Opening Round Pairings
August 8, 2011 - The first round pairings have been selected for the 67th annual AAABA national tournament. Local teams Johnstown and Altoona will play in the lower bracket, while each city's secondary team will play in the upper bracket.
Play begins at 10:00am at Point Stadium with Rail City (Altoona's Logan Beverage) hosting Livonia. Rail City replaces the Miami franchise who is unable to attend due to bus problems. Games continue at noon at local and outlying fields. Defending champion Baltimore plays Chicago-Metro at Roxbury Park. Chicago was runner-up at the Zanesville Regional, but advance to Johnstown because Toledo declined their bid.
Favorites New Orleans and Philadelphia square off at Arcurio (aka Johnstown Middle School, aka Garfield, aka Fichtner Field). In the lower bracket, New York and Cleveland play in Saint Michael, Altoona hosts Elk County at Lilly, and Youngstown hosts Brooklyn at Portage. At 1:00pm, Flood City (Delweld) plays New Brunswick at the Point Stadium. The games conclude at 7:30pm at Point Stadium with Johnstown hosting Zanesville.
Altoona's Red Bull team was hoping for a chance to play on opening night, but they're just as happy to face Elk County in the opening round. Starting pitcher Garrett Peterson is from Dubois and has played with and against many members of the Elk County team. Manager Jeff Miller said that Peterson is very excited about getting to play against his friends and former teammates and has an extra source of motivation. The Altoona club may have an extra source of scouting information, too.
Flood City's Chris Delsignore is not worried about having to play in the upper bracket.
"If we were from anywhere else but Johnstown, I feel that we have the quality of team that we'd be in the upper bracket perennially, so we're looking forward to the challenge." The challenge will begin tomorrow at 1:00pm as Delweld plays against an energetic New Brunswick team that is looking to respond from a disappointing 2010 campaign.
Here is how the teams drew (in order, upper bracket then lower bracket):
Philadelphia - 6
New Orleans - 5
New Brunswick - 7
Livonia - 1
Delweld - 8
Chicago-Metro - 3
Baltimore - 4
Rail City - 2
Zanesville - 2
Youngstown - 8
New York City - 3
Johnstown - 1
Elk County - 6
Cleveland - 4
Brooklyn - 7
Altoona - 5