Vikings Management Preparing Plan for 2021 Player Development
Thursday October 8th, 2020

The Vaughan Vikings capped their 220 season with their final of four games played over the course of the fall season in Tottenham against the Newmarket Hawks.  Throughout the fall the Vikings got a chance to have an enhanced look at their roster and to identify what they liked going into the 2021 developmental off season program and what they know they need to work on.

Over the course of the four games the Vikings would go 2-2-0 winning both their games against the Whitby Chiefs and losing single games against the Barrie Baycats and Newmarket Hawks.  The Vikings took on the tale of two teams where they scored 24 runs in the two games against Whitby and 8 against Newmarket and Barrie combined.  "I think we had some good at bats from our guys, we worked pitch counts and found ways to score.  But bottom line we need to be better in terms of hitting in 2021 having only managed 12 hits over the 4 games."  Commented Manager Mark Cotgrave.

So where does this leave the Vikings going forward.

On the positive side the addition of new players to the roster will certainly give the Vikings a boost it looks on the mound.  "There seems to be good pitching depth with this group and ability to keep the Vikings in games.  They had a chance to win every game in the fall - but ended up splitting." Commented one scout that attended all the games.  Add to that the fact that the Vikings have been fighting of notable and nagging injuries throughout the fall that limited some of what the team should be able to do in 2021.  "We need to get everyone healthy again - that really is priority one."  Really it should be when you consider the likes of Lalani (back), Simone (arm), Kruger (wrist), Zartesky (arm) all needing work in the off season to recover from injury.

Thus, the Vikings management team have gone into hiding currently preparing a plan for the upcoming developmental program that is planned to start in January.  There are reports that a strong emphasis will be set on the offensive side of the game. Yet still, manager Mark Cotgrave indicated that it won't be the only focus, "we don't want to lose what was recognized as our strength.  So there will still be an emphasis on other areas of the game."

- VV Reporter 

New Look Lineup Looks Strong In Fall Debut
Friday September 25th, 2020

Sometimes when you have no idea what's coming the result is better than you could have expected.  The Vaughan Vikings 2020 (2.0) got started with its quick fall ball season.   With 6 new players on the roster and really only a small familiarity with the players returning nobody could have predicted what might happen.  They may not have been able to script it better.  The Vikings played a tidy well played game to a 5-2 victory over the Whitby Chiefs.  

The Vikings showed up with a full roster of avaliable players (except for Jaren Kruger out with a broken arm) for the first time in 2020.  This game not only debuted 6 new roster players but it was also the first time the Vikings got to see Daniel Rossi take the field as well.  The Vikings also threw out some new wrinkles with Marcus Simone getting his first start at 1B and Zachary Barker back on the left side of the infield playing 3B.  

The Vikings batting lineup also showed some new excitment with a new crop of left handed batters that had an impact.  Both Dylan Zartesky and Greg Concliffe had their first hits with the AAA Vikings.   Add to that returning left handed hitter Jack Scott and the Vikings are showing off a much more balanced batting order. 

Date: September 25, 2020     Time: 8:30pm      Venue: Concord Regional  

Perhaps even more interesting was the other side of the field.  With the introduction of wood bats and balls in play the Vikings were able to outlast the Chiefs with a significantly cleaner game both pitching and on defense.  The Vikings would not give an earned run as they ran through a number of pitchers.  Ilyan Lalani was given the start and went two innings giving up three hits but no runs.  From there Lucas Reingold, Greg Conliffe, Liam Chow and Zachary Barker would round out the pitchers on the night.

The Vikings have the Barrie Baycats next on their schedule for Saturday night where they look to see if they can continue their momentum.

