Junior Pioneers Capture AAABA Championship
JOHNSTOWN, PA – One team was guaranteed to come away with its first AAABA championship Saturday night at Point Stadium.
Dave Balo’s Zanesville Junior Pioneers made it crystal clear they were that deserving team.
A big sixth inning propelled the Juniors to an 8-2 win over Johnstown (PA) Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors, marking Zanesville’s first-ever championship in its first-ever championship appearance.
A.J. Kazmiercak drew first blood for the Pioneers with an RBI single in the bottom of the second. Johnstown knotted things up with Reno Rainey single in the third, and the score remained tied until the fifth.
Zanesville grad Matty Lynn doubled home John Glenn product Ben Van Wey to give Zanesville a 2-1 edge. Following a Johnstown pitching change, Blue Devil senior Caden Mumaw scored Lynn on a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 3-1.
The Juniors’ two-run lead was cut in half on a Johnstown single in the top of the sixth, but the Pioneers enjoyed a half-inning to remember in the bottom of the frame.
After Johnstown pitcher Bryce Spak walked in a run with the bases loaded, Vayden Wood hit a sacrifice fly to left to hike the Juniors’ lead up to three runs. Joe Shumar continued the fun for Zanesville, doubling home a pair of runs on an 0-2 pitch to make it a 7-2 ballgame. Mumaw capped off the Pioneers’ five-run inning with a single to left scoring Shumar.
Neither team scored again the rest of the way.
The Junior Pioneers’ historic win comes after almost failing to advance from pool play. Zanesville was the only team that made it through to the quarterfinals with a 1-2 record, surviving Pool D on a “runs allowed” tiebreaker.
The Juniors promptly made a statement in single-elimination play, upsetting the defending champs from New Orleans, 4-2, on Thursday. Zanesville advanced to the championship for the first time in franchise history one day later by beating Chicago-Metro, 4-3.
The team will be welcomed home Sunday between 12-12:30 p.m. with a police escort to Gant Stadium.
