More than 50 years ago, Joe Torre listened intently as his older brother, Frank, told stories of a western Pennsylvania steel mill city where a weeklong baseball tournament was played in a uniquely configured stadium.
“Years before I played there I had heard Frank talking about, ‘Johnstown, Johnstown,’ ” said Torre, the Los Angeles Dodgers manager, during a four-game series against the Pirates at PNC Park last week.
The Torre brothers made their mark in Johnstown during a combined six AAABA Tournament appearances. The Flood City also made an impression on them.
Rick Roberts paced deliberately from the end of the hallway to the home dugout’s entrance at Point Stadium.
His eyes red and slightly tearing, Roberts resembled a manager who had just addressed his gritty team after a solid AAABA Tournament appearance that ended too soon for players, coaches and their fans.
The D.C. McLean Raiders of Washington earned their spot in Saturday night’s championship game of the 64th annual AAABA Tournament opposite Baltimore with a 9-6 victory over the ABCO Phillies of Philadelphia in the afternoon game at Point Stadium.
The victory for the Raiders avenged an earlier 4-3 tournament loss to Philadelphia.
Baltimore manager Dean Albany complained that his Youse’s Maryland Orioles were flat in eliminating Johnstown’s Delweld entry from the AAABA Tournament on Thursday night.
He had no such concerns on Friday.
Baltimore continued its run in the 64th annual AAABA Tournament, advancing to face unbeaten Philadelphia in a Friday night game with a 22-0, seven-inning shutout over Zanesville Friday afternoon at Roxbury Park.
Brett Williams was performing like a well-oiled machine on Friday.
Altoona wasn’t.
That was the biggest difference in Washington’s 7-0 shutout of Altoona in an elimination game of the 64th AAABA Tournament at Point Stadium.
Williams scattered nine hits and the McLean Raiders took advantage of four Altoona errors to score six unearned runs.
Philadelphia’s triumphs in the 64th AAABA Tournament have come in the wake of tragedy.
The ABCO Phillies, who could win the franchise’s first championship today, have dedicated their performance to the memory of Bruce Wandling.
Johnstown’s Delweld took the five-time defending AAABA Tournament champions to the limit on Thursday night at Point Stadium.
But Youse’s Maryland Orioles of Baltimore did what the most successful franchise in tournament history does so well. Baltimore found a way to defeat an upstart Delweld team 4-3 despite two inside-the-park homers by Tom Burkett and an outstanding outing by 19-year-old Gregg Bandzuh.
Philadelphia gave manager Brian Kraus a going-away present.
The manager of the ABCO Phillies improved to 4-0 in the 64th AAABA Tournament, as his team beat Altoona 5-1 Thursday at Point Stadium to become the only remaining undefeated team.
Maryland State had Washington on the ropes, leading by a run with two outs in the top of the ninth at Greater Johnstown Middle School field on Thursday.
But a routine pop-up to shallow right was misplayed and the McLean Raiders went on to get the gamewinner, and more, in an 8-5 victory over the Columbia Reds, eliminating Maryland State from the 64th AAABA Tournament.
Doug Pollock is certainly thankful it’s Friday.
The Zanesville manager is in a new position, as his Junior Pioneers are playing in the AAABA Tournament’s fifth day for the first time.
“It’s a little bit of a new experience for us to be playing on Friday,” Pollock said Thursday after his team beat Livonia 7-1 in an elimination game at Point Stadium for its third win of the tournament. “We’ve had to play a doubleheader on Thursday before.
Johnstown's Tom Burkett talks with Tribune-Democrat reporter Mike Mastovich following the team's 6-5 win over Cleveland at the Point Stadium on Wednesday.
Tom Burkett drew walks in six of his first 12 plate appearances during the 64th AAABA Tournament.
Once the Delweld center fielder finally started seeing some good pitches, the 6-foot-1 slugger sent baseballs flying out of Point Stadium on Wednesday night.
Burkett ripped a nearly 400-foot triple to center field and had a pair of towering shots over the left-field screen as host Johnstown beat Cleveland J.L. Thomas, 6-5, in front of 1,743 fans.
