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.
The players reap the benefits of the hard work and dedication of a vast number of local citizens, who each play a vital role in the annual AAABA Tournament.
The Johnstown Oldtimers are an integral part of the endeavor.
There are 13 members of the board of directors, but there is volunteer help which numbers more than 120, including the AAABA Ambassadors, who are also key components, selling programs, rosters and tickets.
“So many of our people are the unsung heroes of the tournament,” AAABA official George Arcurio III of the Johnstown Oldtimers. “They never get much recognition.”
The Oldtimers seem to be everywhere and are taking care of every aspect of the tournament.
“Everything that needs to be done, they do,” Arcurio said. “Our key person is our treasurer, Denny Grenell. He has kept us solvent with what he has done with our books and our treasury. He knows exactly what he is doing.
“Terry Slick takes care of lining up the scorekeepers for all the outlying fields. I never have to worry about the announcer at Point Stadium because Brian Woy takes care of that (since 1978). Ron Goisovich has been taking care of the umpires and takes care of all that since 1967. Joe Scaletta from our board of directors makes sure that there are balls at each field. We have a representative at every field for every game.
“Some of us always get the credit, but there are a lot of people behind the scenes,” Arcurio said. “We all work hard. So many of them don’t get any credit. Whatever has to be done, they do.”
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The familiar AAABA radio broadcast team of Don Stanton and John DeFazio will call the games on 1490 WNTJ AM and 990 WNTW AM.
Stanton is working his 22nd AAABA Tournament, and DeFazio, his 24th.
The broadcast team will call all of the Johnstown Delweld games, beginning at 7:15 each night plus the championship game on Sunday.
“In 1981, radio station WJNL decided to start broadcasting the games and John Rubal invited me because he knew my background in baseball,” DeFazio said. “That was my first year.”
DeFazio says it’s a treat to work with Stanton each summer.
“I’ve known Don since he played in the Junior League when I was a manager,” DeFazio said. “He’s a wonderful guy, great to work with. He has the same love of the game that I do. We just seem to have the right timing and a great rapport.”
Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
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