This past weekend was an important one for Vaughan Vikings baseball, not simply because of wins and losses, but because of what the games revealed about growth, resilience, pressure and the direction both programs are moving in as the outdoor season begins. This is the point in the year where offseason work starts becoming visible. Indoor practices, bullpen sessions, hitting work, strength programs and winter development eventually lead to this moment. Once teams finally get

Recently, the Vaughan Vikings held an information night outlining the direction of the program. After writing about where teams go wrong in the offseason, it was interesting to hear the same message reinforced from coaches at the next level. On the call were coaches from different levels of college baseball, including Clay Cox, Erik Bakich, and Tom Griffin. Different levels, different programs, different experiences, but the message they shared was consistent. That’s what sto

There is a difference between training and development, and most people in baseball still confuse the two. Training is showing up, getting swings, breaking a sweat, and leaving feeling like you did something. Development is different. It is structured, measured, uncomfortable at times and honest. It tells you where you actually are, not where you think you are. It forces you to deal with what shows up in the data, not what you hope is happening. That is what this program is b

Baseball in Vaughan is preparing for a major step forward with the announcement that Vaughan Grove Sports Park will soon be home to a brand-new artificial turf baseball field as part of a large facility upgrade project expected to be completed in 2027. City officials, members of council, and representatives from local baseball and soccer organizations recently gathered to officially announce the redevelopment plans for Vaughan Grove Sports Park, located at 7401 Martin Grove R

Over the past 16 weeks, our hitters committed to a process. Not a quick fix. Not a one-day adjustment. A full progression built on repetition, structure and accountability. Every player was pushed to understand not just how to hit, but why they were doing it. What we have now isn’t just a collection of numbers. It’s a reflection of development. Understanding the Leaderboard The graphic shown reflects Week 16 performance, highlighting each player’s most recent testing results

As we reach Week 16 of the offseason program, the way we evaluate hitters begins to change. Earlier in the program, progress is often measured by improvement. Players are learning new movements, getting stronger and starting to see increases in exit velocity. During that phase, it can feel like everyone is moving forward at the same pace, but by Week 16, that illusion disappears. This is the point in the offseason where development becomes honest. The swings are no longer new

Twelve weeks into the 2025/26 Off-Season Hitting Program, we’ve reached the stage where improvement begins to stabilize into performance. Early in the offseason, hitters learn movement patterns. By mid-winter, they begin repeating them. By Week 12, those movements are being tested under greater intensity, fatigue and challenge. At this point, average exit velocity and MV–AVG gaps tell us more than max numbers alone. Max velocity shows potential. Consistency reveals which hitt

Eight weeks into the 2025/26 Off-Season Hitting Program, the data is starting to clearly separate development from potential. Week 8 is an important checkpoint because it shows which hitters are learning how to repeat their movement patterns, not just swing hard. At this stage of the offseason, improvements in average exit velocity and MV–AVG gaps tell us far more than max numbers alone. The athletes who are tightening gaps while maintaining or increasing averages are the one

Four weeks into the 2025 Off-Season Hitting Program, we’re starting to see the early signs of growth that happen when movement starts to clean up and hitters begin to understand how their body and barrel work together. Week 4 is our first major check-in of the year. It gives us a clearer picture of which patterns are stabilizing, where hitters are gaining speed, and how well their swing is holding up under more challenging drills and timing variations. Across all age groups,

We’ve officially kicked off the 2025 Off-Season Hitting Program, and Week 1 gave us exactly what we needed: a clear, honest baseline to build from. Every hitter walked in with their own strengths, habits and movement patterns, and over the next several months we’ll take those pieces and shape them into complete, consistent swings. This program is built around long-term development. It’s structured, progressive and designed to give players the tools, movement patterns and conf