Another former Johnstown Chiefs star advanced to the National Hockey League. For the second time.
The New York Islanders named Scott Gordon as head coach Tuesday night.
He replaced Ted Nolan, who split with the team on July 14.
Baltimore pitcher Kevin Brady struck out 14 batters, reserve Tyler Hibbs collected two hits and Youse’s Maryland Orioles shut out New Orleans 4-0 on Wednesday at the Greater Johnstown Middle School field, eliminating the Louisiana club from the 64th AAABA Tournament.
Brady, a right-hander who is scheduled to be a freshman this coming semester at Clemson University, allowed five hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings.
Philadelphia nearly earned a spot in AAABA Tournament history by going from turning a triple play one day to being the victim of one the next day.
Instead, the ABCO Phillies will have to settle for a spot in the winner’s bracket opposite Altoona.
Just two pitches after the Phillies nearly ran themselves out of a golden opportunity in the 11th on Wednesday, Jordan Fisher drove in the winning run in a 4-3 victory over Washington at Point Stadium.
Execution.
Baseball coaches preach about how important it is, but Altoona’s Johnston Realty baseball team personified that importance Wednesday afternoon.
After four scoreless innings, the Altoona entry fell behind Maryland State’s Columbia Reds by a run in the top of the fifth. However, Johnston scored twice in the fifth and twice more in the sixth to earn their third consecutive victory, 4-1, in a game at War Memorial Field in Lilly.
Zanesville manager Doug Pollock, a former national president and AAABA Hall of Famer, is working the 64th tournament with both of his sons.
Zachary Pollock, a 16-year-old Zanesville High School student, is an infielder-outfielder for the Junior Pioneers. Zachary’s older brother, Joe, is a coach for Zanesville and a former player.
Livonia took Brooklyn’s best shot and got off the turf, literally, in a AAABA elimination game on Wednesday morning at Point Stadium.
The Rams scored five runs – all of them coming with two outs – in the top of the ninth to beat the Youth Service Team 6-3 and stay alive in the tournament.
Judicious use of pitching and a three-run homer by center fielder Erik Spitzer kept Zanesville alive for another day on Wednesday.
Schenectady was eliminated on the 8-7 decision at Roxbury Park, despite nearly overcoming a four-run deficit in the eighth inning.
“It was a good ballgame,” said PNA manager Todd Godlewski. “Both teams played well. But, we left a lot of guys on base (11), and we didn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”
It’s unusual for a baseball player to get two hits in an inning. When more than one player does it on the same team, like Gurabo, Puerto Rico, did Wednesday, it usually means a pretty good offensive night.
Gurabo had five players get two hits in an inning against Johnstown. Thing is, all five got them in the same inning.
ABC’s of the AAABA national tournament in Johnstown:
From beginning to end ... as compiled by members of the 2008 New Orleans franchise.
As compiled by members of the 2008 New Orleans franchise.
New Orleans, Schenectady, Brooklyn eliminated. Altoona, Philly advance.
Drew Permison isn’t accustomed to going the distance on the mound.
The Maryland State right-hander certainly didn’t expect to throw 156 pitches on Tuesday night. He probably didn’t envision himself working nine of the 10 innings the Columbia Reds needed to defeat Johnstown’s Delweld 5-2 at Point Stadium.
Washington D.C.’s McLean Raiders won the battle of the big guns of the Beltway, surviving a 5-4 game with defending AAABA champ Baltimore Youse’s Maryland Orioles in an errorless, second-round contest Tuesday at Lilly Washington Memorial Field.
“We know a lot about Baltimore, being from the same area,” Washington manager Eric Smith said. “They are definitely the best team here and the team you have to beat to win the championship, so all of our guys are excited. I’m happy for them. They played well.”
Altoona manager Kurt Farabaugh got exactly what he wanted from his team on Tuesday.
Not only did Johnston Realty beat Zanesville 4-3 at Roxbury Park in the winner’s bracket of the 64th AAABA Tournament, but Farabaugh also got another strong pitching performance to help him save some of his best arms for the rest of the week.
