The 79th AAABA Tournament started with seven afternoon games throughout the Johnstown region on Monday.
* Braden Reed and Treston Nemeth each had two hits, with Nemeth driving in a pair for the Columbus TNT Knights in a 4-1 victory over defending AAABA Tournament champion Johnstown-2 Mainline Pharmacy. Brody Roberts had two hits and drove in Johnstown-2’s lone run. Teague Hoover tripled in the early game at Sargent’s Stadium.
* Rhett Centanni had three hits, including two homers in New Orleans Boosters 13-1 win in eight innings over New York City at Portage. Centanni’s 3-run shot in the bottom of the eighth walked off the mercy-rule game. Eli Booth and Walker Bazile each hit homers for New Orleans. Blaise Lalonde pitched seven innings with 8 strikeouts and no walks. New York City’s Jim Paredes hit 2 doubles, and Amir Cherry and Dylan Wolfson each homered.
* New Brunswick tallied 6 runs in the top of the sixth but Youngstown answered with 4 in the bottom of the frame. The Matrix broke it open with seven runs over final three at-bats to win 13-4 at Forest Hills. Matthew Brunner, Walker Wansaw and Walker Zapella each doubled. Youngstown’s Sam Cervello had two hits.
* Butler had a successful AAABA Tournament debut as the teams combined on 25 hits in the Blue Sox’s 13-9 win over Altoona-2 Brent Cogan Electrical Supply at Lilly. Sean Connolly and Colin Solinski each had three hits for Butler, with Solinski smacking a HR. Conor Carney doubled and Brayden Ziegler and Tyler Damko tripled. Altoona-2’s Nick Negola and Owen Dombrosky each had two hits, including a double.
* Joshua Eagle had five hits, two runs and two RBIs to lead Buffalo’s 16-hit outburst in an 11-8 win over Altoona Cumming Motors at Mount Aloysius College. Buffalo had four triples and two doubles. Altoona’s Corey Chamberlain and Lucas Muffie each had two hits.
* Robert Buckley had three hits, and Dylan Pope had two hits with a HR for Philadelphia in an 8-3 win over Brooklyn at Roxbury Park. Andrew Ardito led Brooklyn with three hits.
* Maryland State’s Robbie Smith went 3-for-4 with a double, a HR and four RBIs in a 13-1 win over Cleveland. Dylan Gambler had two hits, with a double for Cleveland at Westmont Hilltop High School.