Saturday, February 21, 2009
By John Kovach
Prospects will be seen by all 20 teams Sunday in the OTN Performance bubble in Niles.
NILES — Baseball players ages 15-18 can be seen by 20 teams at one time Sunday, when the Youngstown Class B League holds a free tryout at the indoor OTN Performance bubble in the Eastwood Mall Complex.
The league sent notices to high schools in the Mahoning Valley and Western Pennsylvania, said incoming Class B president Scott Ruark. He said that a one-site tryout is more convenient and provides more opportunity for players.
“Before we did this, each team held its own tryouts, team by team,” said Ruark. “When players go to individual team tryouts, they may not like the coach or not make that particular team. This way, we expand the opportunity by having all the teams at one site and maybe a player can make some team and so therefore we maximize their opportunity.”
Players must turn between 15 and 18 years old by May 1 of this year and should bring tennis shoes, gloves, bats and baseball equipment and be ready to be put through a workout, said Ruark.
The league has 10 sponsors who each enter teams in Big B (17-18) and Little b (15-16) divisions.
The sponsors are Astro Falcons, Action Physical Therapy, Compco Industries, Rondinelli, Wharmby’s, Livi Steel, Youngstown Exprerss, Dave Sugar, Roth Brothers and OTN Performance.
“We will have a manager and coach from each organization,” said Ruark. “We are going to try to put on the best tryout. There are a lot of teams that are pretty well set with players. “Not all players will be picked, but they will have an opportunity.”
Ruark said the league, which has been in existence for over 50 years and uses Bob Cene Park in Struthers as its main facility, is trying to reach more players in Northeast Ohio.
“We are trying to get our name out there and get more kids involved. We are trying to make the tryouts more centralized,” said Ruark, who hopes for a big turnout. “We are hoping to have 50-100 players try out. If we had one kid from every high school we would have a lot of kids trying out.
“We are trying to branch out more to other leagues in Warren and Trumbull County. We are losing a lot of players to the Trumbull Leagues, instead of them coming to the Youngstown Class B League.”
The league is affiliated with four national baseball organizations: the AABC, CABA, Colt/Palomino and NABF.
The league will host the Connie Mack Ohio state tournament, the CABA 18-and-under metal bat World Series, a Colt Region, and both the 18-and-under and 16-and-under NABF Regionals this summer.
kovach@vindy.com