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Royals feeling at home lately

Parksville squad sweep Blue Jays and Cardinals to move up ranks
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Parksville Royals Nicholas Yu looks relieved to see the plate umpire call him safe, with some coaxing from teammate Zach Waddington, after a bold attempt to steal home in the fifth inning during their second game against the North Delta Blue Jays. — Michael Briones Photo

Playing at home has truly become an advantage for the Parksville Royals this season.

In their last eight games on their own field the senior Royals have won seven and lost only once.

The Royals were certainly at their best at home last weekend, where their pitching was solid and was supported by good defence and consistent hitting.

They swept the North Delta Blue Jays 6-5 and 5-2 on Saturday, then returned Sunday and annihilated the Abbotsford Cardinals 6-0 and 11-3 to move up to fourth place in the standings with 19 wins and 11 losses. The Royals are currently 10-4 at home.

In the first game against the Blue Jays, the Royals, after squandering a 2-0 lead, made a late comeback to rob the visitors of the win.

Brayden Baker earned the win for Parksville after relieving starting pitcher Jacob Ingersoll in the fourth inning. Over his three innings of work, Baker allowed one hit, a run and fanned four batters.

In the second game, both the Royals and Blue Jays exchanged runs in the first inning to tie it up 2-2. But in the fifth, the Royals’ bats heated up and, with some good baserunning, they were able to score three runs to take a 5-0 lead.

Southpaw Robinder Dhut had a strong outing on the mound, pitching a complete game while allowing four hits, two runs and striking out six. He has a 5-1 record and a 3.23 earned-run average.

On Sunday, the Royals took on the Abbotsford Cardinals. In the first game, Jayden Marsh led Parksville, tossing an impressive one-hitter over six innings while striking out 11 batters. He is now 5-0 with a stingy 1.46 ERA. Marsh also led the offence, going 2-for-3 and reaching home plate twice.

The Royals continued to batter the Cardinals in their second game. They hammered the Cards’ starting pitcher Tasei Yahiro in the first two innings to grab an unassailable 7-0 lead. They padded the advantage with four more runs to seal the win.

Josh Laukkanen, 3-3, tossed well, giving up four hits and two runs over five innings, and struck out five to earn the win.

Thomas Leaf went 2-for-3 and batted in three runs while Marsh had three RBIs.

The Royals play away games this weekend.