- VV Reporter 
 

Vikings Overall Play Continues To Be Impressive
Tuesday September 29th, 2020

The Vaughan Vikings continued their fall ball schedule on Saturday September  27th with a visit to Barrie to play the Barrie Baycats for their first game.  In what was a game of unexpected circumstances the Vikings kept the score close in order to still make a comeback in an extra inning after the first seven innings taking just 90 minutes to complete.  The Vikings had a battery set up with Josh Samuels and Jack Scott to start, but Scott would come down with an unexpected injury that would thrust Zachary Barker behind the plate for the first time in near two years.  Still, Samuels took it in stride and got through the first inning striking out two and buying enough time for Scott to return for the remainder of the game.

Odd the offence side the Vikings couldn't quite get their game started.  It didn't help that through the first six innings the Vikings hit into two double plays and an additionally rare triple play.   "It looked like we were the team with all the bad luck in that game," commented one team official.  

Date: September 27, 2020     Time: 2:00pm      Venue: Barrie - Lennox B   

Thus after 7 innings the Baycats had the better of the Vikings 2-0 giving up one unearned run and another provided through a couple of wild pitches.  "Its probably the new world of baseball for the players at this age until they get a little stronger.  Many of the runs scored will be based on walks or errors."  commented Manager Mark Cotgrave.

Still to the credit of the Vikings when given the chance to continue playing they got hot in the eighth and scored three runs on three walks (Scott, Reingold, Doyle) along with a two out hit by Liam Chow.  But in the bottom of the eighth the Baycats got their own set of walks which lead to the eventual two runs for a walk off win against the Vikings.

The Vikings get a chance to hit the field once again (after two practices) to try to rebound against the Newmarket Hawks at Concord #2.  The Vikings have never played the Hawks in 2020 (same as Barrie) and thus look forward to a chance to play a new opponent where the last time they played at home saw the Vikings beat the Whitby Chiefs last week.

- VV Reporter

20 Walks Lead The Way For Vikings Big Win
October 5th, 2020

The Vaughan Vikings played their third game of the fall ball schedule on Saturday, their second game against the Whitby Chiefs.  For the second time they were able to secure the win with a big first inning.  While in their first meeting with the Chiefs they would score 4 runs the Vikings this time playing in Whitby would score a whopping 12 runs on three hits punctuated by Ilyan Lalani's two out two run single to centre field.  Eventually Lalani would come all the way round to score on the same play with an wild throw that would get past the 2B and into centre field.   "You could see Ilyan chugging his way around third.  Good thing we run the bases in practice," commented one team official.  

It was one of those games for the Chiefs, something that the Vikings had to go through numerous times earlier in 2020.  "We have taken our lumps in the past month or so.  Things even out." commented one coach.  The Viking during the course of the game would be gifted with 20 walks and 4 hit batters.  The Vikings for their efforts would gift the Chiefs their own 7 walks but after the first inning it was pretty much cruise control for the Vikings.  

Date: October 3, 2020     Time: 5:00pm      Venue: Whitby - Portage Park 

On the mound for the Vikings over the course of only 4 innings would have 6 pitches throw.  Greg Conliffe got the ball in the first inning before a sore leg would have him walk of the mound in the second inning unable to continue.  Conliffe still got himself his first victory of the season.  Lucas Reingold continued his pitching work for the second time in the fall with another scoreless inning.  Most noteably the Vikings also got to see the return of Jaren Kruger from injury (broken wrist).  It was Kruger's debut in Fall Ball after having a very strong August for the Vikings.  Kruger would give up some hits but for the most part the Vikings were just happy to see the tall righthander get through his pitch count without issue.  Ilyan Lalani would got the Vikings an out before Jackson Doyle would make his debut on the mound.  He recorded an out before having to hand things over to Liam Chow to close out the game.  Chow, who had the same assignment just one game ago rebounded to record the last two outs before the rain hit.

With poor weather set for Sunday the Vikings have decided to extend their season an additional week to hopefully get the chance to play the Newmarket Hawks on Tuesday and Wednesday upcoming.  Many around the Vikings have closed up shop for the 2020 season as the Vikings do everything they can to give the players the last taste of summer before its over.

- VV Reporter