1993 National Runners-Up

1978 Livonia Regional Champion

Games Record Win% RF RA Diff
72 28 - 44 0.389 460 564 -104

Joined 1978
First Tournament 1978
Last Tournament 2012
Franchise Status Active
   
Seasons 30
Regionals 11
Tournaments 22
   
Best Finish 2nd
Worst Finish 21st
Average Finish 11th
DNQs 8
   
Upper Bracket 8
Lower Bracket 10

 

1st   Finalist 1
2nd 1
3rd   At or above
500		 10
4th  
5th  
6th 2
7th 1
8th 6
9th   Below
500		 12
10th 2
11th  
12th 3
13th 2
14th 1
15th 2
16th+ 1

About Columbus

Columbus joined the association in 1978 and advanced to their first national tournament that year by winning the Livonia Regional. Don Thacker's club suffered a heartbreaking 11-10 eleven inning loss to Philadelphia on opening day, but then stormed past Fort Wayne 12-0 and outhit Brooklyn 13-7 before Youngstown eliminated them 13-9.

Many different clubs represented Columbus through 1987 and compiled a respectable 11-18 record but did not surpass their performance in their inaugural season. After a winless 1989 tournament, Columbus struggled off the field, first withdrawing from the 1990 Zanesville regional and then being disqualified from the 1991 Altoona regional. The 1992 team lost in the Schenectady regional.

Finally, Columbus's Westerville Athletics returned to Johnstown in 1993 led by Gar Trusley. Maryland State's Arundel AC welcomed them back with a 11-8 loss at Vo-Tech, but Columbus won their next 5 in a row to advance to the finals. First down was New York City (15-9) followed by Zanesville (12-2), and then a doubleheader over Maryland State (10-6) and Schenectady (16-2). On Friday, the Athletics edged Baltimore 13-12, handing the Corrigan Insurance team their first loss of the tournament. In the final, the Athletics came up a couple runs short, as Baltimore won the title 5-4.

The Athletics returned to Johnstown 4 times in the next 5 years and won 6 games before a 3-year hiatus beginning in 1999.

In 2002, Scott Manahan's Ohio Thunder returned Columbus to the tournament after sweeping past Cincinnati 12-0 and 11-0 in the play-in series. The team was winless in Johnstown and Columbus did not win again until Tony Perz's Columbus Hawks who finished 8th in 2005.

Bruce Domineck's Columbus Braves representatived Columbus finishing 1-2 in 2010 and losing in the 2011 Zanesville regional. While scheduled to attend the national tournament in 2012, the Braves were unable to attend and replaced by the Columbus Hawks, who finished 8th at 2-2. It was Columbus' best finish since 2005, which was also the last appearance for the Hawks.