The 80th AAABA Tournament opened with seven afternoon games on Monday at fields throughout the Johnstown Region.
Defending champion Columbus, New Orleans, Johnstown-2, Butler, Maryland State, Brooklyn and New Brunswick each recorded victories.
In Pool A: New Orleans collected 18 hits and rolled past Altoona-2 18-1 in seven innings at Mount Aloysius; and JC Calhoun drove in six runs as Columbus beat Zanesville 10-6.
In Pool B: Butler came back with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to win 5-4 over Buffalo, last year’s runner-up; and Johnstown-2 Martella’s Pharmacy scored six unanswered runs to beat Schenectady 6-1 after losing manager Kerry Pfeil just prior to the game. GM Chris Pfeil, just inducted into the AAABA Hall of Fame Saturday, stood in for his younger brother, who was hit by a ball during batting practice.
In Pool C: Derek Poole doubled and scored three runs, and Griffin Puvel tripled and drove in three, as Maryland State won 11-1 over New York; and Bryan Calderon smacked a solo homer, and Sean Evangelista and Truman Moyer each doubled in Brooklyn’s 10-5 victory over Youngstown.
In Pool D: New Brunswick rolled past Altoona-1 12-2 as Derek Smail hit a pair of grand slams. Johnstown Mainline Pharmacy and Cleveland B2Bulls will play the 7:30 p.m. game at Sargent’s Stadium.