Parksville’s Quality Foods Royals are back home on the rock and ready to bring their A-game to the ball park this weekend after going 1-for-4 on the mainland in BCPBL action last week.
Last Saturday local Grade 12 righty Nic Annau worked the hill for the Royals’ first win of the season and the local squad belted out a 9-6 win in game one of their double header against the Vancouver Cannons.
The Royals spotted the Cannons a three run first inning lead in that one and were trailing 5-0 after five innings but hung in there and rallied for four unanswered runs in the sixth, then struck for five more in the top of the seventh.
The Reds’ starting pitcher, Brandon Marklund, “dominated the first three four innings of the game,” Royals’ skipper Dave Wallace said after, “but as the game wore on and he threw more pitches his velocity dropped a bit. He’s a very good pitcher and he dominated us in the early going, but we just kept swinging the bat, made him throw some pitches, and eventually got some timely hits.”
Annua, who settled in and got stronger as the game wore on, worked the complete game, walking one and giving up six runs on eight hits while striking out five. The Reds’ Marklund struck out 12 but walked six batters and surrendered seven runs on four hits.
The two teams slugged it out again in game two of the double header, trading runs for a 3-3 tie after three innings. Vancouver scored one in the fourth to go up 4-3. The Royals countered with three runs in the top of the fifth and were leading 6-5 through six innings, but the Cannons forced extras when they tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh.
Parksville generated a run in the top of the eighth to go up 7-6, but Vancouver brought two home for the 8-7 win.
Things didn’t go as well Sunday for Parksville as they were thumped 10-0, 8-2 by the Coquitlam Reds.
The Royals slip to 1-5 and are currently with the Whalley Chiefs at the bottom of the 13-team high performance league.
GAME ON: The Royals are back home this Sunday for a double header against the 4-5 Cannons. Opening pitch goes 12:30 p.m. with Annau getting the start in game one and Sandhu in game two.