeyer Midsummer Classic play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against the St. Louis Spikes.

The tourney continues Sunday and Monday, with the championship game slated to begin around 3 p.m. Monday. For a tourney bracket, turn to page 3B.

In other Mon-Clair action from Sunday, the Columbia Saints edged Edwardsville, 11-10, to improve to 5-10 in league play.

The Saints are led on offense by Adam Henke (.375), Kyle Breitenstein (.344), Brett Jungles (.344) and Kevin Spisak (.314). Milton Pinkston leads the pitching staff at 2-1 with a 1.24 ERA.

To view and print the Valmeyer Midsummer Classic bracket, click here.