Waterloo Buds

Valmeyer Mid-Summer Classic
July 4
G1 Waterloo 2, St. Louis Printers 1
G2 St. Louis Spikes 12, Moredock Mashers 2
G3 Millstadt 8, Belleville 5
G4 Valmeyer 11, Edwardsville 2

July 6
G5 Edwardsville 10, Belleville 9 (9 innings)
G6 St. Louis Printers 8, Moredock Mashers 1
G7 Waterloo 7, St. Louis Spikes 2
G8 Valmeyer 7, Millstadt 6 (11 innings)

July 7
G9 St. Louis Printers 10, Edwardsville 6 (Consolation Champion)
G10 St. Louis Spikes 7, Millstadt 5 (Third Place)
G11 Waterloo 5, Valmeyer 2 (Championship)

Waterloo’s right handed pitcher Brooks McDowell threw two scoreless innings to close out their 7-2 win over the St. Louis Spikes on Saturday. He then came back on Sunday going all nine innings to earn the 5-2 win over the Valmeyer Lakers in the championship game to be named the tournament MVP.

Final 2024 Top Ten
Hitters (min 50 AB) -———————————- AB -——- H -——— RBI -——- AVG
Grant Huebner, STL Spikes -—————- 87 -——- 42 -——— 23 -——— .483 *
Brandon Gutzler, STL Spikes -—————- 55 -——- 25 -——— 22 -——— .454
Alex Schreckenberg, Waterloo -————- 52 -——- 23 -———- 4 -———- .442
Jake Issacs, Belleville -—————————— 66 -——- 28 -——— 11 -———- .424
Tony Kossina, Millstadt -—————————- 83 -——- 35 -———- 8 -———- .422
Nate Albrecht, Waterloo -————————— 83 -——- 31 -———- 7 -———- .374
Ty Kueper, Waterloo -——————————— 59 -——— 21 -——— 14 -——— .356
Brian Lupa, Millstadt -——————————— 80 -——— 28 -——— 21 -——— .350
Joey Kossina, Millstadt -—————————- 83 -——— 29 -——- 19 -———- .349
Eric Creech, Waterloo -—————————— 52 -——— 18 -———- 4 -———- .346

Pitchers (min 22 IP) -——————— IP -—— ER -——— W/L -——- ERA
Philip Reinhardt, Valmeyer -——— 22 -——- 3 -———- 4 – 0 -——- 0.95
Adam Bieber, STL Spikes -———- 25 -——- 4 -———- 3 – 2 -——- 1.12
Jacob Thompson, Valmeyer - 44.2 -—— 8 -———- 6 – 1 -——- 1.25 #
Zach Mevert, STL Spikes -———— 33 -——- 8 -———- 2 – 1 -——- 1.70
Brayden Knoebel, Belleville -——- 40 -—— 13 -———- 3 – 3 -——- 2.28
Trae Lee, STL Spikes -—————- 37.1 -—- 13 -———- 4 – 2 -——- 2.44
Kamden Casey, Millstadt -———- 24.2 -—— 9 -———- 1 – 2 -——- 2.55
Matt McGilvary, Waterloo -———- 22.2 -—— 9 -———- 0 – 2 -——- 2.78
Tyler Jowett, Belleville -—————- 22.2 -—— 9 -———- 1 – 1 -——- 2.78
Drue Bravo, Edwardsville -———— 40 -——- 20 -——— 2 – 4 -——- 3.50

• = 2024 Batting Title winner
• = 2024 Pitching Title winner

Congratulations to the Valmeyer Lakers who completed the season by winning the Playoffs in back to back years and also the Trifecta . They won the Monroe Division with a record of 20-3, won the Valmeyer Mid-Summer Classic and then the Playoffs finishing with a final record of 26-3. The Lakers beat the Belleville Rockies 6-1 in game 1 and then 4-1 in game two to sweep the series on August 12. Jacob Thompson went all seven innings in game 1 for the win and Kenny Otero did the same in game 2. Jose Mieses led the Laker offense in game 1 with three hits and two RBI and Evan Davis hit a two run home run for game 2.

The Lakers were led by Kenny Otero who was named MVP of the Playoffs to capture his fourth award this season. Kenny was named MVP of the Valmeyer Mid-Summer Classic, the Mon-Clair All Star Game MVP, won the regular season ERA title and then the Playoff MVP.

Manager Mike McCarthy led Valmeyer to a 26-3 overall record and was voted Manager of the Year for 2023.

TOP TEN (as of August 3)
Hitters (min 46 ABs) ……………………AB…..H…..RBI….AVG
Preston Wright, Waterloo ……………..47……24…..10….. .511
Cal Kossina, Millstadt ………………….65……30…..17….. .462
Landon Tenkhoff, Cape Girardeau…….55……25…..10….. .455
Tony Kossina, Millstadt ………………..83……37…..12….. .446
Trevor Davis, Valmeyer…………………69…..30……19….. .435
Brandon Gutzler, STL Spikes…………..53…..23……23….. .434
Beau Collier, Edwardsville…………….56……23…..13….. .411
Cameron Roll, Cape Girardeau………..56……23……7….. .411
Grant Huebner, STL Spikes…………….69……27…..17….. .391
Tommy Mohan, Millstadt ………………59……23…..15….. .390

Pitchers (min 23 IP)…………………………IP…….ER….W/L…..ERA
Kenny Otero, Valmeyer……………………27.2……4……5-0…..1.01
Jacob Thompson, Valmeyer……………….30……7……4-1……1.63
Adam Bieber, STL Spikes…………………..30…….7……2-1……1.63
Trevor Davis, Valmeyer……………………30.2……8……4-0……1.83
Aiden Lougeay, Waterloo…………………29.2……8……4-0……1.89
Dawson Crawford, Cape Girardeau……..29.2…….8……2-2……1.89
Brayden Knoebel, Belleville………………39……11…….3-2……1.97
Mark Mueller, Belleville…………………..36.1…..11……1-3…….2.12
Ben Bledsoe, Cape Girardeau……………30.1…..10……1-4…….2.31
Joey Kossina, Millstadt……………………26…….11……1-1…….2.96

The Valmeyer Lakers defeated the Waterloo Buds twice on August 13 by the scores of 4-3 and 3-0 (in 8 innings) to sweep the Playoff Championship in Valmeyer. Matt Reinholz of the Lakers was named MVP after driving in the tying run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of game one and driving in the game winning run with a two RBI double in the top of the eight inning of game two of the Championship Series. Matt had 6 hits in 14 ABs for a .429 batting average with five RBIs. Jacob Thompson led Valmeyer’s pitching staff in the playoffs, including all eight innings in the final game against Waterloo. Jacob had a 2-0 record, throwing 15 innings with five strikeouts and did not give up an earned run for a 0.00 ERA.

The Valmeyer Lakers almost completed the coveted Triple Crown in 2022, losing to Belleville 8-7 in the championship game of the Valmeyer Mid-Summer Classic on July 4, winning the Monroe Division regular season with a 16-8 record and then winning the playoff championship. Manager Mike McCarthy led Valmeyer to a 22-9 overall record and was voted Manager of the Year for 2022.