T.R. Doty pounded two over the fence on Saturday, and Parksville’s Quality Foods Royals beat the visiting Abbotsford Cardinals in extra innings to take game one of their first of two Premier league double headers.
Doty and the Royals came out swinging in game two, but came up short in a 4-2 final.
In game one, Royals senior Bryan Pawlina got the start on the hill pitched well he came out in the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead, but Abby torched the Royals’ middle reliever for five runs off four hits in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead.
The Royals tied it up 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh. Doty scored the tying run off an error, and the Royals won it in the bottom of the ninth, when Clarke Ohman got hit by a pitch, Liam Joyce sacrificed him to second, and then Doty hit a walkoff home run to left centre for his second of the season.
“That doesn’t happen very often,” Royals’ skipper Dave Wallace said, adding “T.R.’s been hitting the ball well for us all year — he’s been one of our most consistent batters.”
Worth noting, said Wallace, is that Doty, a local product, was batting .146 last year and right now he’s at .351 — seventh in the league, and he leads the team, too. He’s also second in the league in doubles with nine.
“He’s vastly improved. He’s raised is average by 205 points, and that’s huge,” Wallace said of his infielder, who went three-for-four at the plate with four runs-batted-in that game.
Asked if the win in extras was extra tasty in light of the Royals record (8-22), Wallace chuckled and said, “the wins are always nice, but yeah, it was a good win for our guys — it was a very well played game by both teams.”
Keller Anderson from Quathiask Cove on Quadra Island came in with none out in the sixth and threw three-and-a-third to pick up the win. Bryan Pawlina pitched five strong innings and struck out six in relief to nail down the win, which have been hard to come by this season for the young squad.
Back at it against the Coquitlam Reds on Sunday, the Royals were blanked 10-buzz in game one, and lost a 1-0 heartbreaker in game two. The visitors scored the games’ lone run in the top of the sixth.
Ohman pitched his second complete game for the Royals and looked sharp again, striking out four, scattering six hits over seven innings, walking two.
“We just weren’t ready to play in the fist game, but a much improved performance in game two — it was a well pitched game.”
“That’s a very good outing — he only threw 82 pitches — he was very efficient,” Wallace said of his starter, then made the pointing out the mainlander has pitched two complete game for us and we’ve yet to score a run for him.”
NEXT UP
The Q-crew are back on the Mainland this weekend’s for double headers against the Vancouver Cannons and North Shore Twins. The Royals next home game is Saturday June 23 — a double header against the Victoria Mariners.
First pitch goes 12:15 p.m.