The Parksville Royals were 3-1 against the Okanagan Athletics at home over the weekend.
The Royals climbed up the rankings and are now in fifth place in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League with 15 wins and 11 losses.
On Saturday, the Royals bested the Athletics twice, 4-2 and 5-2.
In the first game, starter Jayden Marsh was at his best, tossing for four innings and gave up two hits, two runs and struck out seven to earn the win for the Royals. Jacob Ingersoll took over in the last two innings and shut out the Athletics batters to preserve the win.
Kieran Bowles had two singles and scored two runs, going 2-for-3 at the plate.
In the second game, starter Robinder Dhut, blanked the Athletics over six innings on the mound, giving up four hits and striking out six.
The Royals got the lead in the fourth and padded it in the fifth when they ended the inning with six hits and four runs. Cam McNeil relieved Dhut in the seventh. He wasn’t able to secure the shut out, giving up two hits and two runs but saved the win for the Royals 5-2.
The next day, the Athletics’ bats came alive and opened with three runs and eventually took an insurmountable 12-3 lead by the third inning. They went on to seal the game 13-3.
In the second game, the Royals took the early lead 3-1. Starting pitcher Finn Martin, after allowing a run in the first inning, held the Athletics scoreless in five innings.
Josh Laukkanen finished the job, keeping the Athletics’ bats silent. He allowed no hits and struck out two to get credited with the save.
The Royals are home again this weekend, taking on the North Delta Blue Jays at 12:15 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on Saturday and the Abbotsford Cardinals at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Junior Royals split
The Junior Royals went .500 again last weekend. They split their doubleheader on Saturday against the UBC Junior Thunder, losing the first game 4-7 but evened things out with a narrow 1-0 victory later in the day. Brodie Comerford earned the shutout win. He gave up five hits and fanned five batters.
The next day, the Junior Royals travelled to White Rock and ended up splitting the series with the Tritons. They lost the first game 2-7 but in the nightcap, the Royals rallied late in the game to edge the Tritons 8-7.
The Junior Royals are away again this weekend against Abbotsford Junior Cardinals on Saturday and Langley Junior Blaze on Sunday.