The Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals took on the Okanagan Athletics in a 4-game set at Springwood Park and came away with two B.C. Premier Baseball League wins over the weekend.
The Royals opened with a 9-7 win in the first game on Saturday but narrowly lost 1-0 later in the afternoon. On Sunday, the Royals edged the Athletics 1-0 but weren’t able to double up as they dropped another heartbreaker 6-5 in the second game.
Game 1 on Saturday saw the Royals come out with some sloppy defence that put starter Shae Verral in a quick three-run hole. The bats responded in the bottom of the first and posted seven runs across of the plate. Verral allowed six runs, f0ur earned, through three innings of work before giving way to Brodie Comerford to start the fourth inning. Comerford was on his game throwing 41 of his 64 pitches for strikes and earning the win. The Royals scored nine runs on 11 hits and got contributions up and down the lineup. Tim Holyk and Jacob Volkers each had three RBIs to lead the team to victory. Volkers added a stolen base as did Anson McGorman who went 3-for-4 at the dish.
Game 2 was a much better played affair and run scoring was at a premium.
Nolan Macdonald got the start and was fantastic, allowing just two hits and a single run over six full innings of work. Sadly the Royals hitters couldn’t bring anyone home, scattering five hits across seven innings. Comerford led the squad going 2-for-3 at the plate.
On a sunny Sunday morning the two teams were at it again. Despite the early start, both defenses were very solid and neither committed an error. Royals starter Volkers was in total command from the very first pitch and proceeded to throw a complete game no-hitter, the first of his PBL career.
At the plate, all of the scoring for the boys in purple happened in the first inning with Connor Hall driving in leadoff man McGorman. Trevor Nicoll tried to give the Royals some insurance with a one out triple in the bottom of the fifth but was stranded.
In the final game of the series, sophomore McGorman but struggled to find his game as he was tagged for four earned runs in an inning of work. Tyler Newby came on in relief and fired a clean second inning and was followed by Carter Chard-Hill with two clean innings of his own. In the meantime the Royals began to find their groove at the plate.
Holyk’s single scored Newby and Nathan Lagos in the third and the lead was reduced to 4-2.
After the Athletics tacked another run in the fifth, the Royals surged forthree more in the top of the seventh to tie the game. Volkers led the inning off with a double and would come around to score on consecutive wild pitches. Lagos turned in more than two gritty innings of relief but got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh and Okanagan walked it off for the win.
BASES LOADED: This weekend, the Royals are on the road. On Saturday they head to Victoria to take on the Eagles then on Sunday they face the Langley Blaze.
Junior Royals suffer on the road.
The Save-On-Foods Parksville Junior Royals took it on the chin over the weekend, dropping all four contests. Saturday against the White Rock Jr Tritons, the Royals jumped out to a 3-run first inning and the lead would change hands multiple times as the bats were hot and the defence was not. The Royals took an 8-7 lead into the 7th only to lose a heartbreaker in the bottom of the inning. Ellis Vugteveen and Owen Crouse led the offence with 2 hits each. Final score Royals 8 and Tritons 9.
Game 2 starter Austin Walper couldn’t get in the zone or out of the 1st inning so Ethan Dean was called on to provide 5 2/3 innings of relief. Cody Jackson joined Crouse and Vugteveen in the hit parade and Nathan Underhill’s double provided 2 RBI. Final score Royals 6 and Tritons 9.
Bantam Royals take 3 of 4
The Bantam Parksville Royals were in action this past weekend facing off against the Victoria Eagles and the Victoria Mariners.
The Royals were at home on Saturday hosting the visiting Eagles. Royals sent ace Thomas Plant for game one. His best stuff wasn’t with him as he was touched up for 7 runs through 4 innings. Down 7-0 after the second inning, Plant would settle in and throw 2 scoreless innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Rylan Baikie was effective going 2 innings with no runs while picking off 3 runners with his deceptive move. Gareth MacDonald would also throw an effective inning of relief. The bats were quiet most of the first game, but the Royals did chip away a few runs late in the game with an RBI Double by Ryan Deagle with Landon Bowers also contributing with a hit and a stolen base. Tough for the Royals to get it going as they fell in game one 8-3.
In game two the Royals sent power arm Liam McNamee to the mound to get a good start for the Royals. Again the Eagles came out swinging as McNamee would give up 4 in the first. The Royals did answer back with a run, but the Eagles would answer again with 4 more in the second. The Royals would turn to Ethan Vaton so finish the game in relief, who went through 5 scoreless innings to give the Royals a chance to win. Down 8-2 in the third, the flood gates would open and the Royals would blow it open with 7 runs in the 3rd inning. Owen Lagos would lead off the inning with a double, followed up by a Carter Hall double, Tyler Kolopenuk single and a MacDonald single. The Eagles would make some costly errors and the Royals offense capitalized. Bowers, Hall and MacDonald would lead the charge each going 2-3 at the plate as the Royals would come away with a comeback win 9-8.
The Royals would be on the road on Sunday visiting the Victoria Mariners-Navy at Henderson Field. Already 2-0 against the Mariners-Navy, the Royals would send crafty lefty Breydan Riecker to continue the series lead. Riecker did not disappoint as he would throw a complete came shutout. Rookie catcher Owen Taylor and Riecker were on the same page all game, as the Mariners only chipped away 3 hits and the Royals defense was stellar. Not much offense was needed, but Hall and Taylor each went 2-4 at the plate to lead it as the Royals win 3-0.
Looking for a series sweep Royals would rely on rookie hard thrower Braendan McGlaughlin to get the job done. McGlaughlin was dominant as he would throw 4 stellar scoreless innings before turning it over to Hall to finish the job. Hall would throw 3 scoreless to earn his second save of the year as McGlaughlin and Hall combined to throw a shutout. With the pitching holding up their end of the game, it was time to deliver and they did not disappoint. Filing in at catcher for the game, Kolopenuk would go 2-4 with Plant going 2-3 with 3 RBI’s and a 2 run homerun, his second of the season. Riecker would also get it done defensively and offensively as well going 1-3 with 2 clutch stolen bases will being a wall at 1st base. Vaton and Keitaro Adachi manned the middle infield while contributing 2 hits a piece as the Royals win 6-0, sweeping the Mariners-Blue in the series.
3-1 on the weekend coach Biro would say that “we have showed that we can be resilient and battle adversity. The Sunday sweep feels good and is a direct result of the preparation and effort put in by the players. Sunday we prepared to win, Saturday we didn’t. Baseball is funny in that some days you have it and other days you don’t. However the leadership of our veteran players to get us back into a game, and players stepping into roles to battle back and win it; it really shows what this group is capable of.”
The Bantam Royals will be in action next weekend in Langley on Saturday playing the Langley Blaze and then they are at home Sunday at Nunns Creek in Campbell River versus the visiting Victoria Mariners-Teal. 12:00 and 2:30 game times.