A third-inning triple play was only one piece of the sparkling defensive puzzle put together by Philadelphia in support of Kevin Dooley’s complete-game victory as Philadelphia ABCO downed Brooklyn Youth Service 4-1 Tuesday at Fichtner Field at Johnstown Middle School.
Nine times three.
Philadelphia ABCO turned the ninth triple play in AAABA Tournament history during the third inning of a 4-1 win over Brooklyn Tuesday at Johnstown Middle School’s Fichtner Field.
The most recent triple play prior to Tuesday was made by New Orleans in 1999.
Former limited late models driver Dave Lee of Windber won the pure stocks feature Saturday night at Thunder Valley, his first victory in any division at the Central City track since 2000.
Third-generation driver Randy Burkholder of Chambersburg scored his career-first late models win while Brian Duffy won his 17th career TVR semi-late victory. Martin Visnosky captured his third victory in the past four four-cylinder races.
Talk about bouncing back.
After getting shut out by Philadelphia in the 64th AAABA Tournament opener, New Orleans Boosters jumped on Buffalo for eight early runs before eliminating Pignataro’s Financial Group 10-4 on Tuesday at UPJ’s George R. Walter Field.
“It’s the great thing about this tournament, being a double-elimination, you’re not done until that second game’s lost,” New Orleans manager Brady Benoit said.
As far as Cleveland manager Dave Thomas is concerned, his team’s 6-2 victory over Lansing on Tuesday was due to just one factor.
“Mike Muenster,” Thomas said. “Mike Muenster says it all.”
The right-handed Muenster struck out nine, walked six and gave up seven hits in the elimination game at Franklin Field.
Schenectady survives.
The PNA team from New York charged from behind Tuesday afternoon to take the lead from the Youngstown Metros, only to squander it with an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning.
However, in the bottom of the ninth, Schenectady took advantage of a hit batsman and an error to pull out an 8-7 victory over the Metros in an elimination game at Cambria Township Recreation Park.
Faced with the prospect of a short trip to Johnstown, the Livonia Michigan Rams shrugged off an early deficit and sent New York Cortlandt packing with an 11-4 victory on Tuesday afternoon.
A day after being shut down by one of Baltimore’s top pitchers, the Rams offense got back on track against New York lefty Michael O’Hanlon, putting up two runs in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth to break the game open at 9-3.
Delweld shrugged off early nerves and what began as a dominating outing by Youngstown Metro left-hander Steve Gruver on Monday night at Point Stadium.
The Johnstown host entry eventually solved Gruver, who recorded nine strikeouts in the first three innings. Delweld won 11-3 in the official opener of the 64th annual AAABA Tournament.
Philadelphia didn’t have history on its side in Monday’s AAABA Tournament game with New Orleans, but manager Brian Kraus had Christopher Dolan and Matt Moceri.
That proved to be enough, as the two right-handers combined to shut out New Orleans for 10 innings as Philadelphia won 2-0 at Roxbury Park.
Youse’s Maryland Orioles have built a great tradition in the national AAABA Tournament.
Monday, however, the five-time defending champs broke with one of the traditions that has not been as positive as they would have liked.
Fans of all ages converged on Point Stadium on Monday to catch Johnstown’s Delweld host Youngstown, Ohio, in the 64th annual AAABA Tournament opener.
The game got under way with Delweld batboy Matthew Hohan, 14, throwing outthe first pitch to rousing cheers from the thousands in attendance.
“I wouldn’t miss this,” said Jerry Maser of Johnstown. “This is the best amateur baseball in the country and a Johnstown tradition.”
Brooklyn just wouldn’t go away.
Hanging around, hanging around, the Youth Service team finally got the bats working in the seventh, posting four runs, and going on to a 10-7 victory over Buffalo’s Pignataro’s Financial Services team in the opening round of the AAABA Tournament at Pete and Mick Haschak Memorial Field in Portage.
Brooklyn got runs from eight of the starting nine batters, but was forced to play catch-up from deficits of 1-0, 4-2 and 7-4.
The victory puts the Youth Service team in a winner’s-bracket game against Philadelphia today. Buffalo will face New Orleans.
Altoona used a pitching-by-committee approach to precision on Monday in AAABA opening-round action against Lansing at Lilly-Washington Memorial Field.
