INSIDE THE PARK: Vikings swinging for fence at provincials

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This article was published 02/06/2022 (1371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Garrett Popplestone and his host Vincent Massey Vikings head into the provincial baseball championships starting today at Andrews and Sumner fields with the benefit of an important lesson they learned the hard way.

The Vikings, who sport a 7-1 record, are 5-0 in the Prairie West High School Baseball League and won both their zone games against Neelin and Crocus Plains. On May 25, however, they ran into the Birtle, Shoal Lake and Strathclair co-op team in their interzone game, falling 7-3 in St. Lazare.

That was a big change from their first three league games, when they outscored their opponents 58-14.

“I think we learned as a group in Birtle that we needed a little bit more of a backbone when teams are pushing us a little bit and challenging us,” Popplestone said. “In the few games we had played, we hadn’t had a whole lot of challenges of being down in the first few innings because our bats have been so good and we’ve relied on them to hit the ball around and score quite a few runs.

“Our run production is pretty high, so when we went down 6-2 to Birtle, we didn’t have much of a pushback. I think that was a big realization for us that when our back is against the wall, we have to have a stronger push.”

In their last action on Sunday, the Vikings beat Hartney 13-7 and Reston 10-9. Popplestone saw a big difference in his team’s response when Reston took a lead on them.

“It was a good way for us to figure out where we need to be and what we need to do in provincials if we are against the ropes and how we want to respond through that adversity,” Popplestone said.

He hasn’t shackled his hard-hitting lineup with any semblance of small ball, instead letting his big bats swing away. He said all 16 members of the team are approaching the plate with confidence because they’re seeing the ball well and making contact.

Popplestone has the benefit of having some excellent athletes on his roster. Will Pearson, Dylan Schrader, Carter Dittmer, Skylar Ramsay, Callum Halls and affiliate player Jackson Aldcroft all skated for the under-18 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings team that won the regular season pennant before falling to the Winnipeg Wild in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League final.

“They’re athletic, they’re strong, so that always helps when we’re playing baseball and on the base paths running and throwing,” Popplestone said of his roster. “They’re all great qualities you want on a team that’s fighting for a provincial title.”

While the Vikings are led by their hitting, Popplestone said they are a sound defensive team as well and virtually all 16 guys can pitch if needed.

Halls, Aldcroft and Schrader all throw hard, with Liam Puchailo and Brannigan Ferland also delivering some good innings.

Massey is joined in Pool 2 by a pair of area co-op teams, the Boissevain/Wawanesa Broncos and the McCreary/Ste. Rose Expos.

Vincent Massey opens against Boissevain this afternoon at Sumner Field at 3 p.m., and faces McCreary on Friday morning at 11:30 at Andrews Field.

A league matchup between Massey and Boissevain earlier in the season was a victim of bad weather, so it will be the first time this season the two longtime rivals will meet.

“That will be a big challenge for us, and it will kind of set the tone for the tournament,” Popplestone said.

The other teams in the field include the Stonewall Rams, Garden City Fighting Gophers and Helen Betty Osborne Huskies in Pool 1, Carberry (with Cartwright, Baldur and Glenboro in a co-op team), Steinbach Regional Sabres and Garden Valley Zodiacs in Pool 3 and Portage Collegiate Trojans, William Morton Warriors and Birtle (with Shoal Lake and Strathclair in a co-op team) in Pool 4.

The four quarterfinal matchups take place on Friday afternoon, with the semifinals set for Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The final begins at 1 o’clock at Andrews Field on Saturday.

The 2021 tournament set for Hamiota was cancelled, as was the 2020 event planned for Boissevain. When the event was last contested in 2019, Garden City won it.

Since three years is an eternity in high school sports, only Grade 12 student Charlie Launder is back to defend his title for the Fighting Gophers.

The Dauphin Clippers were the last team from western Manitoba to win the championship when they did it in 2016. The other Westman winners are Boissevain in 2015, Massey in 2014 and Crocus Plains in 2005 and 2006 in the first two years the tournament was sanctioned by the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association.

With a push to advance out of their pools to the quarterfinals and then single-knockout play for the three playoff games, it will put a premium on consistency.

“You have to come ready to play every game and run the base paths hard and do what you need to do,” Popplestone said. “You might get asked to do a certain job, and we need everybody to do those jobs.

“If we can do that, I think we have a capable group that can get it done.”

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