The Waterloo Bulldogs and Columbia Eagles squared off Monday in a battle of undefeated teams and a rematch of last year’s regional championship as they played for the Monroe County Softball Tournament championship at Columbia.

The two teams matched each other run for run through the first two innings, but the Bulldogs pulled out to a one-run lead after the third, 4-3.

With the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, Waterloo’s Hannah King blew the game wide open when she sent a pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam, giving the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead.

“The pitch was inside on my hands and kind of jammed me,” King said of her home run. “I didn’t really get all of it.”

Columbia managed to score a run in the fourth to cut the lead to 8-4, but Waterloo pitcher Kasey Bradley was able to shut the Eagles’ offense down the rest of the way en route to a 9-4 win.

The Bulldogs are now 6-0 on the season.

“We got some timely hitting. Columbia is the best hitting lineup we have seen so far this year and Kasey did a good job and our defense did a good job behind her,” Waterloo head coach Matt Mason said. “We are happy with the win and we are ready to move on.”

Waterloo opened the season with wins against Wood River, Steeleville, Belleville East and O’Fallon heading into the county tournament.

In the first round of the tournament on Friday, Waterloo topped Valmeyer 16-1.

Kylie Albrecht leads the Bulldogs with a .500 average. Bradley is 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA on the mound.

“At this point of the season I think the girls are taking a good mental approach. We just want to continue to get better,” Mason said. “It’s a long grind.”

Columbia has had a strong start to its season despite Monday’s loss.

The Eagles (3-1) opened with a doubleheader sweep of Piasa Southwestern and then beat Gibault 10-0 in the first round of the county tournament on Friday.

“We have some things we need to clean up a bit, but it’s early,” Columbia head coach Rhonda Major said following Monday’s loss. “They continued to battle and work as a team and fought until the end. Today was a good learning experience.”

Taryn Pena leads the Eagles with a .692 average and 10 RBIs. Brina Rujawitz (2-0, 0.70 ERA) leads the pitching staff.

“We have been pretty consistent at the plate and it’s early. We will bounce back from that first loss.” Major said.

Gibault recovered from Friday’s loss against Columbia to edge Valmeyer in the third place game of the county tournament, 18-17.

Over the weekend, the Hawks split a doubleheader with Marissa, taking game one 13-2 but losing game two, 9-3.

Gibault lost to Okawville on Monday, 15-8, and currently sits at 2-4 on the young season.

The Hawks are led on offense by senior Paige Wriston, (.438, three triples, six RBIs). Morgan Wiegand (2-0) leads the pitching staff.

“Our defense has not been as good as it needs to be in order to win,” Gibault head coach Dave Gregson said. “It is something we need to improve on.”

The Valmeyer Pirates are off to an 0-3 start, but two of those losses were very close games.

They opened the season with a 9-7 loss to Carlyle.

Cierra Goldschmidt leads the Pirates’ offense with a .600 average and six RBIs.

“In our first two games we played well and hit well. In the games (Friday), we didn’t hit well against Waterloo and in both games we made too many mental and physical mistakes,” Valmeyer head coach Richard Kasson said of his young team.

The Dupo Tigers are off to a pretty good start. After splitting their first four games, they have won two straight to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Dupo has collected wins over Waltonville, 3-2, Metro East Lutheran, 11-1, Alton Marquette, 10-0, and Collinsville, 2-1.

The two losses came against Nashville and Belleville West.

Megan Brown leads the offense with a .625 average and five doubles. Jessica Stansch has pitched well, posting a 3-0 record and 1.05 ERA.

“I hope the last two games are a sign that we are starting to lock in and play the way we expect to play,” Dupo head coach Greg Pennock said.

“Alyssa Strubberg is off to a great start, setting the table almost every game this season. We are very happy with her focus and determination to provide that spark at the top of our lineup.

“With Megan Brown not pitching due to an arm injury, Jessica Stansch and Rachael Donald have taken over the circle and have both done an outstanding job.”

For a schedule of upcoming games, visit www.republictimes.net/local-high-school-sports-schedules.