NABF tournament begins at Cene Park

July 10, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

STRUTHERS

Bad weather couldn’t dampen the excitement about this year’s NABF regional baseball tournament.

The Valley has hosted the national sandlot tournament for six decades and both its junior (16-and-under) and sophomore (14-and-under) divisions will take center stage beginning today at Bob Cene Park.

The tournament, which lasts through Sunday, features three local entries with Baird Brothers and Astro Falcons in junior division play, and Rizer Insurance in sophomore division action.

Rizer Insurance will meet Diamond Boys at 12:30 p.m. Astro Falcons meets the Sting Rays at 3 p.m. while Baird Brothers plays host to Diamond Hit Club at 6 p.m.

“This is my 10th year as tournament director and I can honestly say that the competition keeps getting better each year,” said Scott Ruark, who also serves as Class B League president. “We always look forward to the regional tournament because the players play hard and you get to see the cream of the crop from this area of the state. The perk is that it is really good baseball to watch with the winning team earning a travel stipend as they advance to World Series play.”

Other teams in the junior field are Massillon’s Ohio Steelers, Strongsville’s Sting Rays and two Cleveland teams: the Heat and Diamond Hit Club.

The six remaining sophomore division teams include Diamond Hit Club, Lake Erie Warhawks, Lightning Baseball of Medina, Elite Impact of Akron, Diamond Boys (Solon) and Berea’s Ohio Longhorns.

Junior division teams will use wooden bats — a change for local teams because they use aluminum all season — and the sophomore group will use Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution bats.

“It’s made of a softer aluminum alloy and focuses on how much of a trampoline effect the barrel of a bat has on a ball,” Ruark said. “Each BBCOR bat is individually stamped.”

In the junior division, manager Angelo Bianco’s Baird Brothers (22-5) enters after dropping the league title tilt to Creekside Fitness (32-10), the league’s automatic qualifier to the World Series, which takes place July 16-19 in Knoxville, Tenn.

“We got beat by a better team that night, but this is a second chance now for our kids and we’re looking forward to the opportunity,” Bianco said.

Jack Rafoth, a closer most of the season, has drawn his second mound assignment while Baird Brothers will count on third baseman Nick Bianco (.350, two home runs), catcher Coleman Stauffer (.432) and infielder Danny Williams (.350) for offensive punch.

Astro Falcons (23-8) is coached by Bob Beam and will enter play as the defending World Series runners-up.

“This is a team that understands what it takes in order to advance in tournament play, so we’re really excited at the prospect of making a return trip to the World Series.

Jared Jay (3-1) will start against the Sting Rays with Eric Ostrowski (4-0) adding depth. Top hitters include left fielder Jimmy Kerrigan (.467), center fielder Anthony Joseph (.444) and shortstop Branden Myers (.386).

Manager Gerry Senchak guides Rizer Insurance (26-9), last year’s league champion and World Series automatic qualifier.

“We’re a younger team than a season ago but just as hungry. We’ve had to replace several starters, but have come together as a team at the right time,” Senchak said.

Will Shaffer (8-2) will make his second start of the season after closing out nine contests for Senchak while center fielder Matt “Beans” Senchak (.580), son of the coach, and shortstop Bradeon O’Shaughnessy (.425) are two offensive threats.

Astro Falcons (36-10), guided by manager Steve Leslie, has earned the league’s automatic World Series bid, which is set for July 23-26, also in Knoxville. He will be making his third World Series appearance in four years.