AAABA 2023 Double play Two sets of twins taking part in tournament
Aug. 4—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Baseball teams can become like a brotherhood to the players that battle game in and game out to put wins on the board, especially in the All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament.
For identical twins Andrew and Zach Rust, and Thomas and Robert Marshall, that support is deeper.
"We're always on each other to make sure we're the best," Thomas Marshall said.
He and his brother play for the Brooklyn Cougars. This is their second year in the tournament.
The 20-year-olds said they've played baseball since they were 3 and were always on the same team.
Outside of the annual event in Johnstown, the twins also play together at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts.
Andrew and Zach Rust also play together in college at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and now on the Columbus TNT Knights team during the summer.
This is the brothers' first year in the tourney and they're having a blast — the Knights won 5-2 against Maryland State on Monday, lost in a 6-1 game on Tuesday against Mainline Pharmacy, fell 8-4 to Buffalo on Wednesday and won Thursday against Altoona Cumming Motors.
They'll play Johnstown-1 Mainline Pharmacy on Friday.
"It's pretty cool," Zach Rust said. "I didn't know about this until coach invited us."
"It is cool to see everyone turn out to support the tournament," Andrew Rust said.
The pair were recruited to play in the Johnstown competition by their Wittenberg coach, Zach Ullom.
"These guys are quiet," he joked. "Very even-keeled, but you know, when they get on the mound, very competitive."
Both Rust brothers are right-handed pitchers who favor their slider.
The Marshall twins are also right-handed pitchers with Thomas Marshall serving as a utility man, too.
"I like everything about baseball as long as I'm not 0-4," said Thomas Marshall, who pitched nine innings as Brooklyn-2 beat New Brunswick 3-2 on Wednesday.
He and his brother said they've enjoying the tournament thus far, adding that they have a great team.
"Couldn't be more fun," Thomas Marshall said.
They were brought on by their manager Eric Jaume, whose son plays college ball with them at Curry.
"They are really hard-nosed players," Jaume said.
The Marshall brothers give it their all every pitch of every game, he said.
The Cougars, the second Brooklyn team in the tournament, lost their first game Monday 6-5 to the New York City Bonnie Rams, but won Tuesday 9-1 against the Altoona Johnston Realty and beat a very solid New Brunswick team to take the top spot in Pool A.
The Cougars then played Johnstown-2 Martella's Pharmacy on Thursday afternoon at Sargent's Stadium at The Point and lost, knocking them out of the tournament.
Both sets of twins spoke about the enjoyment of playing on the same team as their brother.
Some of the benefits they mentioned were always knowing someone when joining a new team, pushing each other to be better and having someone to practice with.
"It's definitely nice always having a throwing partner," Andrew Rust said.
He and his brother mentioned that their love for baseball has kept them playing since they were 5 years old and that the sport runs in their family.
The twins' father played and created a local program in Dublin, Ohio, when they were 7 and their grandfather also played ball.
Robert and Thomas Marshall also love the sport and said what's kept them involved for so long has been their passion for it.
"I love how anything can happen," Robert Marshall said.
A good example of this is the one-run, no-hitter — a walk led to the score — Cougars pitcher Cole Peaslee threw on Tuesday at Lilly-Washington Memorial Field against Altoona's Johnston Realty.
