Heading into the Wednesday night game at Point Stadium, three of the 73rd annual AAABA Tournament pool winners and runners-up had been determined.
In Pool A, New Brunswick advances as the top seed with a 3-0 record. It is the second straight year of pool play that the Matrix advanced with a perfect mark through three games.
Buffalo was among three teams to finish 1-2 in Pool A, but the Royal Printing squad advanced via a tiebreaker.
In Pool B, defending AAABA Tournament champion Zanesville Junior Pioneers and Johnstown-2 Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors each finished at 2-1. Zanesville won the tiebreaker based on its head-to-head victory over Johnstown-2. Both teams advance.
In Pool D, the New Orleans Boosters finished 3-0 in pool play to take the top spot. Maryland State grabbed the pool’s second spot at 2-1.
Pool C will be determined by the Wednesday night game between Johnstown Martella’s Pharmacy (2-0) and Altoona Johnston Realty (1-1).
Should Johnstown win, Martella’s would take the top spot with a 3-0 record and tiebreakers would determine the second spot between three 1-2 teams (Altoona, Baltimore and Youngstown).
Should Altoona win, then Johnston Realty would take the top spot with a 2-1 record and the head-to-head tiebreaker over Martella’s. Each team would advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
Wednesday afternoon scores included: New Brunswick 6, Philadelphia 5 (10); Buffalo 12, Columbus 2 (7); Johnstown-2 Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors 5, Brooklyn 4; New Orleans 7, New York 3; Baltimore 17, Youngstown 8; Zanesville 15, Cleveland 5 (7); and Maryland State 20, Chicago South Shore 4 (7).