New Orleans Boosters win two Tuesday to open AAABA Tournament

JOHNSTOWN, PA – The New Orleans Boosters improved to 2-0 Tuesday following the first and second round of play in the 73rd annual All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) Tournament. Weather postponed opening day, forcing doubleheaders on Tuesday.

In the first game, New Orleans shutout Chicago South Shore 9-0 following a combined eleven strikeouts, eight coming from starting pitcher Jonathan Ebersole. The Boosters first run came in the first inning when Justin Nussbaum walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Blake Way. In the fourth, New Orleans combined for four runs following doubles by Chip Bonura, Blake Freeman, and Noah Fontenot. Three more runs in the fifth closed the scoring enroute to the 9-0 victory. Ebersole picked up the win with Daniel Dugas closing the game’s last two innings.

In the second game, New Orleans’ Blake Freeman walked and Jace Nini’s single allowed the Boosters to reach base before back-to-back sacrifice flies by Justin Nussbaum and Grant Schulz plated two runs…the only two runs of the game. Starting pitcher Chris Turpin pitched the complete game for New Orleans, pitching seven innings and striking out six enroute to the 2-0 win.

New Orleans will close the pool play round on Wednesday, facing New York at noon EST. The top two teams of each of the four pools will advance to a single elimination bracket beginning Thursday.