The Parksville Royals earned a split of their home openers this past weekend against the North Shore Twins and Coquitlam Reds, winning two games and losing two games.
It was a mixed bag in terms of the weather at Inouye–Wallace Field at Springwood Park but the home opening double header was played out, with the Royals taking the first of two games Saturday.
Andrew Evernden, who hails from Parksville, got the start for the Royals in game one, taking to the mound. Evernden went six innings on the day, giving up one run on just five hits and striking out five.
Colton Tuka and Will Drewery came on in relief in the seventh inning to close the game out for the Royals, with Drewery collecting the save.
Lead off man Ethan Fox, from Campbell River, went 2–3 at the dish and both Owen Kelly and Liam Ballance, from Errington, collected RBI’s for the Royals in the 2–1 victory.
“We worked and played as a team real well. It was a good team win, everyone executed well and it was a solid game for us all around,” assistant coach Bruce Biro said.
“Andrew got off to a bit of a slow start, which is usually the way it goes for him, but he finished off strong and it was nice to see him go deep in this one. He pitched well and we played good defense behind him.”
The Royals dropped game two against the Twins by a score of 5–0. Owen Kelly took the loss in that one, going five innings and giving up two runs while striking out four. The Royals managed only two hits in the second game of the double header, with Evernden and Jacob Ingersoll going 1–3 at the plate.
Sunday, the Royals were back at it against the Coquitlam Reds. Game one saw the Royals coming away with a 5–3 victory thanks to a good outing at the dish from Ethan Fox, who went 2–4 and drove in two runs. Andrew Evernden went 1–2 at the plate and had one RBI as well.
Josh Anderson, from Nanoose Bay, got the start in game one and pitched four and two thirds innings, allowing seven hits and two runs with one strikeout. Both Drewery and Tuka came on in relief once again, with Tuka getting the save.
Game two on Sunday was much the same as game two on Saturday for the Royals, dropping a 4–0 game to the Reds.
Keller Anderson got the start in game two and went five innings, giving up three runs with five hits and three strikeouts.
The Royals once again were spinning their wheels when it came to offense, managing just five hits in the game.
The Parksville Royals are back at it on Wednesday, April 30 as they take on the Nanaimo Pirates. First pitch is at 6 p.m. at Inouye–Wallace Field at Springwood Park.