The Parksville Royals had their bats working, but had no answer for the offence of the Victoria Mariners in a B.C. Premier Baseball League doubleheader loss on Sunday in Victoria.
The Royals, coming off a home doubleheader split one day earlier against Nanaimo, fell 14-8 in Sunday’s opening game and dropped a 12-8 decision in the finale. The eight-run outbursts were the highest scoring totals for Parksville (2-4) in the early part of the season.
The Royals will try to get back into the win column when they return home Saturday to host the White Rock Tritons.
The tone of the day was set in the bottom of the first inning of Sunday’s opener, when the Mariners (4-0) exploded for eight runs. From that point, the Royals responded with three runs in the second, two in the fourth, a single run in the fifth and two more in the seventh. But Victoria used a 15-hit attack to stay ahead of the visitors and take the comfortable win.
Jaydan Saban went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles; Jacob Ingersoll drove in a pair of runs; and Thomas Green was 2-for-4 with an RBI to pace the Royals’ offence.
Alex McCrae took the loss on the mound.
The second game was a much tighter affair most of the way through.
The Royals drew within 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning when Kieran Bowles doubled home Zach Waddington, who had singled with one out and stole second.
But the Mariners erupted for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning for a 12-4 advantage, and Parksville’s four-run rally in the top of the seventh was too little, too late.
The offence was spread around in the second game, with seven different players each getting one hit and six batters each driving in one run. Aidan Brot and McCrae each stroked RBI doubles in the four-run seventh.
Robbie Dhut, the first of three Royals pitchers, took the loss after giving up four runs, three earned, through three innings.
Saturday’s doubleheader against White Rock begins at 1 p.m. at Springwood Park in Parksville.
— NEWS Staff