Johnston Realty used four pitchers, including winner Mike Pierce, in a 12-0 shutout over Carl’s Supermarket in 61⁄2 innings.
Washington didn’t show any rust on Day 1 of the 64th AAABA Tournament following an extended layoff.
The McLean Raiders marched out to an early lead and never trailed in an 8-3 upper-bracket victory over New York at UPJ’s George R. Walter Field.
The Raiders scored two in the first inning and punched four more runs across the plate in the second.
Washington manager Eric Smith acknowledged it was gratifying to get an early lead.
Maryland State played just well enough on Monday to send Schenectady to the loser’s bracket on a 5-2 decision at Franklin Field.
“It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win,” conceded Columbia Reds manager Paul Donovan. “We just pitched a little better than they did, and we hit a little better than they did.”
Behind a complete-game effort from pitcher Nathan Eschbaugh, the Zanesville Junior Pioneers edged J.L. Thomas of Cleveland 3-2 Monday afternoon in the opening round of the AAABA Tournament at Fichtner Field at Johnstown Middle School.
Eschbaugh and the Pioneers held off Cleveland after building a 3-0 lead through four innings with Zanesville completing an escape act in the ninth as Cleveland had the game-tying run at third with two outs.
Prior to the Zanesville Junior Pioneers’ 3-2 win over J.L. Thomas of Cleveland, a pair of treasures in Johnstown’s baseball lore were honored in a pre-game ceremony that featured dignitaries from the City of Johnstown and the Greater Johnstown School District.
Here are scores from Monday afternoon games in the AAABA tournament in Johnstown:
After trading early runs, Brooklyn put up four in the seventh and pulled away from Buffalo 10-7 for an opening-round victory in the 64th AAABA Tournament.
My first memories of the tournament include standing in a crowd at the Johnstown High field, at age 12, to see Pete Vuckovich pitch for the home team. As well as being the most dominant pitcher in our league in 15 years, Vuckovich also played shortstop and led the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs at age 18 and 19. Despite including another future major leaguer, Gene Pentz, the Johnstown team did not have depth and was soon eliminated.
The wait is over for Delweld.
The Johnstown franchise found out Sunday night that it will open play in the 64th annual AAABA Tournament against the Metros of Youngstown, Ohio.
The official opener between the two squads is set for 7:30 p.m. at Point Stadium.
Youse’s Maryland Orioles will attempt to accomplish something that not even the storied Baltimore franchise has achieved in six decades of the AAABA Tournament.
The five-time defending AAABA Tournament champions will try to become the first franchise to win six consecutive titles.
“The coaches think about it a little bit and the community in Baltimore,” said Youse’s Maryland Orioles manager Dean Albany. “Not so much the players. These guys are mostly new guys.”
Altoona Johnston Realty will bring experience to the AAABA Tournament.
The Altoona Regional champions return 11 players from last year’s 2-2 AAABA Tournament team, including pitchers Mike Pierce and Kaleb Fleck.
“Almost all of us have been here last year. Everyone is excited to go out and try to play our best ball,” said Fleck, a right-hander who pitches at Pitt-Johnstown and spent much of the summer in Waynesboro, Va., in the Valley League.
With all the preliminary activities out of the way, the annual reunion of the AAABA players, coaches, officials and fans gets under way in the city of Johnstown and the surrounding area for the 64th annual event.
Everyone is ready for the call to play ball, with 16 teams putting their diamond dreams on the line, including Johnstown representative Delweld, which opens play tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Point Stadium against Youngstown, Ohio.
Washington D.C. McLean Raiders manager Eric Smith is ready for baseball.
After two weeks between the Raiders’ final game and the tournament, Smith is anxious to get his players back on the field.
The Washington franchise also encountered an unexpected hurdle during Sunday’s registration. Three players on Smith’s roster were en route to Johnstown, all of them expected to arrive this morning.
When Dotty Clark was a child, she attended AAABA games with her father.
When her father had to be at work, she would sneak to the Inclined Plane so she could see the crowds at Point Stadium.
“I have always loved baseball,” she said.
