Introducing the Johnstown Tomahawks

Good Afternoon,



This morning during a press conference in Johnstown, the ownership of the North American Hockey league team that is coming to Johnstown in the fall announced the name of the team along with the head coach. The team will be called the Tomahawks and some photos  found on the team's official Facebook page can be in this post. The new team will feature a red, white and blue color scheme for their logos and uniforms. This is a great name and look for the team, because it symbolizes the Chiefs who played here as members of the ECHL, who own the rights to the Chief's name and also the veterans that the War Memorial was built in honor of.

The team also announced that Jason Spence will be the team's head coach, which is a familiar name to Johnstown hockey fans. Spence played for the Johnstown Chiefs along with several other teams during his Minor League and Junior League Career. His career totals included 49 Goals and 58 Assists in 575 career games. Spence will provide a familiar face for local hockey fans.
The team also launched their official website http://www.johnstowntomahawks.com/  which includes links to their social media pages. For a recap of today's press conference visit http://nahl.com/news/story.cfm?id=5637

Photos Found At: http://www.facebook.com/johnstowntomahawks

Hopefully this is the beginning of a successful run in Johnstown for the Tomahawks.

- The Flood City Sports Fan

Shepherd wins WVIAC Baseball Championship

It's the Monday After the WVIAC Championship, and most if not everyone has headed home after a weekend filled with baseball action. In the end Shepherd University defeated Alderson-Broaddus 10-5 to pick up their 5th WVIAC Title and more importantly an Automatic Bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Shepherd jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and it appeared they would run away with this game, but Alderson-Broaddus cut the lead to 6-3 before Shepherd scored two more runs to make the score 8-3. Alderson-Broaddus would pull to 8-5 before Shepherd scored 2 more runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to set the final at 10-5.

 The game was played through a rainy Sunday afternoon, but it subsided near the end of the game. Even with the rain there was a nice crowd in attendance from both teams which added to the excited atmosphere. Overall the weekend, was successful for both the conference and the city even with the cold temperatures on Thursday.

It was announced Sunday night that Seton Hill along with Shepherd had received bids to the NCAA Tournament with Shepherd receiving the 5 seed and Seton Hill receiving the 1 seed for the Atlantic Region which will be hosted by Kutztown and held in West Lawn, PA 

So that concludes my posts about the 2012 WVIAC Tournament. In my opinion it was a success and I hope the conference decides to come back again. In 2013, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) will bring their tournament to the Point Stadium.

-The Flood City Sports Fan

WVIAC Championship Preview

Well it is down to two teams in the WVIAC Baseball Tournament. After all the games were played yesterday, we are left with the Shepherd Rams and the Alderson-Broaddus Battlers who will play at 1pm today for the WVIAC Baseball championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Rams will be playing for their 5th WVIAC Baseball title while Alderson-Broaddus will be looking for their first title.

Last Night, the final game of pool play which determined who would face Shepherd was one of the most exciting of the tournament and took 11 innings to settle before Concord scored on a double to left field in the top of the 11th to take a 4-3 lead which won them the game. The game was an interesting game because Concord was basically playing for pride because they had no chance to advance to the title game and I was impressed with the intensity both teams brought into this game. In the bottom of the 9th, trailing 3-1 Fairmont State finally got the offense they needed thanks to a bases loaded hit off the screen in left field which scored two runs, but the winning runner was thrown out at the plate on a nice throw to send the game to extra innings. 

There was some bad blood in the crowd following the game with shouting between some people in the stands after the game and even one man who called the police because he sad another fan had assaulted him. I am guessing that these two team had some history with each other which caused this because overall during the game both sides were pretty good. Overall the crowd was great for the past two days and I would expect another good one today to close the tournament. I think all of us here in Johnstown need to thank the WVIAC for bringing this tournament to town and helping our businesses on this weekend. 

Prediction: I think Shepherd wins their 5th WVIAC Title this Afternoon.

WVIAC Day 3 (Updated 11pm)

Hello Again Everyone from the Point Stadium where today is go home day for 6 of the 8 teams in this year's WVIAC Tournament. As of 5pm Shepherd University has clinched their spot in tomorrows championship game at 1pm by defeating WV State this morning 13-6. Seton Hill then defeated Charleston 6-1 in the 1pm game, but Shepherd held the tiebreaker because they had beaten Seton Hill yesterday 7-6. Right Now Alderson-Broaddus and WV Wesleyan are tied in their game and the final game of the night will be Concord & Fairmont State at 8:00pm.

UPDATE 1: After 6 Innings WV Wesleyan leads 2-1. They took the lead with a Sacrifice Fly in the Bottom of the 6th.


UPDATE 2: Heading to the top of the 8th Inning Alderson Broaddus Now Leads 3-2.


UPDATE 3: Alderson Broaddus wins 4-3. If Concord wins Game 2, Alderson-Broaddus advances to the championship game and if Fairmont State wins they advance to the championship game.


