Johnstown, PA (WJAC) — The 78th annual AAABA tournament kicked off Monday in Johnstown.

Johnstown Martella's opened the 2023 tournament with an 11 to 1 victory over Cleveland in seven innings.

Altoona was also victorious in their first game, defeating Zainesville 15 to 4.

And the defending champions, New Orleans, began their title defense with an 8 to 3 victory over Philadelphia.

Then, in front of a packed crowd of over 6,000 people, Mainline Johnstown won their first game of the tournament 10 to 1 over Buffalo.

During Monday's action, 6 News caught up with George Arcurio III, the president of the Johnstown Old Timers Association, to talk about the ongoing support for the tournament and the organizers' plans to keep the tournament in Johnstown for as long as they can.

"Keep supporting us. We want to keep this tournament in Johnstown and as long as I’m alive and financially we can do it, we're going to keep it here. The last couple years have been great. Not only financially, but with the amount of people in attendance we get at the games; if it wasn’t for a lot of our public support in Cambria County and the city of Johnstown, there would be no AAABA."

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ6OlvLPA0miaqKakmru1e8qenKllo6q9sbvRraCnn12qwG6Dl62fZpmRlq%2BiedOorKumkaKyr8CMpKCco6NivKeyjLCgraBdoa6zs8Rmmqunp5nAbsLInKuoqpmawG6u2GaZqKyYYrewtM2sq6ivnmLBpq3MrA%3D%3D