That passion for the game shines through in Dotty’s entry in The Tribune-Democrat’s 2008 AAABA essay contest. Her essay was selected the winner from among nearly 20 entries.
In his first season as a AAABA League pitcher, Rick Roberts led his Principle Development team into the 1996 AAABA Tournament.
Back then, Roberts was a wide-eyed, 17-year-old left-hander pitching in front of an estimated 8,000 fans on opening night at Point Stadium.
Twelve years later, Roberts is back in the tournament, this time during his debut season as a AAABA League manager with Delweld.
Can a AAABA League manager lead by example? Certainly.
Just look to Delweld’s first-year manager Rick Roberts.
Roberts has done a commendable job molding a group that includes many young players and a handful of experienced vets. Delweld finished the regular season strong and ran through the playoffs with six wins in seven outings.
New Orleans secured its position in the 16-team AAABA field for this week’s 64th annual event on Saturday afternoon at Point Stadium.
The Louisiana squad pounded out 10 hits, including six for extra bases, in a 6 1/2-inning, 11-0 drubbing of Chicago Metro, a game shortened by the mercy rule. New Orleans won the best-of-3 regional 2-0.
“I’m very pleased,” New Orleans manager Brady Benoit said
The first win in the AAABA Tournament is always a big one.
New Orleans put Chicago Metro squarely behind the eight-ball Friday night with a 6-1 victory in their best-of-3 AAABA regional game at Point Stadium.
The winner of the regional will earn the final spot in the 64th annual AAABA Tournament field, with games set to begin Monday.
George Arcurio Jr. will watch with pride tonight as the AAABA Hall of Fame inducts its 15th class at the Pasquerilla Conference Center.
Arcurio envisioned a AAABA Hall of Fame years before he was inducted into the inaugural Class of 1994.
In his 28th consecutive year as president of the Johnstown Oldtimers, Arcurio was a driving force in the creation of the hall of fame and had a role in establishing a permanent home for the hall in one of the buildings behind the right-field bleachers at Point Stadium.
The week-long All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament traditionally brings 16 teams from along the East Coast and as far away as Ohio, Michigan and New Orleans to Johnstown, where top-notch baseball is played at Point Stadium, Roxbury Park and various fields in the surrounding communities.
But baseball is only part of the August tradition.
Delweld will represent Johnstown in the AAABA Tournament for the fourth time since the franchise entered the local league in 1999.
That’s four trips to the national tournament in 10 seasons, including the upcoming 64th AAABA Tournament that officially opens Monday night at Point Stadium.
General Manager Chris DelSignore credits hard work and solid fundamentals for Delweld’s consistency.
Officially speaking, this is Jake Rougeaux’s rookie season in the AAABA League.
But the Delweld left-hander isn’t a typical first-year player.
At age 20 Rougeaux also is in his final season in the local league.
His resume includes three seasons with IUP, a team that advanced to the PSAC Tournament for the first time in a decade this spring. Additionally, Rougeaux learned a lot while pitching in the open Indiana County League, which has no age limit and includes former college and pro players, some of whom are in their 40’s.
Rick Roberts solidified his outfield, added some pop to his lineup and strengthened an already deep pitching staff with two more quality arms.
The first-year Delweld manager used his four pickup selections to enhance a lineup that finished the AAABA League season strong and used that momentum to roll through the league playoffs.
Delweld will represent Johnstown in the 64th AAABA Tournament that begins Monday at Point Stadium and various outlying fields.
Youse’s Maryland Orioles of Baltimore closed out the 63rd AAABA Tournament with a 6-0 shutout over Washington in the championship game Sunday at Point Stadium.
The Orioles’ fifth straight title, and their 25th overall, was keyed by pitcher Josh Squatrito, a closer for Baltimore during the regular season.
Squatrito recorded nine strikeouts with two walks in the complete-game two-hitter.
Washington made its own luck by sending 10 men to the plate and scoring seven runs in a fifth inning that propelled the McLean Raiders to a 9-3 victory over New Orleans on Sunday at Point Stadium.
“The big inning helped us out there,” Washington manager Tim Brown said. “Anytime you can come out and separate yourself, that certainly makes things a lot easier.”