Update 4: Concord defeats Fairmont State 4-3 in 11 innings. This sets up a championship game between Alderson-Broaddus and Shepherd at 1pm at the Point.

                       (View of the Stands from Center Field & the Flags blowing out to CF)

Yesterday was a Home Run Fest during the four games thanks to the strong wind blowing out towards center field with home runs going in every direction and even a rare river shot HR to right field. Yesterday along with Shepherd, WV State, Concord, and Fairmont State all picked up victories which gave every team a 1-1 record going into today. The weather has also been a lot better the past two days with warmer temps and sunny skies.

Check back later tonight for more on the tournament and for Live Stats visit: http://136.142.229.91/stats_baseball/xlive.htm


-The Flood City Sports Fan

WVIAC Tournament & Altoona Curve

Greetings from Sunny Point Stadium in Johnstown, PA.

After yesterday gave us every kind of weather imaginable including sleet. The cold weather is gone and the sun is shining on the 66th Annual West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Baseball Tournament. This years field is made up of four teams from each division split into two pools. The four teams in each pool are guaranteed 3 games before the top team from each pool advances to the championship game Sunday afternoon with the winner of that game getting an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Yesterday's games were interesting with Charleston, Seton Hill, West Virginia Wesleyan, and Alderson-Broaddus all picking up victories. One of the most interesting games to me was the game between WV Wesleyan and Fairmont State which went 12 innings. Down 4-3 in the Bottom of the 8th inning, Spencer Webley of WV Wesleyan launched a 2-run homer off the light tower over the wall in Left-Center field to give Wesleyan the 5-4 lead heading into the 9th inning before Fairmont State tied the game with a double from Nick Hallis to tie the game at 5. The game would go to the 12th before Matt Edwards tripled to score Webley to give WV Wesleyan a 6-5 win in 12 innings. Today should be another exciting day of games with the possibility of both pools coming down to one game tomorrow. To follow all the action visit the official WVIAC Tournament Page which will provide you with all the information about this weekend's tournament action.

 

(View of the Action from the Point)

I also attended my first Altoona Curve Game of the season this past Wednesday for one of the annual 10:30 Education Day Games. This year the first morning game at People's Natural Gas Park included bonus baseball as the Curve and the Bowie Baysox had to finish their game from the night before which was stopped for rain going into the 4th inning then they played a full 7 inning game following that. The Curve dropped both games of the doubleheader and their season has not been going very well. The good news is that they sit at 13-19 overall but in their division every team is struggling at the start except the Akron Aeros who are 22-9 overall, 6 games ahead of first place and 9.5 ahead of the Curve in the division standings.

(Scoreboard Image of Manny Machado, One of the Top Orioles Prospects)

During my visit to the park the biggest chance I noticed was the change of the name from Blair County Ballpark to People's Natural Gas Park. The signs were changed to reflect the new name, and there were some new sponsors but other than that the park is the same and still provides the same fun and entertainment  that it always has.

Stop back to the site tomorrow for a recap of today's WVIAC Action.

-Ed S.
The Flood City Sports Fan

I AM BACK!!!!!

Sorry it has been over a week since I have been able to update the blog, but the burden of Finals Week and the end of another semester is behind me and I am comfortably in Summer mode. With Summer comes more trips to the Pirates Games and Curve Games. I attended my first Bucco game on April 22nd when they fell to the Cardinals. I always enjoy entering PNC Park and I was excited to enjoy my first trip to the Ballpark of 2012 and to check out the new Budweiser Bowtie Bar in Right Field. I left disappointed, after getting there and  finding out I would have to shell out $9.50 for a draft beer. That was not going to happen. I still enjoyed the Buc Day Promotion which is one of the best ones the Pirates Have. I did not go crazy, but I did enjoy my share of hot dogs and popcorn for $1 each. Even though they lost with a view like this how could you not enjoy yourself. Still the Best Ballpark in America.

Now onto the Johnstown Generals. After this past Sunday's embarrassing 74-14 lost at Erie, a game in which a fan on their Facebook page stated that it looked like only 13 players were dressed and had different helmets, the Generals return home to take on the Western PA Sting this Saturday Night. Honestly, I am not sure if I will be attending this game and I have attended every game since they became founding members of the UIFL last season. This is looking like the downhill slide to the end of another Johnstown Indoor Football team and the blame needs to be on the ownership & managment, not the fans.

As I look forward the positives of the next few weeks in Sports, I am getting closer and closer to my second trip to Pocono Raceway this year. This time, I will be attending the first race on the newly repaved "Tricky Triangle" so I am looking forward to the fast speeds that are expected by the drivers who took part in the Goodyear Tire Test last week. 

Here is an article from the Scranton Times-Tribune about the two day test

http://thetimes-tribune.com/sports/two-day-tire-test-session-at-pocono-raceway-1.1306070#axzz1teEXZ17P

I look forward to more sports experiences this summer and I hope you visit often to see what I am up to and what I have to say

- The Flood City Sports Fan