London Badgers Win Mississauga Twins Tournament
Thursday May 23rd, 2013

Seems it was worth the travel for the London Badgers as they drove the near two hours to take part in the first major OBA tournament on the calander.  The Badgers a well known organization for being well respected didn’t disappoint with a full roster of large strong players that were well coached and ready to compete.  In doing so they ran the table winning all of their games to take the Championship against a game Etobicoke Rangers team 6-5.

It was an interesting tournament getting started as the Mississauga Tigers had to pull out of the tournament on the opening night of competition causing the divisions to be reset. The Silver division then had to play the Gray division causing a cross over that was not expected.

Nonetheless, as the tournament played out the final four teams in the semi final rounds were set for Sunday afternoon.  Many games were close throughout the weekend in determaining the final four with only London going undefeated in round robin play.  The final four teams were:

In the North York vs, London game it was a rematch from their tilt on Friday night.  The Blues hung tough but would later end up going down to the Badgers 8-2.  On the other side it was a spirited affair between Etobicoke and Hamilton with Etobicoke holding on for a tight victory on Hamilton to set up a final championship game between London and Etobicoke, with London winning 6-5.

In other news and notes credit to the Leaside Leafs for spinning off 3 straight interlock  victories to get back to .500 … Reports that the Blues have had to change some of their June schedule, nothing has been released … Have to wonder when the rest of the OBA will see the likes of London again or Windsor  … No schedule for the next OBA tournament (Vaughan Vikings Invitational) has been released as of today …

Strong Showing for First Tournament of the Season
Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The North York Blues got their tournament season off to a strong start with an encouraging 2-2 record in their first tournament of the season.  While a .500 record may not seem overly impressive the context of the games leaves one thinking that this team might be on to something moving forward.

The Blues were anticipating a division consisting of the Mississauga Majors, Burlington Bulls and Georgetown.  Instead to their surprise when they arrived they were set up to face off against two of the strongest teams in the entire OBA the London Badgers and Oakville A’s.  While interestingly also finding themselves set up to go against the Leaside Leafs one more time. 

With the change in schedule provided by the tournament all the teams were scrambling to figure out just how they were going to position themselves for the round robin games.  London who had traveled a long distance ready to face off against the likes of the Mississauga Tigers were surprised when their list of teams included our North York Blues along with Georgetown and Burlington.  Still as one member of the London coaching staff put it, “that’s life when it comes to tournaments.”  

Nonetheless, the teams got organized and by 8:30pm on Friday night the Blues and the London Badgers faced off.  The Blues started the game with Mackenzie Chau.  Chau has been a revelation for the Blues on the mound and quickly has become one of the team’s most reliable pitchers.  Chau was able to maneuver his way through three hard fought innings holding the Badgers to just two runs keeping the game tied before handing things over to Dawson Walters.  Dawson again threw very hard in his return to the mound but as was evident the Badgers were picking up steam.  By the time Justin Reiter came in to try and curb the momentum it was too late and the Badgers on 14 hits over 5 innings beat the Blues 12-2.

Date: May 17, 2013     Time: 8:30pm      Venue: Mississauga - Tom Chater   

With that the Blues on Saturday morning were lined up to face perhaps the one team they know more than any other – the Leaside Leafs.  Having just come off playing Leaside three times in a week the Blues would look to win their fourth game in a row.  Leaside had just come off beating Georgetown and had a confidence that they could take one from the Blues.  However, the Blues were ready from the first pitch.  In fact, they would go on to score a whopping 11 runs in the first inning on nine hits.  Both Aaron Federman and Bruce Okajima had two singles in the first inning alone.  Anthony Vavaroutsos would triple in the first and every player in the starting line up would score in the first inning (Federman twice).  “It was certainly the most bizarre inning I’ve seen in a long time,” said Manager Mark Cotgrave.  “We’ll take it because you never know when you’re going to get your next runs.”  Cotgrave was referring to the fact that over the next four innings the Blues wouldn’t score any runs but still hold on for a mercy victory thanks in large part to the pitching of Andrew Baxendale.  Baxendale would go 4 1/3 innings striking out four and not allowing a run.  While Trevor Omoto would enter in the 5^th to close it out.