It was business as usual at the 63rd AAABA baseball tournament as the Big Three – Baltimore, Washington and New Orleans – found themselves to be the last three teams in contention for this year’s title.
And, as has been the Johnstown tradition, once the local entry exited the tournament, attendance went down as well.
Several hundred fans were in the stands Sunday for the doubleheader which determined the champion.
Down two runs. Two outs. Nobody on base in the bottom of the ninth inning.
No problem.
Johnstown’s Delweld pulled off another dramatic comeback Wednesday night at Point Stadium, stringing together four straight hits and scoring three times to rally past the Zanesville Junior Pioneers 5-4 .
New Orleans Boosters’ Jerad Comarda and Columbus’ John Orkis will be linked in AAABA lore for years to come – unless someone drives in more than nine runs in a tournament game.
Comarda tied Orkis’ 28-year-old record on Tuesday, with nine RBIs in a 21-2 rout of New York at Portage. The University of New Orleans product went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and three doubles.
Orkis also had an amazing day at the plate during the 1978 tournament.
The Washington franchise might not have participated in the AAABA Tournament the past couple of years, but in its return, it hasn’t missed a beat.
Facing two of the tournament favorites during the past two days, the McLean Raiders bested New Orleans this time, winning 5-2 during a sweltering afternoon at Point Stadium on Wednesday.
Manager Mike Gossner said leadoff batter John Malloy sets the table for the Philadelphia ABCO Phillies.
Malloy, a center fielder, was 5-for-5 and reached base six times to lead the Phillies past Altoona’s Johnston Realty 10-1 in a winners’-bracket game on Wednesday at Lilly Washington War Memorial Field.
“I wanted a hit, but I can’t complain about a 5-for-5 day,” said Malloy, who drew a walk in his final plate appearance of the day and fell a hit shy of the tournament record held by four different players. “It feels good to get the ‘W’ and be 3-0 in the tournament.”
Philadelphia and Altoona were the only two remaining unbeaten clubs out of the 63rd AAABA Tournament’s opening-day lower bracket.
In a game that took nearly four hours to complete, New York’s Dix Hills Dodgers overcame a hot, steamy afternoon on the artifical turf at Point Stadium to eliminate the Maryland State Monarchs 14-7 on Wednesday.
“It was a marathon. We got our money’s worth,” New York manager Bill Ianniciello said. “We swung the bats well all day and ran the bases impressively. (That) was the biggest thing.”
The Dodgers pounded out 12 hits but were also aided by errors, walks and hit batsmen by Maryland State.
Wednesday morning’s rematch of the 2006 AAABA championship game went to Baltimore Youse’s Maryland Orioles in impressive fashion, as they eliminated Chicago Metro Glen Ellyn Jam with a 10-0 mercy rule victory in eight innings.
After losing to Washington on Tuesday, the Orioles responded with much sharper play in all facets of the game Wednesday. Chicago Metro only got three balls out of the infield as the Orioles’ pitching staff and defense engineered a one-hitter, inducing 17 ground-ball outs. Starter Rob Whitley went 52⁄3 innings for the win, giving up a hit and four walks while striking out three.
On a hot and humid day at Roxbury Park, Matt Haseley needed an inning to get warmed up.
Once the Buffalo Meridian Medicine right-hander did, Livonia’s hitters had little chance.
Haseley and reliever Cael Johnson limited Livonia to five hits and Cory Brownsten had three hits – including the go-ahead home run – to lead Buffalo to a 5-2 victory in a AAABA Tournament elimination game on Wednesday.
For about 30 minutes on Tuesday night, Delweld manager Chris DelSignore thought he was reliving an ESPN SportsCenter highlight segment.
His Johnstown team had nine consecutive batters reach base to open the bottom of the eighth inning against Columbus. Each of those baserunners eventually crossed the plate as Delweld erased two deficits in a 13-6 victory over the Big Katz at Point Stadium.
“It’s amazing,” DelSignore said after Delweld evened its AAABA Tournament record at 1-1. “I watched the highlights of the St. Louis Cardinals (Monday) night when they had 10 straight hits and 10 runs in the one inning. I go home after the Altoona loss thinking, ‘Gee, we’d love to have one of those innings.’
