The Save-on-Foods Parksville Royals missed a golden opportunity to earn a ticket to the national championships in Fort McMurray, Alta next month.
The Royals were a perfect 4-0 through round robin play and had built up great momentum heading into the gold medal game at the Baseball BC 18U AAA Tier 1 Provincial Championship this past weekend. Their perfect record was smeared by White Rock Tritons who beat the Royals 12-2 in the final and will advance to the national championships.
Ryan Humphreys was the winning pitcher in game one blanking the Whalley Chiefs over seven dominant innings on the way to a 9-0 Royals victory. Campbell River’s Connor Hall went 4-for-4 to lead the offence. Jacob Volkers pitched for the win in game two as Parksville dropped White Rock 9-5. Kieran Bowles led the super-charged offence going 3-for-3.
In game three, Aden Richardson stepped up for the win and clinched the team’s berth in the final. Everything continued on script into game four as the Royals won yet again but the one game they needed to win, they fell short.
Ballenas grad Kiran Carcary had the hot bat and was named the top hitter of the tournament. Carcary, who has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Mile City College in Montana this September, is hitting .291 this season with a .410 on-base percentage.
The Royals will host North Delta at Inouye-Wallace field on Saturday. First pitch at 12:15 p.m., concession opens at 11:30 a.m.
Juniors wilt in the heat
The Save-on-Foods Parksville Junior Royals hosted UBC and Coquitlam over the weekend at beautiful Springwood Park. Against UBC, Jaden Barr got the start and went two innings allowing four earned runs. Travis Frank came on in relief and had no answer for the UBC bats who proceeded to score six runs enroute to a 14-6 win.
Game two started off much like the first game. Starter Brier Pilon was throwing strikes and the Royals defence continued to struggle behind him. The Royals lost again 10-4.
Jordan Dennis came on in relief. Jacob Stockton led the offence going 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and two stolen bases. Nolan Macdonald also clubbed a double with Dennis and catcher Tyler Newby each chipping in singles.
The next day, against the Coquitlam Redlegs, Nolan Macdonald answered the bell and fired seven complete innings for the win. Macdonald allowed two runs to lower his season ERA to a impressive 2.93 to go with a win-loss record of 5-2. The big hits came from Nathan Lagos and Conner McNamee. In the fourth inning with the game knotted at one and two ducks on the pond, McNamee dropped a clutch two-out double down the right-field line to put the Royals in front 3-1.
The Redlegs answered back with a run of their own in the top of the 5th to keep the pressure on. With a runner aboard and two outs, Lagos stepped into a 3-1 fastball and crushed it deep to left field for a two-run home run, his first of the year. Lagos leads the squad at the plate, hitting .326 with 13 walks and only seven strikeouts.
Game two was a back and forth affair but the Royals came out on the wrong end of a 10-8 final. The Juniors are home Sunday to the White Rock Tritons. First pitch at 11 a.m., concession open at 10:45.
Bantams lose both on Saturday, win big on Sunday
This weekend the Save-on-Foods Bantam Royals faced both Langley Blue and Langley Black at Bill Moore Park in Courtenay. Austin Walper would start game 1 for the Royals going 4 innings giving up 8 runs on 7 hits. Kolby Wood came in relief but the Langley bats kept rolling as Wood gave up 6 in 3 innings. In the last couple innings, the Royals would push back with Ethan Dean, Cameron Bell and Owen Crouse all hitting singles but the margin was too big and the Royals would fall 14-6 in game 1. Game 2 starter, Campbell River’s Nathan Underhill, pitched 3 1/3 allowing 8 runs on 7 hits with 1 K, Carter Hall would take to the mound for the first time this year and pitch in the 3rd inning. The Royals bats were on as they jumped out to an early 5-0 lead with 12 team hits lead by Kolby Wood and Ethan Dean both hitting a single and double each, but Langley would not go away. The game turned into a tight fought battle but Langley would finish on top 10-9.
On Sunday, the Royals came out swinging against Langley Black. Anson McGorman would get the start, giving up 1 run in 5 innings of work while striking out 9 Langley batters for a season total of 102 K’s for the right hander from Oceanside. McGorman would help his cause going 3-3 at the plate with 2 singles and a double with 2 RBI’s. Nathan Underhill and Will Fox would both go 2-3 with a pair of singles each. Austin Walper and Carter Hall would each add doubles to the hit list. Elijah Oelke would close it out for the Royals on the mound. Royals take game 1, 11-1. In game 2 on Sunday, Ellis Vugteveen would get the start pitching 2 innings and allowing 2 runs while striking out 3. Ethan Dean would come in relief and pitch 3 scoreless innings for the Royals. They would combine for 13 more team hits with Nash Donkersley leading the way with 3 singles. Walper, Underhill and Oelke would all hit 2 singles each with Dean, Fox, Crouse and Roberts adding singles as well. The Royals would take game 2 with a score of 11-1.
This week the Royals have an exhibition game with the Nanaimo Pirates on Tuesday and then the B.C. Summer Games break which will see 6 Bantam Royals in action in Cowichan Valley.
NEWS Staff/Royals report