Date: May 18, 2013     Time: 11:30am      Venue: Mississauga - Tom Chater   

The Blues would take that momentum and prepare to face one of the strongest teams in the province and a team they could never beat in 2012 – the Oakville A’s.  The Blues set it up that their Ace Anthony Vavaroutsos would go against the A’s to try and ensure the Blues would make the playoffs on Sunday.  The move worked and Vavaroutsos was dominant pitching into the 6^th inning (giving up just one run in the 6^th).  Vavaroutsos was able to mix his change up and fastball well enough to keep the Oakville batters off balance enough for 8 strikeouts while only giving up one hit and one walk.  Samy Abu-Hiljeh would come in to close out the final inning.  In fact this was some game for Vavaroutsos has he would almost complete hitting for the cycle needing just a home run to make it happen.  It was concerning to the coaching staff as the game developed over the first few innings as the Blues squandered a ton of changes.  In the first inning alone Oakville would walk the bases loaded without anyone out – but the Blues would only get one run.  IN the 2^nd the Blues would run themselves out of the inning with a play at the plate stranding two runners.  It was in the third inning when the Blues built some breathing room with 4 runs hits from Vavaroutsos (triple), Walters (single) and Baxendale (single).  One of the key at bats in that inning was that of Abrar Khota.  Khota would work the batter and manage a sac fly to score Matthew Lomon from third. In fact Khota would have a great game adding another walk and single for a 1-2 night.

Date: May 18, 2013     Time: 5:00pm      Venue: Mississauga - Tom Chater   

Thus with their first win over Oakville over the past two season under their belts the Blues would move to the Playoff round.  Last year the Blues made playoff rounds in tournaments twice.  The Vaughan Quarter Finals and the Mississauga North Semi-Finals.  So to be in the playoffs in the first tournament is a nice statement for the Blues to make.  Yet who would they face for their efforts.  The London Badgers once again.  “To determine your true ability you have to face the strongest teams.  It was good for us to see what is out there and be ready in the future,” said their Manager Mark Cotgrave.

This time the Blues sent Samy Abu-Hiljeh to start.  “He’s got to be one our most competitive players.  He really wants to do well and be successful,” said Cotgrave.  Thus the challenge of facing the Badgers was one that the hard throwing righty wanted.  “You know he looked the situation right in the eye and came out firing,” said one scout.  

In this one the Blues found themselves hard pressed to score runs again.  “Yea, there a good team and it was hard to get the balls to drop in,” said one Blues team official.  Meanwhile as the Blues fought to figure out the offense, Abu-Hiljeh kept them in it.  Over the first four innings the Blues were only down 2-0 as Abu-Hiljeh scattered five hits over four innings without walking anyone.  One highlight was a real strong play to nail one Badger runner at home plate as he tried to score on a double steal.  Blues catcher Mackenzie Chau fired a strike to 2B Trevor Omoto who relayed it back to Chau who got the tag down on the runner in a bang bang play that shook the Blues catcher for a moment.  “Well we worked on that one and it was great to see it happen.  Great job by everyone,” said Cotgrave.

Date: May 19, 2013     Time: 10:00am      Venue: Mississauga - Tom Chater   

Nonetheless, the Badgers would press and in the fifth inning they started to get some hits on the Blues including a 2 run homerun by their #9 hitter in the lineup.  To the credit of the Blues they fought hard to stay in the game and forced this match up to go the distance over seven innings.  Which allowed the one offensive highlight to take place as Anthony Vavaroutsos hit a monster home run to right centre field that cleared the fence and hit a tree 20 feet behind.

The Blues would later learn that London would go on to beat the Etobicoke Rangers 6-5 in the final of the tournament.  Leaving pundits to consider that the only team to defeat the Blues in the entire tournament would be their tournaments eventual Champions.

- NY Reporter

Hitting Leads The Way As Blues Score Double Digits In Runs

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The North York Blues continued their winning ways after winning three straight against the Leaside Leafs faced off against two COBA teams in the Vaughan Mini Tournament held on May 10^th and 11^th.  Actually, rain would wash out the games scheduled for the Friday Night (which eliminated the Blues vs. Vaughan Vikings game).  Thus it was Saturday games that remained for the Blues.

In game one the Blues faced off against the Burlington Bulls.  Samy Abu-Hijleh got the call for his second start of the season and again he pitched well.  Hurt by some lack luster defense at the beginning of the game he would give up three runs that were unearned in the first two innings.  The Blues however continued their strong hitting driving scoring 5 runs of their own in the first two innings to keep a the lead.  Interestingly in the same mini tournament a year ago the Blues and Bulls played to crazy 14-14 tie and this game looked like it was headed in the same direction.  Abu-Hijleh would run into trouble in the third inning and with the bases loaded Dawson Walters would give up a bases clearing triple wiping out the Blues 5-3 lead.  But this is not the 2012 version of the Blues.  This team can hit and in the fourth inning they would score four more runs of their own.  Aaron Federman had an outstanding day in the leadoff spot fro the Blues smacking three doubles for a perfect day at the plate. 

