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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Mainline Pharmacy displayed the complete baseball package in making history Saturday night at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point: Offense. Pitching. And, the ability to hold off a dramatic comeback.
Manager Chance Osborne’s team became Johnstown’s first back-to-back AAABA Tournament champion by building an early lead and then holding off an inevitable New Orleans Boosters late comeback in a 5-2 victory in front of 2,768 fans.
“I knew our franchise won last year and this year was a new team,” said first-year player Xander Richardson, a recent Forest Hills High School graduate who earned the tournament most valuable player award. “We had to get it done.
“New Orleans is a great team to play against. They dominated their bracket. We dominated ours. The two best teams in the championship. That’s all you could ask for.”
Entering tournament week, Mainline Pharmacy had a reputation as a hard-hitting team, and this group added another chapter in that area.
Johnstown produced 10 hits on Saturday, increasing Mainline Pharmacy’s tournament total to 63. The champions had a .320 team batting average, scored 52 runs and collected 16 extra-base hits while going 6-0.
“I couldn’t be happier for the Mainline franchise to win this thing back-to-back,” Osborne said. “It’s a team effort from the sponsorship all the way down. It’s a real family atmosphere.”
New Orleans (5-1), with 18 AAABA Tournament titles and 14 runner-up finishes, won the upper bracket with a 5-0 record, claiming late-inning, comeback wins over Johnstown-2 Martella’s Pharmacy on Thursday (5-4 walk-off) and Maryland State on Friday (6-3).
“It’s hard to keep falling behind and trying to come back against good teams,” New Orleans manager Doug Faust said. “We tried to do it one more time. It’s never the plan. We had a chance. We had the right guys up. We just didn’t get it done. They made good pitches and got our guys out.”
Osborne started Bishop McCort Catholic High School graduate and Pitt-Johnstown pitcher Adam Radkowski in the championship game.
Initially expected to pitch perhaps three innings before yielding to left-hander Chase Williamson, Radkowski instead threw five scoreless frames, striking out five and walking two while allowing only two hits.
“It was an electric atmosphere,” Radkowski said. “I knew I had to trust my team behind me. I could just throw strikes and trust what I’ve got.”
When asked how many innings he thought he’d probably pitch Saturday, Radkowski replied, “I was thinking around three innings, but I felt good.”
The offense provided support, as extra-hitter Landon Hamer smashed a solo homer over the screen in the bottom of the first inning. Richardson singled to right field in the third, followed by Brody Roberts’ infield single, and a well-placed single to right by catcher Tanner Stroup that made it 2-0.
Stroup led the tournament with 12 RBIs, including two in the title game. The recent Altoona Area High School graduate also had a tournament-high three triples.
“It’s just a blessing for me,” said Stroup, who earned The Tribune-Democrat local franchise MVP honor. “The guys have been telling me about this the whole year, and it is something I wanted to experience with these guys. A lot of them won’t be returning (after aging out), so it’s a surreal feeling to be able to win with them.”
Johnstown led 5-0 after a three-run fifth. Stroup drove in a run on a ground out, Hamer singled in a run and Caden Turner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
“They just kept putting balls in play,” New Orleans’ Faust said. “They refused to strike out. They had good at-bats and wouldn’t go down, basically.
“Some balls were hit hard. Some weren’t. It doesn’t matter. When you put balls in play, good things happen. They did a good job of getting our starter (Aiden Grab) out. They got his pitch count up because they wouldn’t go down early.”
The Boosters tallied an unearned run in the seventh against left-hander Chase Williamson, a Forest Hills High School graduate who plays at Delgado Community College in New Orleans and is a teammate of many players in the opposing dugout.
“Weird situation for sure,” said Williamson, who was the winning pitcher Monday against New York City. “I tried to put that aside and just focus on doing what I do. Adam (Radkowski) gave us a great start. The offense was there. We just came out on top.”
Radkowski finished the week with two wins in nine innings pitched. Williamson threw 8 2/3 innings and had one win as well as a tournament-high 13 strikeouts.
“Anybody that knows Chase knows there was no way he wasn’t getting the ball against New Orleans with the background of him playing for Delgado,” Osborne said. “He did his job. He’s a competitor.”
New Orleans nearly pulled off the comeback in the ninth, scoring a run and leaving the bases loaded after reliever Bryce Madden, pitching in a second straight game, entered to strike out the only batter he faced to seal the win.
“Coming into this game we had a plan,” Osborne said. “One thing we were not short on was pitching. We knew New Orleans was highly competitive.
“Everybody did their job, starting with Adam Radkowski, the local kid from Bishop McCort. He got extended out a little further than he was supposed to and that helped us out tremendously.”
Notes: Altoona-1 Imler’s Poultry player Gavin Fowler won the tournament batting title with a .600 average (9-for-15). Richardson held the top spot throughout the week until he went 1-for-3 Saturday to close with a .562 average (9-for-16). … Youngstown won the Team Sportsmanship Award. … New Orleans right-hander Robert “Trey” Turnage won the AAABA Tournament pitcher award with a 2-0 record, 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts.
