The Parksville Royals came away from the B.C.’s Best Tournament winning three out of five games, including a split with the Vancouver Cannons in two league games.
There was plenty of action at Springwood Park during the May long weekend with the Royals kicking off the action against the Victoria Eagles.
The Royals were up 2-1 as they headed into the final inning, dropping the decision 3–2. Nanoose Bay’s Justin Dieleman cranked a home run to get the Royals going but they couldn’t close it out in the end.
Game two saw the Royals playing their first of two re-scheduled league games against the Vancouver Cannons. Parksville’s Andrew Evernden got the start and took the loss on the hill, giving up two earned runs in five innings of work, while striking out six as the Cannons won 5–0.
“Our defense was real strong in that first game we had against the Eagles, we played real well,” head coach Dave Wallace said.
“Our hitting was good in the first game as well, Dieleman got us on the board with that home run and that seemed to spark things a bit. We couldn’t close it out though and that’s been our season in a nutshell so far. We just need to find a way to finish these games.”
Game three kicked off Sunday with a rocky start with Keller Anderson on the mound, giving up two runs in the first inning.
That all changed as the Royals batted the entire order in the bottom of the first, taking a 5–2 lead and never looking back. Evernden smacked a home run in this one as well, helping lead the way to an 11–7 win over the Okotoks Dawgs.
The second game of Sunday saw the Royals taking on the AAA Midget Chilliwack team, who gave them a run for their money. The Royals jumped to an early 2–0 lead and looked to be in control but things fell apart and the Royals were tagged for four runs in one inning.
Not letting this one slip away, the Royals fought back and tied the game 4–4 to send it to extra innings, where things got interesting.
Starting with one out, bases loaded, Chilliwack scored a run. Zach Senay was up for the Royals with the bases loaded in their half of the inning and found a gap in the outfield to drive in two runs, winning the game 6–5.
The Royals continued their winning ways, beating the Vancouver Cannons 4–2 on Monday with Dieleman cranking another home run, helping lead the charge.
“We had a solid weekend overall, it was nice to see,” assistant Bruce Biro said. “We hit the ball really well and were pretty good defensively. Pitching was timely for us once again and I think that the boys really showed their compete level this weekend, which was great.”