Date: May 11, 2013     Time: 9:00am      Venue: Concord Regional     

Still it looked like it was going to be another tie between the two teams as they entered into final inning tied once again (this time 9-9).  The Blues turned to Anthony Vavaroutsos to make sure they got a chance to go for the win in the bottom of the inning.  Vavaroutsos would strike out the side mixed in with one walk.  In the bottom of the inning the Blues find a way to score the game winning run. 

Samy Abu-Hijleh would lead off the inning with a single to left.  He would work his way to third base through pass balls and errors and with nobody out the Blues needed just a fly ball to get the win.  Abrar Khota would come up with a fly ball to left that would score Abu-Hijleh in a close play at the plate to win the game.

In game two, the Blues would face off against the Mississauga Majors.  This was the first match up of the season between the two teams who did face off last year and split the two games they played.  The Blues handed the ball over to Andrew Baxendale for his first start of the season.  Baxendale was dominant going four innings and striking out four without a walk.  Again the Blues defense was questionable that lead to four unearned runs but the offense again picked up the slack scoring three runs in the first inning.  Newly acquired Dawson Walters continued his torrid pace going 2-3 with a homerun and 2RBIs.   He is now hitting .500 on the season.  Another new player to the roster Matt Lomon continues his hitting as well going 2-3 in this game with an RBI.

Date: May 11, 2013     Time: 4:00pm      Venue: Concord Regional   

The Blues would continue to pull away as the game progressed adding more and more runs every inning leading to a final score of 10-4.  Justin Reiter continued his return to form on the mound with a scoreless inning while Trevor Omoto made his pitching debut with a perfect final inning to end the game.

With these two wins the Blues have now won five straight games all of which the Blues have had at least 10 hits in every game.  Their pitching has taken more than a full run of their team era in the process.  If the Blues could solidify their defense they could go a long way as the season progresses.

- NY Reporter

Blues Take Over 1st place In Interlock Standings With Win

Sunday, May 12, 2013

In what was one of the oddest quirks of the interlock schedule when it was released but the Blues after getting their season started off against the Scarborough Stingers were scheduled to face off against the newly added Leaside Leafs three games in a row.  The Blues now in just the course of two weeks have played 4 games of their 22 game schedule. 

Nonetheless, the Blues have gone head to head with the Leafs and on Thursday of last week finished the three game sweep with a 12-4 win at home at Bond Park.  In this one both teams played a strong first half as they sat tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the 4^th inning.  Mackenzie Chau got his first start of the season and pitched his way through 4 innings with a 4-3 lead having struck out 5 without walking a batter.  “A fantastic start for his first of the year,” said his Manager Mark Cotgrave.

The game took a turn for the Blues in the bottom of the 5^th when red hot hitting Aaron Federman led of the inning with a single to centre.  Federman would go 3-4 on the night with two doubles, “everything he touches right now is gold,” said the team’s hitting coach.  After his lead off single in the 5^th Mackenzie Chau would get hit by a pitch (square in the back with a thud).  Vavaroutsos would single and Dawson Walters would go deep for a home run to left driving in three.  When the inning would finally end the Blues would score 6 runs to blow the game open 10-4. 

Date: May 9, 2013     Time: 7:30pm      Venue: Bond Park   

It was quite the game for Blues starter Mackenzie Chau who would pitch 4 innings for the win, go 3-3 with 5 stolen bases and two RBIs.  The Blues in general had quite the night at the plate with 12 hits, two doubles and the Walters home run.  The win pushed the Blues into sole posession of first place in the league on account of points.

- NY Reporter   

Blues to Arrive At Courtyard By Marriot In Salisbury Delaware

Monday, October 08, 2012

The North York Blues travel department announced today that the team has solidified its hotel accommodations for the highly anticipated trip to Rehoboth Beach Delaware at Sports At The Beach.  The tournament will run from Thursday July 4th through to Sunday July 7th.  The Blues will arrive at the Marriot starting Wednesday July 3^rd. 

The Blues organization is excited to be able to land such a nice hotel for the team to enjoy.  "It looks great and has what all the players and families could be looking for."  said the team travel advisor.  In previous experiences in booking for Sports at the Beach prices have been extremely expensive along with poor accomidations.  This move is a real find for the Blues as they continue to construct their U.S. experience for the 2013 season. 

Hotel Reservation Instructions

Families for the Blues are instructed to make their reservations.

Phone numbers:  (410) 742-4405 directly

Group Code: North York Blues

Cost: $135.00

Note: Breakfast Included

Cut Off Date: ???

The Blues now indicate the finalization of the tournament leg of their U.S. trip.  Further developments are expected with regard to the 2013 Friendship Series that is currently in production.

