ELLWOOD CITY BASEBALL

The 74th Ellwood City Little League Tournament will begin with a double-header on Monday, July 14 at Freidhoff Field. Central Valley will meet Neshannock at 5:45 PM and Ellwood City will meet New Castle at 8:00 PM. The tournament, the second oldest Little League tournament in the country next to the Little League World Series, began in 1952. The championship game will be televised live on WKBN-TV, Apple TV, Amazon Stick, Roku and WKBN.com.

I grew up in a single parent home and my coaches were like fathers to me. The men who volunteer to coach Little League teams today usually have sons playing on the team. In my day, local men voluntarily coached because they loved the game. I've been blessed.  Ellwood City was a wonderful place to grow up.

Dick Freidhoff was my manager in Little League and he instilled in me a love for the game of baseball. We practiced every day. Those practices were so rigorous that the games were easy and fun. Winning was expected.

Dan Oliastro

 Ellwood City

Congratulations on 75 years of Little League Baseball in Ellwood City. Quite a milestone particularly when little leagues elsewhere seem to have migrated from friendly competitions among your buddies to parent-driven AAU and traveling squads limiting participation and fun.

 Ellwood City Amateur Baseball was great preparation for the high school team from Little League(1959-1962) to Pony League(1963-1964) to Colt League(1965-1966) to American Legion(1967-1968). Scouts showed up at the high school games, even including Pie Traynor in 1968 and getting drafted by the Cleveland Indians that may not have happened if not for the success of the high school team. I also credit the American Legion experience under Al and Harry Miller, who scheduled varied competition including visits from the Little Pirates, for Dave Blazin and I getting scholarships and playing together at the University of Iowa. Our Hawkeye team won the the 1972 Big Ten Championship and is the only Iowa team to have played in the College World Series. 

So great memories of Little League Baseball and the entire Amateur Baseball Program in Ellwood City! Many thanks to all the wonderful coaches who gave their time and mentoring to us. And to the sponsors, organizers behind the scenes, and supportive parents that made so many happy memories for many. It has positively affected all of our lives.

Ray Smith

West Des Mones, Iowa 

Dad loved when summer came...that meant baseball season was here. We never saw him because he would be working with the young kids to develop their baseball skills at the Ewing Park field. He loved coaching the Moose team. He always seemed to get the boys playing their best. 

 When he was Commissioner to give my mother something to do (instead of yelling at the umpires), he set up two barrels with a board over across the road from the field and had her sell candy and pop that eventually evolved into the concession stand inside the gate. The umpires thanked him! 

Baseball made my dad happy...coaching the young players develop their talents and skills made him happy. Being at the ball field was his happy place.

Cookie Freidhoff-Bowman

Lexington, Kentucky

Our Moose team won the first three championships. Dick Freidhoff was our coach and was the best baseball coach I ever played for  including at Columbia University. Amazingly at eight and nine years-old, he was teaching us situations and anticipation.

Jim Navolio

Versailles, Kentucky

I spent some of my greatest times and have some of my most wonderful memories playing or watching games at Ewing Park. 

I played for the Moose. Amazing team-even more so the coaching staff. Most teams practiced once a week, we practiced two or three times and never lost. We piled into Dick Freidhoff's station wagon in Ewing Park and went to Ellport for practice. I played for Hall of Fame third baseman Fred Lindstrom at Northwestern and for Johnny "Double No-Hit" Vander Meer in the Cincinnati Reds organization. There is nobody close to Dick Freidhoff-without a doubt the greatest coach I ever played for.

Ron Hughes

Jacksonville, Florida    

I played for the Moose in Little League. My mother kept a scrapbook of all my games. During the Moose's three-year run from 1950-1952 our record was 45-1. I was the only player that started every game during those years. Dick Freidhoff was such a class individual-what an experience playing for him. The nuances and situations in a game that many observers may miss Dick Freidhoff taught to me as a 10-12 year old. We were not that much better, we just knew what to do when we had the ball.

In American Legion we won the Lawrence County Championship in 1958. We beat New Castle, 4-3. Ron Hughes was at second base and I hit the longest ball I ever hit. The ball went so far over the left fielder's head  that he didn't even try to retrieve it and Ron scored the winning run. Loved to beat New Castle. 

In Ellwood City, I learned to love the game. I am forever grateful to the civic leaders and social clubs support who knew what the league could become. Thanks to everyone keeping the ball moving forward. 

Ron Mazzano

Data Point, California 

The Ellwood City Baseball Program was one of a kind. We had great presidents running the leagues. I always like coaching and being on the board to run the leagues. I was able to see all these players that came before me and all the ones that followed to show everyone how Ellwood City Baseball was played. Who can forget all the fantastic players we generated out of the Ellwood City Baseball Program. Its been a wonderful life and we still miss Ellwood. 

Mike Laitinen

Woodbridge, Virginia

I had the privilege of playing for Dick Freidhoff's first Moose Little League team in 1950. Winning the championship was a memory I will never forget! Coach Freidhoff taught me the art of pitching leading to a successful career in baseball. We practiced or played almost every day and the game became an integral part of my youth.

Joe Cioffi

Ellwood City, Pennsylvania 

My fondest memories are when I was eleven in 1961(future Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers manager) Tommy Lasorda and (future San Francisco Giants' manager) Charlie Fox gave a clinic at Ewing Park. Also when I was twelve in 1962 our Little League All-Stars won the New Castle and Ellwood City Little League tournaments. Unfortunately, Ellwood City was not entered in Little League Baseball to compete in the Little League World Series in Williamsport. I truly believe we could have made a run with the talent we had. 

David Blazin

Dunedin, Florida

I was one of hundreds that played amateur baseball in Ellwood. Don't know if I was anymore important than anyone else but we all made the town's program incredibly good. The one thing in my Ellwood career in amateur baseball besides the hits, walks, stolen bases and strikeouts that make the game, besides all the friends and teammates and competitors during those years was this-I'm not totally certain but I might have been the youngest player in Ellwood City Little League history. I was drafted the first year of the league by the Kiwanis Club team at the age of eight. I'm not sure why but I was. I only got to play in one game because our catcher, Johnnie Agostinelli, got hurt and they put me in as a pinch-hitter and I got a single. Never batted again that year. My batting average was 1.000. 

There was a time when Richie Allen and I played on the same all-star team. We merged Wampum with Ellwood for some all-star program. My memory says he was the shortstop and I was playing third base. 

Always loved the game.

Paul Ammeen

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Complete memories/remarks are being compiled on 75th Anniversary  page.