1973 Dearborn Regional Champions

Games Record Win% RF RA Diff
159 51 - 108 0.321 718 1257 -539

Joined 1947
First Tournament 1947
Last Tournament 2012
Franchise Status Active
   
Seasons 66
Regionals 25
Tournaments 54
   
Best Finish 4th
Worst Finish 16th
Average Finish 11th
DNQs 12
   
Upper Bracket 2
Lower Bracket 23

 

1st   Finalist 0
2nd  
3rd   At or above
500		 12
4th 1
5th 3
6th 1
7th 2
8th 5
9th 5 Below
500		 42
10th 1
11th 5
12th 11
13th 2
14th 7
15th 5
16th+ 6

About Zanesville

Zanesville, Ohio has been competing in the AAABA since 1947 and has been represented by the Junior Pioneers since 1955. The city has also played host to 16 regionals, including 10 in the past 11 years.

The Junior Pioneers' most successful season came in 1973. Tom Checkush's squad won the 4-team Dearborn, Michigan Regional despite dropping the opening game to Youngstown. The Pioneers rebounded with 4 consecutive victories against Fort Wayne, Mount Pleasant, and twice over Youngstown (21-6 and 2-0). It was their first--and currently only--regional tournament championship.

In the national tournament that year, the Pioneers placed 4th with 3 wins. Their wins came against New Brunswick (13-2), Washington (5-1), and Brooklyn (9-3) with loses to Detroit (12-5) and national runner-up Birmingham (7-4). Zanesville has finished 3-2 three other times, first in 1954, then 1957, and most recently a strong showing in 2008.

Zanesville has competed in the most Opening Night contests out of any visiting team. The Pioneers had to open against Johnstown in 1960, 1985, 1990, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2009. The difficulty of winning in front of the large Opening Night crowd is well known to the Pioneers, as they are 0-7 on Opening Night and have been outscored 75-6 in those games. Despite the struggles to win against larger markets, the Pioneers have created one of the best AAABA traditions outside of Johnstown and are a a steady supporter of the tournament.