FREEPORT — Ralph "Sonny" Westerman has been around baseball his entire life, so it shouldn't be a shock that he would look around to find baseball players.

At Thursday's Old-Timers Baseball Classic at Swartz Field, former players, volunteers and coaches who have ties to the Freeport International Baseball Tournament or to Westerman through the years made their way onto the diamond.

Twin brothers Gene and Jack Manuel of Butler are probably the oldest surviving players that Westerman used to play with and coach in his sandlot days.

Jack served as first-base coach and Gene was the third-base coach for one of the teams during Thursday's contest.

"In 1947, back then, Sonny got ballplayers and brought them down to Sarver," said Gene, 77. "He came up through Butler.

"He wanted us to play, so he'd pick us up in his truck. We used to help unload lime and cement bags at their family's feed store."

"He got us to come down to Sarver and play," said Jack. "We came down to see a couple of girls and we got to know them from the feed store."

Sometimes the brothers' father picked the players up after they played in Sarver; sometimes Westerman would drive them back.

Other players who Westerman recruited included Eli Heath and Bobby Muto.

"There was only sandlot baseball," said Gene. "There wasn't any organized Little League, no Pony, no Prep. the only thing was this league. ... Sonny was a frontrunner. Back then, we didn't have the leagues like they do now.

"We played with Eddie Vargo the year before he started umpiring,"he added Butler native and longtime major league ump.

Buzzy Hoover, 75, grew up with Westerman in Sarver and the two have remained fast friends since.

"I was raised with him," said Hoover. "Sonny is one of the nicest gentlemen you'll ever meet. He's a gentleman and a scholar. Even after playing ball, we remained friends."

"With Sonny, we've remained friends all this time," Gene Manuel said "We all see each other occasionally."

Westerman, who will be 80 on Sept. 3, graduated from Freeport High in 1946, one year before he started rounding up players to play sandlot ball.

He began coaching Sarver in the Butler County League in 1950 while playing first base.

Westerman has coached American Legion, Pony and Little League teams. His American Legion teams from 1963-65, which included Chip Young, who also played in Thursday's game, won league titles, as well as the 1968 team.

He started the Armstrong County American Legion league in 1964 and wrapped up his coaching career in 1999 after five years with the Allegheny Valley Colt team.

He's also been inducted into three halls of fame, so there aren't too many baseball players that came through the All-Kiski Valley that Westerman does not know.

Still, the Freeport tournament is his creation. Now in its 15th year, the event continues to grow and improve.

Aside from the old-timers game, 41 teams are in the area to play a total of 105 games in five days on six different fields.

"It makes you feel good to see everyone come back," said Westerman. "Some of these guys come a long way. Everyone enjoys it."

Notes: The Brooklyn Old-Timers squad captured a 14-1 victory over the Freeport Old-Timers in a 5Z\x-inning affair. The game included area notables such as Seneca Valley varsity softball coach George Trew, who helps coach the Brooklyn squad when it returns each year, as well as Saxonburg Eagle County League manager Dan Cunningham.