The Quality Foods Parksville Royals came away with two wins in five games during a very busy week at Inouye-Walllace Field at Springwood Park in Parksville.
After a bit of a break, the Royals were back in B.C. Premier Baseball League action on the diamond last week. The Royals won a single game out of four against the Okanagan Athletics over the weekend and also beat the Nanaimo Pirates 10-0 last Wednesday.
The two wins give the Royals four on the season, an encouraging sign but head coach Dave Wallace knows there’s more to come for his team.
Saturday’s double-header against the A’s saw the Royals on the losing end of a 10-0 game, then bounce back for a 6-5 win. Sunday, again against the A’s, the Royals lost 5-0 and 9-2.
“We’re building confidence,” Wallace said. “Our game against Nanaimo was the most consistent game we’ve played so far this season. To be able to play a game where we were hitting, we had great pitching and defense, scoring runners when we had the chance, that’s a big boost to a team’s confidence.”
“We know what it’s like to be on the side of a big scoring game and we also know what it’s like to be on the opposite end too. It’s all about finding that consistency and I feel we’re moving in the right direction.”
Wednesday’s game was a big win for the Royals, who finished off the Pirates in just five innings of play. Nanoose Bay’s Josh Anderson cranked his first home run of the season, going 2-3 in the game with three RBI’s.
Liam Janzen also went 2-3, collecting two RBI’s in the process.
Pitcher Colton Tuka earned the win on the mound, going just two innings, allowing one hit and no runs.
In their only win over the weekend, Jaydan Saban and Robbie Dhut each collected three hits in four at bats for the Royals, while Ethan Fox (2-3) and Cory Bukauskas (2-4) had two hits a piece.
Dhut, Liam Ballance, Jacob Ingersoll and Jarrett Knowles all were credited with RBI’s in the 6-5 win. Pitcher Hayden Scheck came on in relief for starter Zack Senay and pitched four solid innings, allowing just one hit with no runs scored against.
“Our games this weekend, we didn’t make enough plays,” Wallace said. “You can’t win games when you don’t score runs, it’s that simple.”
“We played well in the second game on Saturday, even though we made about seven errors we still managed to win. Hayden Scheck came on to pitch very well, as did Zack Senay, who’s normally a relief guy. We’ve got a few injured arms with our pitchers right now, so we’re seeing some guys getting a few more innings and they’re gaining more and more confidence each time they step on the mound.”
The Royals will head to the mainland this weekend as they take on the Whalley Chiefs (Surrey) on Saturday. The Royals are back at home the following weekend (June 6) to take on the Chiefs once again.