Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Grandson of Bob Cene, Paul Cene, throws out the ceremonial first pitch at the Bob Cene Memorial tournament at Bob Cene Park in Struthers Thursday evening.

STRUTHERS — Baseball meant a lot to Bob Cene, and Bob Cene meant a lot to the Youngstown baseball community.

To honor the legacy of Cene, who in 1995 built the now three-field facility in Struthers and always was involved in promoting youth baseball in the Mahoning Valley, the Youngstown Class B Baseball League is hosting the Bob Cene Memorial 18U Metal Bat Tournament this weekend through July 2 at Cene’s namesake park. All Class B teams are participating along with teams from Pittsburgh, Akron, Cleveland, Springfield, and from further away in Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Family members of Cene were on hand Thursday night, with grandson Paul Cene throwing out the honorary first pitch before the 8 p.m. matchup between the Youngstown-area Astro Falcons and the Springfield Armoloy.

“Baseball meant a lot to my grandpa,” Paul Cene said. “Grandpa always wanted to take care of the kids and do what he could to help them out and have a place to better their lives and move them in the right direction. We’re just trying to keep up with his legacy and make it the best park we can.”

While Cene Park was built in 1995, Class B is even older than that — about 50 years, vice president of the league, Ken Quinn, estimates. Over the years, the complex has grown and continually been renovated and improved in order to provide a premier spot for youth baseball games. The original complex featured two fields, and over time has grown to three thanks to Cene’s sons and Jim DiBacco, according to Class B president Scott Ruark.

The tournament has been played just over five times before, but was halted in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 showcase is the first since that stoppage.

Plans for bringing the tournament back to fruition began as far back as last fall, according to Quinn.

“I started sending emails, and we voted to have the dates and everything (set) in November,” Quinn said.

This year, the tournament features eight out-of-area teams. But, Quinn notes, the league is eyeing an expansion and would like to get the ball rolling even earlier next time around.

“I’m going to start (the planning) in August. We might be able to get 40-plus teams,” he said.

As such, the tournament may expand to some ancillary fields in order to hold that many games.

There are a couple draws to the tournament, Quinn and Ruark say.

“I think No. 1 is the facility itself,” Quinn said. “(Teams) love playing down here.”

Ruark added, “It’s the caliber of baseball. It’s high-level baseball. It’s not just your recreational league — you have kids coming from all over to play in our league, and the caliber of baseball is really, really high here.”

To make this sort of tournament happen, Class B requires plenty of manpower. Games begin at 10 a.m. and conclude with the 8 p.m. games. On Sunday, the semifinals will begin at 11:30 a.m., and the championship will be played at 2 p.m.

While the grounds crew is salaried to maintain the fields, many other behind-the-scenes requirements are taken care of by volunteers.

“We have two (grounds) crews, they work in the morning, and they’re on salary,” Quinn noted. “But, like myself, I’m the vice president, I just volunteer. I’ve always been involved in the league, and we have a lot of other guys that are running the gate and stuff like that (who volunteer). Obviously, getting the umpires, Scott does all that, but once we get the schedule, we let them know early enough.”

Once things begin, however, it’s relatively smooth sailing unless it rains.

“It kind of runs itself once it starts,” Quinn added.

And all the while, it keeps the memory and legacy of Bob Cene alive.

“It’s really exciting to keep my grandpa’s legacy going,” Paul Cene said. “The only way he would want it is to bring the best teams in the area here together to compete and keep this place rolling and get bigger and bigger as we go.”