The All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2025, and throughout those decades, one field has connected them all – Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
From historic victories and crushing defeats, the field has stood the test of time, hosting future major-leaguers and local champs all the same.
“I think that was probably the best memories you had, was playing at the Point,” former Major League Baseball pitcher Eugene Pentz said.
Greater Johnstown School District school board president Gene Pentz speaks during at a press conference on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
By Todd Berkey
tberkey@tribdem.com
The Johnstown resident and Johnstown High School graduate was the 1970 AAABA Tournament MVP when he played for local entry Monte Carlo.
Although the 72-year-old only played in the tournament that one year – his team lost to Baltimore during the late game at the Point – the memories of those moments and the fields are still clear 55 years later.
“We walked on the field, and you were in a stadium,” Pentz said.
80th AAABA Tournament logo
The Tribune-Democrat
Point is center of actionAnthony Belskey, 71, a longtime Johnstown Oldtimers Baseball Association member, agreed.
“People were afraid to come to the Point because it was so big,” he said. “Guys took batting practice, and they thought they were in the big leagues.”
Tony Belskey, manager of the Park Home store in Johnstown, speaks to the media on Tuesday, September 20, 2022.
By Todd Berkey
tberkey@tribdem.com
Belskey, who has helped the Oldtimers organize the annual ballgames for 40 years, said afternoon games are scheduled at the city field to allow “as many teams there are possible” – to experience the facility.
It’s also where Martella’s Pharmacy broke a decades-long drought for Johnstown and won a AAABA championship over New Orleans in 2018 – and where Mainline Pharmacy won Johns- town’s second title in 2023.
Johnstown-1 Mainline Pharmacy players celebrate the team’s first AAABA Tournament Championship on the field after defeating New Orleans Boosters 3-2 at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point in downtown Johnstown on Sunday, August 5, 2023.
By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com
The Point is owned and operated by the City of Johnstown and hosted its first event – a Middle Atlantic League baseball doubleheader – July 5, 1926, according to the city’s website.
Since 1946, the stadium has been home to the AAABA Tournament and hosted numerous future MLB players including Jim Abbott, Johnstown native Pete Vuckovich, Joe Torre, Michael McKenry, Chad Kuhl, Matt Adams, Reggie Jackson and Shawon Dunston to name a few.
Members of the Mainline Pharmacy team celebrate near the pitcher’s mound after defeating New Orleans 3-2 in the 78th AAABA Tournament championship game on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point in Johnstown, Pa.
Phil Andraychak/For The Tribune-Democrat
“We had so much talent here,” Pentz said. “It helped when you went to the rookie leagues.”
The Point, which was renovated in 1995 and rebuilt in 2005, features a short left field line of 290 feet; and distances of 336 feet in left-center field, 409 feet in center field, 395 feet in right-center field, and 290 feet down the right field line, according to www.aaabajohnstown.org.
Other fields, communitiesDespite the Point being the connection for all tournaments, game organizers have made use of the numerous fields throughout Cambria County – as many as 14 per year – to host the games that lead up to the popular night contests in the city.
Belskey said that’s intentional – to allow many people as possible to catch contests.
“You want people in the area to see a game so they didn’t have to travel,” Pentz said.
New Orleans’ Norris McClure reacts to being stranded on base at the end of the third inning against Philadelphia during Day 3 of the AAABA Tournament at Mount Aloysius College on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.
By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com
The 2025 tournament will make use of fields at Forest Hills Junior-Senior High School, Mount Aloysius College, Portage, Roxbury, Westmont Hilltop Junior-Senior High School, the Windber Sports Complex and the Point.
Belskey said the Lilly-Washington Township War Memorial Park field, a complex he described as a fan and team favorite, won’t be used this year due to organizers’ concerns about water retention and unpredictable weather.
“People love it because it’s nostalgic,” he said. “But, the thing is, it retains water. You get a good heavy rain and you’re done.”
The fields in use today are just the tip of the iceberg for Pentz and Belskey.
Brooklyn pitcher Danny Montanez goes into his windup as Zanesville batter Ben Van Wey awaits the pitch during the seventh inning on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, at Fichtner Field. Montanez tossed a three-hit shutout in the Pool B game in the AAABA Tournament.
By Chip Minemyer
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The pair recalled several other venues of note – ranging from the field at Greater Johnstown School District’s former Cochran Junior High School and Fichtner Field at the district’s old Garfield Middle School, former ballparks at Greater Johnstown Career & Technology Center and Franklin Borough, the complex where Westmont’s football stadium Price Field now stands, those in Nanty Glo, Seward, Revloc and beyond.
Belskey grew up watching games at those fields.
His family’s home was in the 8th Ward neighborhood of Johnstown and he’d walk to Roxbury then catch a bus or trolley to Cochran and the Point for more contests during the week of play.
Belskey said he loved being centrally located, and his favorite place to take in a game was Cochran.
“I saw Joe McMillan and and Tony Gunby hit back-to-back home runs (there),” he said.
Assistant groundskeeper Tony Mondi applies a fresh coat of white paint to home plate at the Roxbury Park AAABA field prior to play on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016.
By Todd Berkey
tberkey@tribdem.com
One of his favorite aspects of the field was the smokestacks of the old junior high just past the outfield fence.
Belskey said if a guy could hit those brick pillars during batting practice, people knew that was a player to watch in the tournament.
‘Like … the big leagues’He also has fond memories of his time with the Oldtimers paying youngsters a few cents per retrieval to chase baseballs during games at the more rural fields.
Because complexes such as Lilly-Washington, Portage and Franklin are surrounded by trees, and there’s a limited number of balls for the tournament, every baseball counts, Belskey said.
It’s not just the fields, but the moments on the diamonds that bring back good thoughts for the pair.
Pentz and Belskey stressed that there are too many great players to name that made great plays in AAABA history without forgetting a few, but recalled contests featuring McMillan, Gunby, Tom McGough, Thomas Scott and Vuckovich.
AAABA baseball field at Roxbury Park in Johnstown. Photo taken Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
By Thomas Slusser
tslusser@tribdem.com
Pentz also mentioned the doubleheader he played in during the 1970 tournament.
Monte Carlo beat New Orleans at Price Field during an early afternoon game that stunned the large crowd, he said.
The Johnstown team then had to face off against tournament powerhouse Baltimore during the late afternoon game that drew more than 7,000 people.
“We almost won,” Pentz said. “If the fence would have been where it is now, we would have won.”
The Johnstown team was down one run going into the ninth inning, Pentz recalled. With one runner on base, Greg Sichak hit a line drive that should have been a home run but hit the left field net – resulting in a double instead.
“If it was in left-center, it would have been in Suppes (Ford’s parking lot),” Pentz said. “He smoked that thing.”
But the tying rally wasn’t enough.
A bird’s eye view of opening night of the AAABA Tournament at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Monday, Aug. 1, 2016.
Steve Bittner
Cumberland Times-News
Baltimore came back the next inning and scored the deciding run to win the game 9-8.
Although the game is a stark reminder of how quickly AAABA fates change, Pentz has never forget the feeling of stepping out onto the Point’s pristine natural grass field of the time.
“You felt like you were in the big leagues,” he said.
Joshua Byers is a reporter for The Tribune- Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @Journo_Josh.