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Manager Chance Osborne’s team became Johnstown’s first back-to-back AAABA Tournament champion by building an early lead and then holding off an inevitable New Orleans Boosters late comeback in a 5-2 victory in front of 2,768 fans.
“I knew our franchise won last year and this year was a new team,” said first-year player Xander Richardson, a recent Forest Hills High School graduate who earned the tournament most valuable player award. “We had to get it done.
“New Orleans is a great team to play against. They dominated their bracket. We dominated ours. The two best teams in the championship. That’s all you could ask for.”
Entering tournament week, Mainline Pharmacy had a reputation as a hard-hitting team, and this group added another chapter in that area.
Johnstown produced 10 hits on Saturday, increasing Mainline Pharmacy’s tournament total to 63. The champions had a .320 team batting average, scored 52 runs and collected 16 extra-base hits while going 6-0.
“I couldn’t be happier for the Mainline franchise to win this thing back-to-back,” Osborne said. “It’s a team effort from the sponsorship all the way down. It’s a real family atmosphere.”
New Orleans (5-1), with 18 AAABA Tournament titles and 14 runner-up finishes, won the upper bracket with a 5-0 record, claiming late-inning, comeback wins over Johnstown-2 Martella’s Pharmacy on Thursday (5-4 walk-off) and Maryland State on Friday (6-3).
“It’s hard to keep falling behind and trying to come back against good teams,” New Orleans manager Doug Faust said. “We tried to do it one more time. It’s never the plan. We had a chance. We had the right guys up. We just didn’t get it done. They made good pitches and got our guys out.”
Osborne started Bishop McCort Catholic High School graduate and Pitt-Johnstown pitcher Adam Radkowski in the championship game.
Initially expected to pitch perhaps three innings before yielding to left-hander Chase Williamson, Radkowski instead threw five scoreless frames, striking out five and walking two while allowing only two hits.
“It was an electric atmosphere,” Radkowski said. “I knew I had to trust my team behind me. I could just throw strikes and trust what I’ve got.”
When asked how many innings he thought he’d probably pitch Saturday, Radkowski replied, “I was thinking around three innings, but I felt good.”
The offense provided support, as extra-hitter Landon Hamer smashed a solo homer over the screen in the bottom of the first inning. Richardson singled to right field in the third, followed by Brody Roberts’ infield single, and a well-placed single to right by catcher Tanner Stroup that made it 2-0.
Stroup led the tournament with 12 RBIs, including two in the title game. The recent Altoona Area High School graduate also had a tournament-high three triples.
“It’s just a blessing for me,” said Stroup, who earned The Tribune-Democrat local franchise MVP honor. “The guys have been telling me about this the whole year, and it is something I wanted to experience with these guys. A lot of them won’t be returning (after aging out), so it’s a surreal feeling to be able to win with them.”
Johnstown led 5-0 after a three-run fifth. Stroup drove in a run on a ground out, Hamer singled in a run and Caden Turner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
“They just kept putting balls in play,” New Orleans’ Faust said. “They refused to strike out. They had good at-bats and wouldn’t go down, basically.
“Some balls were hit hard. Some weren’t. It doesn’t matter. When you put balls in play, good things happen. They did a good job of getting our starter (Aiden Grab) out. They got his pitch count up because they wouldn’t go down early.”
The Boosters tallied an unearned run in the seventh against left-hander Chase Williamson, a Forest Hills High School graduate who plays at Delgado Community College in New Orleans and is a teammate of many players in the opposing dugout.
“Weird situation for sure,” said Williamson, who was the winning pitcher Monday against New York City. “I tried to put that aside and just focus on doing what I do. Adam (Radkowski) gave us a great start. The offense was there. We just came out on top.”
Radkowski finished the week with two wins in nine innings pitched. Williamson threw 8 2/3 innings and had one win as well as a tournament-high 13 strikeouts.
“Anybody that knows Chase knows there was no way he wasn’t getting the ball against New Orleans with the background of him playing for Delgado,” Osborne said. “He did his job. He’s a competitor.”
New Orleans nearly pulled off the comeback in the ninth, scoring a run and leaving the bases loaded after reliever Bryce Madden, pitching in a second straight game, entered to strike out the only batter he faced to seal the win.
“Coming into this game we had a plan,” Osborne said. “One thing we were not short on was pitching. We knew New Orleans was highly competitive.
“Everybody did their job, starting with Adam Radkowski, the local kid from Bishop McCort. He got extended out a little further than he was supposed to and that helped us out tremendously.”
Notes: Altoona-1 Imler’s Poultry player Gavin Fowler won the tournament batting title with a .600 average (9-for-15). Richardson held the top spot throughout the week until he went 1-for-3 Saturday to close with a .562 average (9-for-16). … Youngstown won the Team Sportsmanship Award. … New Orleans right-hander Robert “Trey” Turnage won the AAABA Tournament pitcher award with a 2-0 record, 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts.
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