AAABA Tournament

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

Business, it's just one man's opinion and I'm talking SLIGHTLY better, but I think Martella's has a little more "pop" in their regular lineup as a whole. The situations your describe from the finals go back to the old axiom that "good pitching beats good hitting" and Delweld has the pitching depth and talent.

[icecold]

Jtwnbaseballguy... I totally agree with your last post. Hopefully if/when Martella's plays Delweld good hitting will beat good pitching.
business.. a little history lesson for you. The '60 Yanks outscored the Buccos 55-27 in a seven-game series. The Yanks won their games, 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0. Guess who won the title??? Maz and the Pirates!!! Just because one team had a run-explosion in one game doesn't mean that they are soooooo much better than their opponent.
Good luck to both teams.. maybe we'll see an all-Johnstown final !!!!!!!

[ball66]

you guys seem to forget good pitching is the key to this tournament 9 inning games everyday... martella's will be out by wednesday at best.. And if Pelokanas (SP) does pitch after he said he was hurt is messed up! WOW they got burket? hmm he hit 180 this year and cant hit a breaking ball to save his life!

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

To clarify: I picked Delweld over Martella's in five and if they meet in this tourney I'd be inclined to pick Delweld again (although I reserve the right to change that based on the actual situation).
I agree that if Pelekanos told Delweld he was hurt and then ends up pitching for Martella's in the tourney, there's a problem there (which is why I'm interested to see if he was there this morning for sign in). And on a side note, if Delweld had picked up Pelekanos, would Martella's have been an option as a 16th team?
Without Pelekanos, Martella's would need to get a clutch start from Gehret or Saxman to see Day 4 imho.
Also, Burkett had a subpar year, no doubt, but he's a stud and I expect him to step up in the tournament. Also, he can win you a game with his legs or with his arm.
Let's play ball.

[sydfinch]

Delweld gets Zanesville.
Martella's gets Philly.
Altoona gets Columbus.
http://johnstownsports.proboards.com/in ... hread=1835

Zanesville has few players back from team that won three games last year.

http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/ ... 9908070305

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

Obviously, we don't really know anything about most of the teams coming, but if the bracket lines up just as she has it listed in that link it looks like a fairly good draw for Delweld.
Philly is a very tough draw for Martella's but at least it comes in the first game when they'll have their best pitcher (Wahl or Pelekanos) going. Philly beat both Baltimore and Altoona in the regional before forfeiting the championship games. I believe I read in the Mirror that Pirates manager John Russell's son plays for Philly. I wonder if he'll drive up Monday at the Pirates are off and probably not leaving for Colorado until Monday evening.

[business]

ice cold thanks for the history lesson. I never said they were leaps and bounds better. I understand one game is one game, and at the end of the day if it is 2-1 or 18-1 it still goes as 1 in the win column. I guess I would agree with you in the fact that Martella's might have better sticks, but were going against tougher pitching in Delweld vs. Delweld facing tired arms of Martella's. I still would take Delweld's lineup and that is an opinion. They have the last 2 MVP's of the league. Also they picked up the "top hitter" in Donaldson. Philly is gonna be tough and so is Zanesville. Hope to see alot of good games.

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

According to today's Trib, Pelekanos is on Martella's 20-man roster. There's just something wrong about that whole situation.
Also, today's Altoona Mirror says Kaleb Fleck made it back from the Cape Cod League in time to register with Altoona's Johnston Realty. With Fleck, Ryan McNamara and Luke Curtis, Johnston is a real threat to win it all.

[yankee]

Martellas had 1 player hit above .300 this year. Go to their website.
Burkett will help but the word is out on him. He cant hit a breaking ball. Gazza is a hole( sorry d6sports, or Mr. Gazza, its true he's terrible, he was better at 18) . Kaufman is a hole. Rasky can hit a little bit. Watkins chases bad pitches. Bills is known more for his defense than his offense. Anyone who believes they have a better lineup than Delweld plus Shaulis and Donaldson in the mix is not really watching.

Defensively the are very very good. Burkett and Rasky should be able to cover a lot of ground. That will be their strength. They always make the routine play.

Martella's problem this year has been they cant hit consistently throughout their lineup, and they lack depth on the mound. I just cant see this team ever going to be able to put a ton of runs up on the scoreboard and with theyre pitching, they may have to win a slugfest at some point to stay in.

Anyway, best of luck to both teams. The only bad thing about this is it splits the Johnstown fan base. Im not sure thats a good thing. I think I still prefer 1 Johnstown team. Any thoughts???

[Jtwnbaseballguy]

A. I dislike talking about kids' personalities on this board. There are tons of kids who are jerks at this age. Hopefully, part of what the coaches are doing is helping kids mature.
B. Granted, there are holes in some of the kids' swings, there are holes in everyone's swings in the league (if anyone would consistently put a right side shift on George Roberts, they'd knock 50 points off his average ... until he adjusted), but with all the flaws you listed, Martella's was within two innings of knocking off Delweld. They are two very evenly matched teams.
C. The two-team setup this year was obviously a fluke. I don't like it as a permanent idea. I don't like the Vuckovich winner not being on the roster of the league champion in the tourney. I don't like the best pitcher for the league champion not being available for the tournament.