- NY Reporter

Blues Headed To Rehoboth Beach Delaware for Annual U.S. Trip

Thursday, October 04, 2012

 The North York Blues confirmed today with a press release that the team has officially entered the Firecracker Classic Tournament being held at Rehoboth BeachDelaware.  In what was not a well kept secret, the Blues now announced that today it is official.  The Blues will arrive for a Thursday July 4^th start date and the tournament will run until Sunday July 8^th guaranteeing a range between 4-8 games depending how the team

performs.  Blues management is very excited to announce the team’s entry to one of the premiere tournament locations in the United States.  Sports at the Beach has a 16 field complex that was built under the supervision of Vince Patterozzi of the Baltimore Ravens. The fields have a red clay warning track and sodded Bluegrass that is maintained at 1/2 inch to insure a fast playable surface. There are a total of 30 batting cages near the fields for teams to warm up in before their games. It has recreation areas, which include plenty of ponds for fishing, a youth playground, and pool (when in season). If you are looking for a bite to eat, or something to drink, you can visit the Concession stand. Don’t forget to visit the Welcome center, where you’ll find access to our PhotoCenter and gift shop.

For Cotgrave and Kerhoas this is the second time that they have visited the Sports on the Beach complex and both recommend the location.  “It’s great.  We were there and it is one of those locations that you talk about after because of how well it is put together.  We’re quite confident that the players will enjoy the experience.”

Interestingly, unlike last year when the Blues visited Diamond Nation the team got a chance to play on artificial turn for the first time.  “It was a big hit for sure,” said Cotgrave.  “However, we want to do things that are different each year and this year the players are going to get a chance to see what a field looks like when dirt and grass is done properly.  It’s almost like you’re on artificial turf.  The guys will be impressed.” 

This also marks the first tournament announcement for the Blues 2013 season.  When asked what other tournament announcements the team has planned.  Blues indicated that there are no pending announcements expected.

- NY Reporter

Competitive Tryout Process Ends With A Final Roster Of Thirteen

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The North York Blues announced their final roster for the 2013 Peewee Season this past weekend.  Thirteen players were selected from a tryout total of 32 players.  Over the course of four tryouts players worked extremely hard to show that they deserved to make the final roster.  For Blues management the decision on who the 13 players would ultimately be was one that was very difficult.  “Without question this was the most competitive camp we have had in the two years I’ve been here.  Players worked hard and were passionate about making this team.  We respect everyone that came out and thank them for their interest in the 2013 Blues,” commented Manager Mark Cotgrave.

For 2013 the Blues have seen the roster continue to be transformed with the influx of players over the past two seasons.  In 2012 the Blues held onto all their returning players while adding another four players to the roster.  “That was part of the decision making process in 2012.  To give all the players that were on the team the year before a chance with the new coaching staff.  It still added 4 new players to the roster.” 

This time the Blues knew they were going to have to cut into the roster from the 2012 team.  There was no extra space and with the depth of players coming out it left us with little choice.”  With that the Blues again added another 4 players to the roster but this time lost three in the process for various different reasons.  For Cotgrave it was hard to see players that had worked so hard for the organization move on to other endeavors.  “We appreciated everything that those three guys did for our club. We certainly wish them nothing but the best in whatever they choose to do in the summer.”

Looking at the changes now to the Blues roster over the past two years it is clear that this version of the Blues is Cotgrave’s team.  He has completely revamped the roster.  At the end of 2011 the Blues only had 9 players on the roster.  Cotgrave has now added another 8 new players over the past two years of which only one is not returning for the 2013 campaign.   “These are major changes to a 13 player roster.  We know were a better team today than we were when the season ended in 2012, only time will tell just how much better.  That’s the fun of any new season it’s finding out the answers to these types of questions.”

This season the Blues have welcomed Matt Lomon, Dawson Walters, Mackenzie Chow and Spencer Snow to the team.  It is believed that all four of these players will help in the team’s most needed area – hitting.  Throughout the tryout process each of the players demonstrated that they could bring an injection of excitement when it comes to the offensive side of the game.  For Cotgrave it was a priority, “well our team needed to improve in a lot of areas but clearly hitting was one of them.”

North York Blues 2013 Roster

1. Anthony Vavaroutsos
2. Trevor Omoto
3. Justin Reiter
4. Aaron Federman
5. Samy Abu-Hejleh
6. Samuel Turcotte
7. Abrar Khota
8. Bruce Okajima
9. Andrew Baxendale
10.  Spencer Snow
11.  Dawson Walters
12.  Mackenzie Chow
13.  Matthew Lomon