Vikings come in 3rd, earn bid to compete in Nationals

Goshen — The Vikings 10 Under Travel Baseball returned to live action over the Memorial Day weekend to compete in the Triple Crown Sports Baseball Tournament in Connecticut, which attracted over 60 teams from the Northeast. The Vikings competed in the tough 10 Under competitive division with 12 teams. The top three teams earned a bid to play in the Triple Crown World Series qualifier in North Carolina. High school rules are used for all Triple Crown Tournaments, whereby leading, stealing, and bats are allowed. The Vikings defeated some of the top teams in the Northeast — Brooklyn and New Haven. Eventually they were knocked out of the tournament by the teams that finished first and second. “We are extremely proud of our kids,” Vikings General Manager Chris Maffie said. “They adapted to the tougher format, as opposed to Little League, for play and executed to the best of their abilities. And our coaches did a great job. Head Coach Matt Zepf did a great job preparing the kids to hit the fast pitching and moving the kids around the base paths. And Coaches Dave Clark and Mike Carmody were key in strategizing our pitchers and position players.” For the tournament, defensive leaders included Andre Williams and Rich Lomazzo. Leading the way offensively for the Vikings were: Jeff Roche 5 hits (5 RBIs), Vinny Maffei 4 hits (2 RBIs), Kevin Crawford 4 hits (4 RBIs), Matt Zepf 4 hits (single that broke a no-hitter), John Wierl 3 hits (3 RBIs), Evan Clark 3 hits (including a game winning 3 run home runs over the center field fence!), Jahrett DeGroodt 3 hits (6 stolen bases), Charles Cerillo 2 hits (1 RBI), Jake Jones 1 hit (Key single), and Mike Carmody 1 hit (key single) The Vikings include players from Goshen, Montgomery, Middletown, and Walden.