First Round Pairings Determined
August 05, 2012 - The opening round for the 68th annual AAABA national tournament has been determined. The pairings were drawn at the player's banquet on Sunday night. Monday's action will feature 7 noon games and then the official opener at 7:30pm at Point Stadium.
In the upper bracket, Cleveland plays Schenectady at Portage; New York City plays Flood City at the Point; Livonia plays New Orleans at Roxbury; and defending champions Baltimore joins Chicago-Metro at the inaugural game in Somerset. All games are at noon.
In the lower bracket, Zanesville and New Brunswick clash at Arcurio Field (Fichtner Field); Youngstown and Chicago-South Shore battle at Saint Michael; Altoona hosts Columbus in Lilly; and Johnstown host Philadelphia at the Point Stadium. All games are at noon except for the Johnstown game which begins at 7:30pm.
Joe Salanitri's New York City team is young, but excited to play against the Flood City entry, which is the runner-up of the Johnstown City League. He will start right-hander AJ Valentino, a 6'-6" junior attending Queens.
Flood City's Chris Pfiel will start Mike Mulvey from Marietta College.
"He's thrown outstanding for us all season and hopefully he can give us another great one tomorrow," said Pfiel of Mulvey.
Chicago-Metro is one of the few teams to beat Baltimore in recent years, but are 1-8 against Youse's club all time. Livonia has played New Orleans to very close games in recent history, but only have 1 win over the Dixielanders from back in 1992. Columbus has a solid 3-0 series lead on Altoona, while New Brunswick and Zanesville are even at 2 wins a piece. Monday will be the first meeting between Youngstown and Chicago-South Shore and South Shore's first national tournament game since 2006.
All-Time Series Results
1989.....Baltimore..............10-2...........Conemaugh
1989.....Baltimore..............17-13.........Point Stadium
1990.....Baltimore..............22-0 (7i).....Point Stadium
1993.....Baltimore..............11-1 (8i).....Lilly
1996.....Baltimore..............9-4..............Saint Michael
2006.....Chicago-Metro.....5-1..............Point Stadium
2006.....Baltimore..............5-3..............Point Stadium
2007.....Baltimore..............10-0 (8i).....Point Stadium
2011.....Baltimore..............9-3..............Roxbury Park
BALITMORE ( 8 ) - CHICAGO-METRO ( 1 )
1991.....Cleveland............11-7..........Roxbury Park
CLEVELAND ( 1 ) - SCHENECTADY ( 0 )
1987.....New Orleans.....14-1 (7i).....Point Stadium
1988.....New
Orleans.....12-6............Point Stadium
1992.....Livonia...............8-7..............Point Stadium
1992.....New Orleans.....9-6..............Point Stadium
1995.....New
Orleans.....5-3..............Roxbury Park
1999.....New
Orleans.....7-2..............Pitt-Johnstown
2002.....New
Orleans.....8-5..............Point Stadium
2005.....New
Orleans.....2-1..............Roxbruy Park
2009.....New
Orleans.....3-2..............Roxbury Park
NEW ORLEANS ( 8 ) - LIVONIA ( 1 )
1989.....New York City.....11-8.....Point Stadium
NEW YORK CITY ( 1 ) - FLOOD CITY ( 0 )
1966.....New Brunswick.....14-11 (12i).....Franklin
1973.....Zanesville...............13-2...............Engh Field
1982.....New Brunswick.....10-3................Franklin
1995.....Zanesville..............11-8................Roxbury Park
ZANESVILLE ( 2 ) - NEW BRUNSWICK ( 2 )
1981.....Columbus.....15-2.....Highland
1995.....Columbus.....1-6.......Point Stadium
2009.....Columbus.....4-3.......Lilly
COLUMBUS ( 3 ) - ALTOONA ( 0 )
YOUNGSTOWN and CHICAGO-SOUTH SHORE have never met.