The Parksville Royals got roughed up on their visit to Victoria for a double header against the Mariners last weekend.
It was back to regular season action for the Royals after taking three of five games during the B.C.’s Best tournament over the Victoria Day long weekend. The Royals were in tough against the Mariners, who are third in the BCPBL, five and a half games ahead of the Royals.
Andrew Evernden took the bump for game one and lasted only two innings, giving up five runs on four hits to go along with three walks and two strikeouts. Evernden managed to go 1–1 at the dish, driving in the only run for the Royals in the first game as they managed four hits on the game and were on the losing end of a 9–1 final.
“The first game was a bit of a struggle for us. We scored a run in the first inning and then things fell apart,” assistant coach Bruce Biro said. “All of our hits came in the first two innings and we struggled to get the bats going after that. When we struggle, we really struggle. It wasn’t just one aspect of our game, it was our entire game as a team.”
Game two saw the teams locked in a stalemate for the first five and a half innings with neither team scoring a run until the bottom of the fifth, when the Mariners got on the board. The Royals weren’t able to reply in the top of the sixth and the bottom of the inning saw five more runs from the Mariners.
The Royals were blanked again in the seventh and final inning, dropping the second game of their double header 6–0. Owen Kelly started on the mound for the Royals and went a strong five and two–thirds innings but was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs in the fifth and sixth.
Nanoose Bay’s Josh Anderson collected one of the Royals three hits in game two, with Keller Anderson, 18 from Quadra Island, and Dean Leyland, 17 from Port Alberni, with the other two hits.
“A better looking game for us the second time around,” Biro said. “Obviously, the score doesn’t look pretty but when you really take a look at the game, we were much better on defense but struggled at the plate on offense again. We made some mental mistakes as a team in both games and those can really do some damage.”
The Royals were back in action at home on Wednesday night against the Nanaimo Pirates (score not available) and will be in Vancouver to take on the Cannons this weekend for a double header. The Royals next home games come Saturday, June 7, against the North Delta Blue Jays for the first time this season. The Royals are currently 6–10, equaling their win total from last season so far.