BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — The All American Amateur Baseball Association Board of Directors voted to have two Johnstown representatives in the annual AAABA Tournament.
Johnstown had two representatives last year but that emergency situation resulted from the Washington D.C. franchise dropping out on the eve of the tournament registration.
“By accident, I guess, last year we had two Johnstown teams in there and it worked out pretty good for Johnstown, and it created some more interest in the tournament,” said Bob Wolfe, the AAABA national committee’s secretary and executive director. “Johnstown always seems to have a pretty good playoff, and there’s always a pretty good team left behind. It should be good for the tournament. It should be good for the city of Johnstown.
“The negative is that one more team is going to have to play in a regional. That’s the downside for the other teams. As it is right now we have six teams that go directly to Johnstown. That means there are 10 places open. Right now we have 22 franchises.”
Other action taken during the March 7 meeting in Kissimmee, Fla., included the addition of a AAABA franchise from Miami, Fla. The Florida squad will play in a seven-team league and participate in the Altoona Regional while vying for a spot in Johnstown. Franchises from Washington and Chicago South Shore each were penalized for failing to show for last year’s tournament and will not participate this year.
New national officers are: Columbus’ Lou Tiberi, president; Buffalo’s John Lawler, first vice president; Johnstown’s George Arcurio III, second vice president; Altoona’s John Austin, third vice president; Milford’s William Fertitta, treasurer; and Wolfe.
Two proposed rule changes were voted down: Increasing the AAABA maximum age limit to 22 years old from the current 20; and increasing the tournament roster size to 22 from 20.
Normally, Miami’s arrival would be the biggest news. But Johnstown’s having two tournament teams generated the most interest, both locally and throughout the organization.
“They’re going to see how it goes for the first couple years,” said Arcurio, president of the Johnstown Oldtimers organization that sponsors the weeklong event. “Last year, it was accidental that it even happened. It was a blessing that the Martella’s team and Chris Pfeil were able to pull their team together in one day. We would have had to completely change the 16-team bracket to a 15-team bracket, and it would have been a nightmare.
“It turned out to be great. It brought more people into the stadium. It worked out well that we were able to showcase both Johnstown teams, but also make sure Johnstown understood that Delweld was Johnstown’s championship team. It really made for an exciting tournament, especially having two really good local teams. It turned out to be a real showcase and class for the tournament.”
Johnstown now will advance both its playoff and regular-season champions, Arcurio said. If the same team wins both the regular-season and playoff titles, then the AAABA championship playoff final runner-up team also would advance. The playoff champion will be considered Johnstown’s first representative and begin play in the lower bracket. The second team will be in the upper bracket.
“The positives are that we’re hoping to get additional support from fans, not only Johnstown people but other people who come to the tournament to watch the second-place team play in the tournament,” Altoona’s Austin said. “The result would be some financial boost to the Johnstown Oldtimers to help defray some of the cost of this tournament.”
The now five-team Johnstown AAABA League was divided on the proposal, which was voted on by the local league members before being presented in Florida. Three Johnstown franchises wanted to have two representatives in the tournament, and the other two franchises wanted the one-team format to remain intact.
“You grow up learning to set goals for yourself and you work hard to achieve goals,” said Delweld manager Chris DelSignore. “You’re usually rewarded for that work with something. I think that when you come up short of those goals you shouldn’t be rewarded. I don’t think this is good for our league. There are a few teams that aren’t very happy about it. We’re down to five teams already. Who knows what the future holds? I don’t know what the long-term effects will be, but Delweld isn’t for it. We think there should be one winner and they need to be rewarded.”
DelSignore also worried that having two teams in the tournament actually will weaken Johnstown’s representatives. When bolstering their lineups with pick-up players, those two squads may not pick players from each other. That means pick-up players would be available from only the three remaining teams.
“We’re going to go in with two weaker Johnstown teams instead of one stronger one,” DelSignore said.
Pfeil, manager of Martella’s Pharmacy, is a proponent of the rule change. His team got a first-hand look at the process when Washington dropped out last year and Pfeil had to reassemble his team a week after it had played what normally would have been Martella’s final game.
“I think giving another 20 kids an opportunity to play in the national tournament is a great thing. Most tournaments around the country have a host team and give a second (host) entry,” Pfeil said. “It’s not an uncommon practice. I think it’s a positive thing because we have a true AAABA League here, unlike some cities that have one team and play against unlimited competition. We have to scratch and claw to get into the tournament.
“I feel over the past 10 years that we’ve had two teams that were good enough to both go in and compete at a high level in the tournament,” Pfeil added. “Many times, the top two teams are separated very thinly. It makes it far more competitive because now you’re playing for the regular-season championship. Winning that championship is a much bigger deal than maybe setting up pitching for the playoffs. It makes it more important for the third- and fourth-place teams too.”