Jerad Comarda accounted for nearly half of New Orleans’ runs in a seven-inning win over New York on Tuesday afternoon.
On the surface, it’s not a totally outrageous statistic, but when the final score is 21-2, that effort takes on a whole new dimension.
Comarda went 4-for-5, hit a grand slam, registered three doubles, knocked in nine runs and scored twice in a sensational display at Pete and Mick Haschak Memorial Field.
AAABA Hall of Fame inductee Jim Monin of Buffalo had two sons who carried on the baseball tradition in the family.
In the 1990s, Jeff Monin played at North Carolina State and Andy Monin at Clemson University, both Atlantic Coast Conference squads.
Johnstown Junior League standout Mike Holtz pitched at Clemson, and Andy Monin was a catcher and Tigers teammate.
Many of the fans had already exited the track when Meyersdale’s Mark Smith got past Barry Awtey to win the super late model ARI 100 Saturday at Jennerstown Speedway.
The victory was the third this season for defending track champion Smith. Awtey’s second-place finish in the 20-car field helped the Jenners driver maintain his points lead over Greensburg’s Jason Mignogna.
North Braddock’s Andrew Kostelnik won the street stock feature at Jennerstown and his brother, Adam, of East McKeesport, who finished second, holds the points lead in the division.
Baseball can be a strange game at times.
Just ask Kurt Farabaugh. The Altoona Johnston Realty manager did not mind the weird ending to his team’s game with the Livonia Rams.
Altoona scored 11 runs in the top of the ninth inning to erase an 8-3 deficit and earn a 14-10 victory that advances the squad to the third round in the winners’ bracket.
“I was planning my pitching for (today) in the loser bracket side when I was standing (in the coaching box) on third with two outs,” Farabaugh said. “And just with the change of events, it was amazing.”
Facing elimination on the second day of the 63rd edition of the AAABA Tournament, Maryland State manager Bernie Walter had no qualms about handing the ball to a 16-year-old starting pitcher.
Kevin Brady rewarded Walter for that decision, striking out 11 while walking just two and allowing five hits in a 10-0 win over Cleveland on Tuesday.
“He’s an outstanding pitcher,” Walter said. “He’ll be probably the No. 1 high school pitcher in Maryland next year. He’s got a chance to get drafted pretty high. He throws 93 (mph) and has command of all his pitches. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Chicago Metro manager Steve Hardman said he talked to his team about getting off to a quick start in its elimination game against Elk County/State College on Tuesday afternoon at Franklin Field.
His team got the message loud and clear as the Glen Ellyn Jam scored in each of the first four innings to jump out to an early lead en route to an 11-4 victory.
Washington McLean Raiders’ Raphael Turner hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie, helping his squad earn a 6-5 win over Baltimore Youse’s Maryland Orioles in a winners’ bracket game of the 63rd AAABA tournament on Tuesday at UPJ.
The two-run margin was key, as Baltimore mounted a comeback attempt in the ninth. Alex Buchholz singled in Kyle Davis to pull the Orioles within a run, but Washington reliever Nickolas Schreiber limited the damage to a run, stranding runners at second and third by getting cleanup hitter Justin Bour to ground-out to first.
Buffalo Meridian Medicine jumped out to an early, multiple-run lead for the second straight day of the 63rd AAABA Tournament.
But this time, Buffalo didn’t let a victory slip through its fingers on Tuesday in an elimination-bracket game at Forest Hills High School baseball field.
Buffalo broke open a tie game with a five-run eighth inning for a 12-5 victory over Cincinnati Midland Warriors.
Philadelphia’s ABCO Phillies remained unbeaten in the 63rd AAABA Tournament by beating Zanesville’s Junior Pioneers 8-3 on Monday at Roxbury Park.
The Phillies got seven strong innings from starting pitcher Will Blackman, who gave up three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.
“I thought it was a well-pitched game by Will Blackman,” Philadelphia manager Mike Gossner said. “Will has done that for us all year long. He spots the ball real well. You have to have a good defense behind him, which we feel we do, but we had a couple of boots.
