By MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — It might be difficult to think about baseball while most of the city and surrounding region is busy shoveling a couple feet of snow.
But Johnstown’s version of a hot stove topic heated up when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opted to hold its baseball championship at Point Stadium in April.
The PSAC is one of the top NCAA Division II baseball conferences in the East.
Johnstown also will host the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) baseball championship for the third consecutive year in May.
“This was something that former Recreation Director Cliff Kitner had been working on for 21/2 years,” Acting City Manager Bruce Haselrig said Tuesday.
“Cliff got a strong commitment from the PSAC a couple months ago. Since that time we’ve got a contract from the PSAC.
“It worked out that it’s not the same week of the WVIAC Tournament. This year it works. In the future it may not work, but they strongly want to talk about being here and making this their permanent home.”
PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray had heard rave reviews from conference programs such as IUP and Lock Haven when those teams played games on the Point’s artificial surface.
The WVIAC and Atlantic Region, which played its regional tournament in Johnstown in 2008, also have had positive reviews of the stadium and its ability to hold games in less than favorable weather conditions.
“All the PSAC teams that have come here to play UPJ or IUP have liked what they’ve seen,” Haselrig said. “The word has gotten out. Teams want to come here and play here.”
Pitt-Johnstown played home games at the Point last February because the surface enabled the WVIAC team to play through cold and wet weather.
“The big thing is the turf field,” Murray said. “Last year we were in Lancaster, a beautiful ballpark. But we only got half the tournament in because it just got terrible with the weather. It wasn’t anything they didn’t do. They had it tarped, but it still took three or four hours to get everything ready, and you’d lose a game every time that would happen.”
The PSAC Tournament includes eight teams in a double-defeat elimination format.
The games will be played April 28-May 1.
The WVIAC Tournament will be held May 6-9.
“At the Point, we can get out there pretty quickly,” Murray said. “The only dirt on the field is the pitcher’s mound. We have to play an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. We only have four days. We have to get the kids back to campus for finals. There’s not a lot of margin for error.”
West Chester University won last season’s abbreviated PSAC Tournament, and the Rams advanced to the NCAA Division II World Series.
“To me, it’s about getting it done on the field,” Murray
said. “Last year we had to go to a single-elimination tournament, and it’s not what it’s geared to do. We want to have the opportunity to get it done. Our coaches are excited about Johnstown and the Point.”
Haselrig said the signed contract with the PSAC entitles the city to receive all gate receipts and merchandising revenue. Concessions revenue goes to the Cambria County War Memorial Authority, which operates the concession stands.
The PSAC doesn’t pay a rental, but the conference is responsible for significant expenses such as paying for umpires, umpire lodging and baseballs, Haselrig said.
“It will be good for the community to have hotels filled and people buying food everywhere,” Haselrig said of a potential spin-off effect.
Murray believes the Point might be a suitable site as the long-term home of the PSAC Tournament if potential scheduling issues with the WVIAC can be worked out in future years.
“Hopefully it’s something we can make work for all of us down the road,” Murray said.
