Ceremony marks Midget League’s 70th season
Contributed Photo – Now in its milestone 70th season, the Albion Midget League held a belated opening ceremony on Saturday at the Midget League field. Bad weather forced the ceremony to be cancelled on opening day. Here former longtime Albion varsity baseball coach Gary “Chico” Mannella throws out the ceremonial opening pitch. His catcher was Buzz O’Mara who has umpired in the Midget League for 48 years. Mannella played for Sandstone during his midget league days as his father Guido was the team’s first coach . During his 21 years as Albion’s varsity coach, Chico Mannella guided the Purple Eagles to 13 Niagara-Orleans League championships, 3 Section VI titles and over 300 wins. “I guess that’s where I got my baseball DNA” Mannella has said of his early days playing for Sandstone at Sandstone Park.
