LILLY — Bill Tremel was a star on the athletic fields of Lilly. On Tuesday, he settled for a seat in the bleachers, where he watched Baltimore defeat New York 10-0 on the second day of the AAABA Tournament.

Tremel played 11 seasons of professional baseball, including three with the Chicago Cubs – from 1954-56.

“They’ve got some pretty good ballplayers,” Tremel said while watching Youse’s Orioles and the Long Island Astros square off. “They know how to play well. They were taught well.

“These guys are almost pros right now. They function very well.”

Tremel was born on the Fourth of July in 1929, but looks like he could still fire a fastball past a hitter at Lilly’s War Memorial Field – where a plaque in his honor stands behind the backstop.

Tremel pitched 902/3 big-league innings for the Cubs.

He was 4-2, including a 3-0 mark and a 3.72 earned run average in 1955.

In 2002, he was enshrined in the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame for his exploits in baseball. But that wasn’t his only sport.

“I played high school football here, and baseball and basketball,” said Tremel, who now lives in Altoona.

When the public-address announcer told the crowd at Lilly he was there, Tremel was treated to a nice ovation.

“It’s home to me,” Tremel said. “I still see a lot of people I went to school with.”



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Father-son lineup: Cleveland manager Bill Kirchner has his sons Michael and Andy on his Old Brooklyn Hurricanes roster.

Michael, a pitcher/infielder, is attending Cleveland State while younger brother Andy is a catcher/outfielder at Penn State.

“It’s challenging at times having sons on the team,” the Cleveland manager said. “You have to watch. You kind of have to balance being a dad and being a coach, but you have to be a coach first. They don’t like it at times, but they have to understand.

“This is our first time coming here,” the manager said. “I used to come back here when I was little because I had relatives back here. It was nice to actually come back for this event. It’s very well run, and everything about it is first class.”



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Boosters brigade: New Orleans assistant coach Barry Butera pitched for NORD Boosters in 1973 and 1974 on the AAABA Tournament runner-up squad.

Butera also managed New Orleans in 2007.

As a player, Butera had a few notable outings in the 1974 tournament. That year’s tournament MVP Steve Mura won four games, three of those in relief.

But on opening day, Mura started in what eventually was a 24-0 rout of Zanesville at the former Price Field in Westmont.

Manager Rags Scheuermann took Mura out of the one-sided game with the right-hander throwing a no-hitter through five. Butera came in and tossed a hitless sixth, seventh and eighth before finally allowing a hit in the ninth inning that thwarted a potential combined no-hitter.

Butera also started and threw 52/3 innings in the title game against Detroit Adray.

Detroit won 6-1 on right-hander Joe Carroll’s three-hitter.

In 18 innings during three appearances, Butera was 0-1 with a 3.11 ERA, 12 strikeouts and five walks.

His son Blake is an infielder on this year’s New Orleans team, and his son, Barry Jr., played in 2006 and 2007.

There are more New Orleans’ family ties: Infielder Briggs Barrios’ father, Gregg, played on the 1982 NORD Boosters team; infielder Beau Boudreaux’s brother Ryan, played on the 2006 squad; catcher Angelo Bruno’s father, Yogi, was part of the 1979 New Orleans entry; and pitcher/outfielder Ryan Pursell’s father, Ricky, was on the 1984 New Orleans championship team.



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Fast start: Buffalo New Era beat Toledo 6-3 on Tuesday to open the tournament with a 2-0 record for the first time in 10 years and only the second time in the past 30 seasons.

The Buffalo Royal Printing franchise opened the 2000 tournament with wins over Milford (4-2) on opening day and Maryland State (7-6) on Day 2. Baltimore stopped the streak with a 10-0 win in the third round before Buffalo split games against New York (8-3 win) and Baltimore (9-6 loss) to go 3-2 overall.

The 1980 AAABA Tournament was a milestone for Buffalo’s North Forest Civic Association team.

Buffalo opened with wins over New Brunswick (8-4) and Columbus (11-3). Baltimore Johnny’s Auto Sales once again spoiled the party on Day 3 with a 6-2 win over Buffalo.

But the New York team bounced back with wins over Lansing (10-0) and New Orleans (4-3 in 11 innings) before Baltimore won the tournament title with a 15-0 romp over North Forest Civic Association.

Buffalo went 4-2. Baltimore was undefeated in six games that year.



Staff writers Mike Mastovich and Cory Isenberg contributed to this report.