Johnstown’s Delweld had plenty of clutch pitching during Monday’s official opener of the 63rd annual AAABA Tournament.
But the host team had difficulty producing the big hit, stranding 12 runners against Altoona Johnston Realty as a crowd estimated at more than 7,000 watched at Point Stadium.
Altoona capitalized on Delweld’s lack of offense to win 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th and hand the Johnstown entry its first opening-night setback since 1998.
Delweld will play Columbus at 7 tonight at the Point.
The Philadelphia Abco Phillies staged a late rally to defeat Buffalo Meridian Medicine 7-6 Monday afternoon at Point Stadium.
The Phillies scored four times in the sixth to tie the game at 5, capitalizing on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Eric Woodrow, a two-run error by Buffalo catcher Cory Brownsten, and an RBI-triple by Mike Villari.
Every Washington batter had at least one hit to contribute to the team’s 7-6 first-round AAABA victory over Cleveland Monday at Lilly Washington War Memorial Field.
Washington pounded out 18 hits and got a strong pitching performance from starter Jason Lee Kitchen, who allowed a run on five hits with a walk, a hit batsman and nine strikeouts.
First-year New Orleans manager Barry Butera was worried about filling Joe Scheuermann’s big shoes.
He feels a lot better after Monday’s 2-0 win over Chicago Metro in the opening round of the 63rd AAABA Tournament at Roxbury Park.
“We didn’t want to go two-and-barbecue,” Butera said after his team assured itself of at least three games. “Joe would never let us hear the end of it. … Now, we can move on.”
Baltimore opened its defense of the AAABA Tournament with a power-packed third inning to propel itself past Maryland State 11-4 on Monday afternoon.
Seven runs, six hits and 13 batters in the third pushed the Youse’s Maryland Orioles out to a 9-0 lead over the Monarchs, paving the way for a second-day meeting with another tournament favorite, Washington, a winner over Cleveland.
Persistence paid off for New York on the first day of the 63rd AAABA Tournament on Monday at the Forest Hills High School baseball field.
The Dix Hills Dodgers rallied four separate times, the final one coming in their last at-bat.
Michael Lichtman singled off Nathan Hale to the gap in right-center field, driving in the winning run in the Dodgers’ 7-6 comeback victory over Elk County/State College.
Zanesville brought a veteran team to the 63rd AAABA Tournament, and that experience paid off in the opening round on Monday.
The Junior Pioneers used an explosive offensive performance – including six RBIs fromDerekBragg – and dominating pitching to dismantle Cincinnati 15-0 in a seven-inning, mercy-rule shortened game at Franklin Field.
Sometimes the ball bounces your way. Sometimes the ball bounces away ... or it skips away ... or it sails over your head.
In the case of the Columbus Big Katz, five errors led to an avalanche of early runs for the Livonia Michigan Rams, who won 11-4 Monday at Cambria Township Recreation Park.
After spotting Livonia an 8-0 lead after three innings, Columbus outscored and outhit the Rams through the remainder of the game.
Thirty years ago, Jeff Freshour came about as close to playing in the AAABA Tournament as possible without making an appearance.
Freshour’s son, Tim, a Delweld outfielder/pitcher, has lived his father’s dream, not once, but twice.
The elder Freshour was a Johnstown Monte Carlo pick-up player in the 1977 AAABA Tournament played in Altoona because of the third Johnstown Flood. But his addition to the roster missed a deadline, and despite Freshour’s being listed as a Johnstown player – his photo even appeared in The Tribune-Democrat with the rest of the team – he was ineligible.
A roundup of games played Monday afternoon at the AAABA national tournament in Johnstown:
Get ready to renew the rivalry.
A pair of local baseball squads will square off at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Point Stadium in the official opener of the 63rd annual AAABA Tournament as host Johnstown Delweld faces Altoona’s Johnston Realty.
“We’re definitely excited,” Johnstown’s Chris DelSignore said. “We expect that there is going to be a packed house and they are going to be pulling for us. We’re going to try to use that energy that they give off and try to feed off of it and try to play with a lot of confidence and give the crowd a good baseball game. We’re going to go out there and do our thing and let the chips fall where they may. We’re not going to deviate from what kept us successful.”
