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From Brandon Vickrey and the Southland Vikings

Flossmoor, Ill. – April 16, 2015 – The Southland Vikings of the Midwest Collegiate League have announced the hiring ofTony Sanchez as the team’s manager for the 2015 season.  

A new era begins as the team welcomes a new skipper for the first time since 2011. Sanchez takes over a program that has achieved tremendous success in recent years, as the Vikings enter 2015 having won back-to-back MCL titles.  

Sanchez will look to leave his own mark as he accepts the first managerial assignment of his career. He recently finished a playing career that included stops at Heartland Community College, Chicago State and North Park. After playing his senior season at North Park, he remained with the team and is now in his third season as a graduate assistant for head coach Luke Johnson.  

“Having Luke as a coach, I really learned about hard-nosed baseball,” Sanchez said. “There is a lot of attention to detail. I’ve loved being able to work with a bunch of young guys for the past three years and seeing them take hold of what I’ve been trying to put in their brains is unbelievable.”  

Sanchez was a catcher during his playing days, earning all-conference, all-region and all-American honors in 2012, his lone season playing at North Park. Sanchez led the team in home runs with six and ranked second in batting average at .384.  

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