After the war, Youngstown fielded a new team for the Middle Atlantic League, the
Youngstown Gremlins. The club made its debut in 1946, the sixth consecutive season in which the National Amateur Baseball Federation tournament was held in
Youngstown, Ohio. The team was owned by the
Pittsburgh sportsmen Bill Koval and Nick Andolina, who "bankrolled" the reorganization of the Mid-Atlantic League in 1946. The team went 67–62, good for third place in the six-team league. They were defeated in the first round of the playoffs, three games to one, to the
Erie Sailors. The owners acknowledged that the team had been a losing venture at the close of the 1946 season but indicated to Frank Ward, sports editor of
The Youngstown Daily Vindicator, that they would continue to sponsor the club in 1947. Youngstown's star performer was
Johnny Kucab, who eventually moved on to the major leagues. As a pitcher for the Gremlins, Kucab posted a 13–1 record, followed up by 12–4. A local newspaper editorial stated: "If any other city has comparable equipment, it is not generally known. Baseball Commissioner Chandler exclaimed in surprise that our
sandlot fields are better than the parks of many professional teams". ==Youngstown Athletics: 1949–1951==