Baseball Game Preview: Valmeyer Pirates vs. Waterloo Bulldogs

Valmeyer is 1-8 against Waterloo since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Pirates will square off against the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. Valmeyer is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.2 runs per game this season.

Valmeyer will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any runs last Tuesday, then bounced right back against Lebanon on Tuesday. The Pirates blew past the Greyhounds 10-2. The Pirates haven't had any issues with the Greyhounds recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive victory against them.

Tallen Jakimauskas looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. He has become a key player for Valmeyer: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most one hit, but 3-5 otherwise.

Luke Blackwell

Runs

03/26/25 vs Okawville	4
03/31/25 vs Valle Catholic	3
03/25/25 @ Cahokia	3
04/08/25 @ Lebanon	2
03/24/25 @ East Alton-Wood River	2
+ 2 more games

On the hitting side, Luke Blackwell and Chase Snyder did most of the damage at the plate: Blackwell scored two runs and stole a base while going 4-for-5, while Snyder scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-2. Valmeyer is 4-1 when Blackwell posts two or more runs, but 1-5 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Troy Neff, who scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Waterloo didn't have quite enough to beat Freeburg on Monday and fell 7-6.

Waterloo's defeat dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Valmeyer, their win bumped their record up to 5-6.

Valmeyer might still be hurting after the 12-1 loss they got from Waterloo in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Can the Pirates avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.