The New Orleans Boosters didn’t score until the final two innings of the championship game in the 75th annual AAABA Tournament.
But the Boosters made those two rallies count in a 5-2 comeback victory over defending champion Johnstown Martella’s Pharmacy at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
The Boosters won the 16th championship in the franchise’s storied history. New Orleans has appeared in 28 championship games, including each of the past three, which all came against a Johnstown representative. The victory also was the 250th win in New Orleans AAABA Tournament history.
New Orleans fell to Martella’s Pharmacy in the 2018 title game. The Boosters beat Johnstown-2 Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors in 2017.
New Orleans also won the 2015 AAABA crown, giving the Boosters three championships since ’15.
Third baseman Grant Schulz, playing in his third tournament in Johnstown, earned Most Valuable Player honors. Schulz went 2-for-4 in the title game with a double, a walk, two runs and a run batted in.
In the tournament, Schulz batted .429 with 12 hits in 28 at-bats, two doubles, a triple, seven runs and 13 RBIs, which ranked second overall.
In addition to Schulz taking MVP honors, other awards went to:
- Sportsmanship Award, Johnstown Martella’s Pharmacy.
- RBI leader, Nick D’Amore, Philadelphia Bandits, 15.
- Batting champion, Greg Delgado, Philadelphia Bandits, .609 (14-for-23).
- Tribune-Democrat Johnstown MVP, Jake Ansell, Martella’s Pharmacy (2-0 record).