The Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals took on the Victoria Mariners on Sunday and split the double-header with their Island rivals.
Both contests were tight-scoring affairs under sunny skies at Springwood Park.
Brady Radcliffe was the Game 1 starter and got into trouble early.
After a walk and a single put two men on with none out in the first inning, Radcliffe threw the ball into right field attempting to keep the runner close at first and Victoria scored their first run.
Radcliffe, who entered the game with a record of 6-0 and an ERA of 1.16, battled his way through five innings, allowing three earned runs.
Brayden Baker held the Mariners at bay in relief but it was not enough as the Royals mustered only four hits and fell by a final score of 3-2. Ben Munger collected two bunt singles, showing off his tremendous speed to the delight of a big Sunday crowd.
Ryan Humphreys, whose repertoire includes an electric slider and an 86 MPH fastball, got the start in the finale. He got a little too much movement on his pitches, however, throwing 84 pitches and only 40 strikes. His day was done after four innings, allowing two earned runs.
Baker again came on in relief allowing a run on five hits over three innings. The Parksville offence got into high gear in the fourth when Thomas Green led off with his first home run of the season, a booming blast over the fence in left-centre field. Green wasn’t done yet, leading off the 6th with a double and, one batter later, scoring on Spencer Walton’s sacrifice fly.
With the score tied 3-3 in the seventh, the Royals loaded the bases with nobody out, prompting the Mariners to play five men in the infield.
Victoria managed to get the next batter out and for just a minute the boys from down south thought they might weather the storm. But the next batter up was Green and it was his day. The first baseman got handcuffed by Green’s sharply hit ground ball and the winning run scored easily from third. Final score 4-3 for the Royals.
Juniors waste strong pitching
The Save-On-Foods Parksville Junior Royals began the weekend at home against the Victoria Junior Mariners on Saturday.
Starter Brier Pilon turned in his third consecutive strong start, allowing four earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. The defence behind him struggled to find their form, committing three errors and missing catchable balls in the outfield. Jaden Barr pitched an inning and a third of relief but the Mariners had 10 runs on the board. The Royals bats provided some late life with the middle of the order powering through for four runs in the sixth and seventh.
Trevor Nicoll and Travis Frank each hit triples. Max Kolopenuk went 2 for 3 with a double and Hendrik De Calvares and Laine Rogers rounded out the attack with singles. Mariners won 10-4.
Game 2’s starter Nolan MacDonald was called upon to right the ship and the big right-hander from Parksville did just that. MacDonald fired 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out seven while walking three. The defence was right there for him with seven error-free innings. Jordan Dennis came on for the 1-out save as the Royals blanked Victoria 3-0.
The Royals would get all the offence they’d need in the fouth inning. Kolopenuk carried over his hot bat from game one and led off the inning with a double. He would come around to score on Rogers’ hot-shot to third that the defence couldn’t handle. Jordan Dennis and Bret Wildeman each chipped in an RBI and iced a solid performance for the home team.
Sunday in Abbotsford, the Juniors looked to build on that momentum with ace Nathan Lagos on the hill. Pilon’s RBI single scored MacDonald in the second inning but that was all the support the bats could give Lagos who was dominant through six innings and carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh. The Cardinals finally got to him, tying the game in the bottom of the inning and then winning it in the 8th. Final score 2-1 for the Cards.
Game two starter Rogers filled the strike zone and didn’t walk a batter over five innings. Meanwhile the Parksville hitters showed great patience at the plate walking 10 times including three times in the second inning but could not capitalize.
Lagos went 2-for-3 and James Ingersoll smacked a double. The Cardinals took the 5-3 to sweep the Royals.
Bantams take three of four
The Save-On-Foods Parksville Bantam Royals remained atop of the Bantam PBL standings with three wins against the Bantam Victoria Mariners. The boys in purple opened the weekend down in Victoria and game one starter Anson McGorman brought his A game, striking out ten Mariners over six innings and allowing three runs on four hits. The game turned into a pitcher’s duel and the other side successfully limited the Parksville attack which sprinkled five hits but managed only two runs. The Mariners took the opener 3-2.
Austin Walper got the start in game 2 and continued his strong work this season turning in four 2/3 innings of two run ball. Underhill was the first arm out of the pen and he gave up a run on three hits in 2/3 innings. With the Mariners pressing late in the game, Kolby Wood came on to close them out with a scoreless relief, striking out two. Royals batters made enough solid contact to press the Mariners defence into errors and then singles from Walper, Wood, McGorman, and a double from Owen Lagos balanced out the attack and ensured a 5-3 Royals victory.
Sunday back home at Springwood Park, starter Ellis Vugteveen managed 2 2/3 innings allowing three runs and was relieved by Will Roberts in the third. Roberts settled things down and took it all the way home allowing a run on just two hits over 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts. At the dish, Vugteveen had the big knock, taking a pitch deep over the centrefield fence for a two-run home run. McGorman was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Royals won 7-4.
Dean got the start in the weekend finale and the tall lefty overmatched the Mariners allowing no runs on two hits with seven strikeouts over five innings.
While Dean and the defence were busy keeping the basepaths clear, the batters were on fire with contributions up and down the lineup. Will Fox was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Cameron Bell hit a big fly and notched a double in addition to his home run to produce three RBIs. Ellis Vugteveen went 2-for-3 with a double and was Captain Clutch with four RBI. Austin Walper and Owen Crouse chipped in with singles and the Royals mercied Victoria 10-0 in five innings.
The bantams improved to 15-4 and sit tied for first place with Langley Blaze Blue. Both will face-off this Sunday in Langley.
NEWS Staff/Royals report