The Parksville Royals split their B.C. Premier League Baseball doubleheader against the Abbotsford Cardinals on Sunday (May 8) in front of home fans at the Springwood Park diamond.
The Royals scored a narrow 5-4 win in the first game but were not able to duplicate it in the second game, losing 13-3.
In the first game, the Royals had a good start with Carter Hall leading the charge with a single and later advancing to second on a wild pitch. He then stole third base and was batted in by Thomas Plant. In the bottom of the third, the Royals picked up three more runs scored by Tyler Kolopenuk, Ryan Deagle and Plant to lift the host team to a 4-0. But on the top of the fourth, the Cards bounced back when they scored three runs to make it 4-3.
Starting pitcher Liam McNamee, after giving up three runs, recovered well to keep the Cards scoreless for one more inning before Yuma Urashima took over in relief in the sixth. Urashima gave up a run but finished the job to get creditted with the 5-4 win.
Plant led the offence going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and scored a run while Hall went 2-for-2.
In the second game, the Cards took control from the start and led 5-0. The Royals managed to cut the gap to 5-2 in the bottom of the second but in the next inning, the Royals gave up six more runs to give the visiting team a huge 10-2 lead. The Royals were able to score one more run but just couldn’t keep the Cards bats silent, as they gave up two more in the fifth to end losing 13-3.
The Royals are 3-11-o so far this season. They hit the road this weekend with pair of doubleheaders against the Cardinals on May 14 and Langley Blaze on May 15.
— NEWS Staff