The Waterloo High School softball team ended its historic season Saturday with a fourth place trophy at the IHSA Class 3A state tournament in Peoria.

Following a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to Antioch on Friday, the Bulldogs lost 4-2 to Fenwick (Oak Park) in the third place game played Saturday morning. Waterloo ended its season with a record of 28-8.

Fenwick’s four-run third inning – on five hits, two walks, a wild pitch and a passed ball – proved too much for the ‘Dogs to overcome on Saturday. 

Waterloo pitcher Mia Miller recorded five strikeouts and six walks in her final career outing as a Bulldog. She finished with a season record of 19-6 with a 1.41 ERA and a single-season school record 284 strikeouts in 159 and one-third innings.

Samantha Juelfs led Waterloo’s offense on Saturday by going 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. Others with hits for the Bulldogs were Miller, Maddie Gummersheimer, Raelyn Melching, Grayce Meyer, Kate Lindhorst and Ava Brown. 

In all, Waterloo stranded 11 runners on base. 

The 2024 squad will forever be remembered as the first WHS softball team to advance to the state semifinals. The 1989 squad made the Class A state tourney when the top eight teams were included.

“Getting to the state tournament was a great experience for all of us,” Waterloo head coach Matt Mason said. “We were overwhelmed by the amount of support by the community. Our fans traveled great, too. We had the largest crowd of any of the teams in Peoria. Louisville Slugger Sports Complex was a beautiful facility. We were treated first class all weekend and the girls had a great time with the whole experience.”

Waterloo came up just short Friday in its first ever state semifinal contest.

The Bulldogs battled last year’s Class 3A state runner-up Antioch to a scoreless tie through five innings, only to surrender two runs following defensive miscues in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Antioch won the game 2-0, as Waterloo was unable to capitalize on early chances to score off Antioch standout pitcher Jacey Schuler, who will pitch at Michigan State. 

The Bulldogs led off with a hit in three of the first four innings but were unable to move over those baserunners via bunt or otherwise. 

Schuler utilized her dominating rise ball to baffle Bulldogs hitters after that, surrendering no hits and just one walk after the fourth inning. She finished with 13 strikeouts.

With the game still scoreless in the bottom of the sixth inning, Antioch’s leadoff hitter reached on a bunt that was misplayed. After a bunt popup was caught, a hard liner toward the right field line tipped off the glove of running freshman Waterloo outfielder Grayce Meyer, resulting in a run-scoring triple. The next Antioch hitter bunted and Waterloo first baseman Aidan Dintelman made a nice play to race to the ball, but the runner kicked it out of Dintelman’s glove as she lunged to make the tag. Another run scored, making it 2-0. 

“We played pretty much the same type of softball that we have played in the playoffs,” Mason said after Friday’s contest. “We had a couple of miscues in the (sixth inning) that cost us a couple runs. Actually, plays that we normally make. It’s disappointing to see that and the girls are down about it, but I told them ‘you have to keep being proud of yourselves because you got here by playing good softball.’”

Miller was tough once again in the pitching circle for Waterloo, striking out 10 and walking none. The two runs scored against her Friday were unearned. 

Those having hits for the Bulldogs on Friday were Mallory Thompson, Juelfs and Lindhorst.

Three key seniors who played their final games for the Bulldogs were Miller, Melching and Gummersheimer. 

Miller was one of the top pitchers in WHS softball history and will play next season at Missouri S&T. 

Melching, who will play at Hannibal-LaGrange University, hit .383 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs this season. 

Gummersheimer hit .355 with 20 RBIs. 

Those left to carry the torch for a Bulldogs softball program that shared a Mississippi Valley Conference title and won regional and sectional championships in 2024 include rising senior Lindhorst, rising juniors Juelfs, Dintelman and Thompson and rising sophomore Meyer, among others. 

Lindhorst, who played at catcher, hit .291 with 17 RBIs this season. 

Juelfs, a shortstop, led Waterloo in hitting at .407 with 15 doubles, 26 RBIs and 32 runs. 

Thompson hit .379 and led the team in runs with 33.

Dintelman hit .306 with 16 RBIs while playing first base and pitcher. In the pitching circle, she provided a nice complement to Miller by going 7-2 with a 1.34 ERA.

Meyer, a left-handed swinging slap hitter, hit .391 with 10 stolen bases this season.

“We are very proud of our young ladies, not only because of their on-field accomplishments but because of their great attitudes that allowed our team to get to a higher level than some thought possible,” Mason assessed of the season. 

Recapping the 2024 campaign, Mason said his team won its first game at Steeleville, lost the second game at Belleville East, then rattled off 13 wins in a row. 

“In conference play, we stubbed our toe a couple times with losses to Highland and Triad but were able to win out to grab a share of the conference title,” he said. “We are very proud of our conference championship because our league is very competitive top to bottom.”

The Bulldogs closed out the season winning eight of its final 10 contests.

Waterloo hosted a Class 3A sectional this season, which allowed for large local crowds. 

“The sectional title game had the biggest crowd I can remember ever for a game at WHS,” Mason said. 

Mason said the postseason featured a tough schedule of state-ranked teams that the Bulldogs were able to topple on their road to state. 

“The wins in the sectional and supersectional were tremendous, as we bumped off three teams that were ranked higher than us in the state polls,” he said.

The team was welcomed home late Saturday afternoon from its state trip with a reception on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn in downtown Waterloo. 

For photos from Saturday’s game, click here.

For a full box score from Saturday’s contest, click here.