Sunday, May 24, 2009
STRUTHERS — Now that the Dairy Queen season is in full swing, the Class B League season follows suit, starting today with games at Cene Park starting at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
The 10-team league includes three-time defending champion R & J Trucking, managed by Andy Timko. R & J beat the Astro Falcons for the 2008 B League championship.
“That was their third year in a row,” said league director and Astros manager Scott Ruark. “Everybody will be gunning for them this year. We aren’t letting anybody win it four years in a row.”
The league for players 18-and-under embarks on its second straight season using wooden bats.
“We went with it 100 percent last year,” Ruark said after aluminum took a back seat for the first time in decades.
“It worked out well,” Ruark said. “It made the games a lot more competitive.”
All Class B League games will be at Cene with the exception of one appearance at Wilder Field in Niles.
The 27-game season will be followed by a playoff, then a Showcase, then the Connie Mack state tournament.
There’s also a Colt (16-under, aluminum bat) regional scheduled as well as NABF regionals for 16-under and 18-under (both wood).
The Connie Mack state for 18-under also will be wood for the first time since the 1970s. The 46th annual event starts July 16, a day after the Showcase.
“We’re bringing it back,” Ruark said of the July 15 Showcase, which will be run by Pennsylvania-based Paramount Scouting Bureau.
“It’s like a fund-raiser for the B league scholarship fund,” Ruark said. “We’re giving out two $500 scholarships to seniors who have played in B or Little B leagues for at least two years.
“We know economic times are tough, so if the Showcase is successful, it could pay for the scholarships.”
The Showcase could be helpful for upcoming juniors or seniors who don’t have a college package yet.
From July 9-13, Dave Smith from RSI Sports is holding an invitational for 18-under team, both locally and out-of-town.
Ruark said that the CABA World Series will be here for a second consecutive summer with an expanded field of 20-25 teams expected. The 18-under, aluminum-bat event starts the last Sunday in July.
Last year’s CABA World Series had 14 teams, with Rondinelli and Astros finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Class B has collaborated with the Youngstown Sports Grille to have player-of-the-week awards for hitters and pitchers.
“Gift certificates will be given,” said Ruark, who also noted that an league all-star squad will be chosen.
The league’s technology department seems to have hit a home run with improvements.
The new website is eteamz.com/ytownbleague or there’s access from the old Youngstownclassb.com.
“I allows us to showcase the kids more because each team has its own website. We’re limited on our other one.”
Although the league has most of the area’s best players with KSU recruit Jason Bagoly (Fitch), Louisville-bound Drew Fitzpatrick (Mooney), Lake Erie College-bound Trent Vallinger (Poland), Akron recruit Jared Turocy (Canfield) and Kent-bound Evan Campbell (West Branch), the emergence of the Ohio Glaciers has put a chink in the “B” armor.
The Struthers-based traveling team that formed in the offseason has taken away talented players such as Springfield Local’s Todd Kibby [BGSU], Boardman’s Pat O’Brien [BGSU] and Hubbard’s Bo Slemons.
The Glaciers will be managed by Scott Knox, along with coaches Joe Iacobucci, Joe Gabriel and Matt Giambattista.
The 17-year-old Slemons has been visited by Pittsburgh Pirates personnel and is expected to play for the Allegheny Pirates in the fall.
The Glaciers will play home games during the week at Firestone Park, as well as a few at Pemberton-Donnell.
The Little B League, which has the same 10 franchises as its bigger brother, will play at Springfield Local High School, Boardman High School, and Wilder and Koch Field in Austintown.
Little B teams also will play once at Cene.
Little B’s first nine games will be with aluminum, then switch to wood for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
bassetti@vindy.com