Mitch Powelson picked up his league-leading third win of the season in a 7-1 Royals’ win over the Tritons in White Rock on Sunday.
The Tritons won game one of the BC Premier Baseball League double header, 8-1.
“We did everything in the second game that we didn’t do in the fist game,” Royals’ skipper Dave Wallace said Monday, adding, “we had effective pitching, good defence and timely hitting.”
If the short-benched Quality Foods Royals looked sluggish in the opener after the early start and ferry ride over, they were sharp in game two as they scored seven runs on 10 hits
Both teams scored in the first inning for a 1-1 tie which is how it stood through five. The Royals scored one in the top of the sixth, and blew it open in the seventh with five unanswered runs.
Powelson, a righty from Whisky Creek, had five strikeouts and one walk, scattering seven hits over seven innings.
Deep Bay senior Kevin Biro was 2-for-4 at the dish with two runs scored and an RBI. Ashton Martin was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and a ribbie. Jordan Dugray was 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs. Marcus Drewry was 2-for-2 with a double.
“Defensively we were solid,” said Wallace, pointing to Josh Croft who had a season high six assists (ground outs) at third.
Croft, from Powell River, currently leads not only the Royals, but the BCPBL, in assists, with 34 on the season. Biro is second on the team and third in the league at 24
“The second game was more like we’ve played this year,” Wallace surmised, adding “the first game was more of an anomaly ... the second game was just a real good effort in all aspects of the game.”
The split puts the upstart Royals at 8-3 on the season and sitting a close third in the 13-team standings behind the 9-2 Nanaimo Pirates and first place, 10-2, Langley Blaze.
Saturday’s double header in Abbotsford against the Cardinals was rained out, and that brought up another topic.
“We got rained out Saturday, but hey it saves us about a thousand bucks,” he cracked, striking home the cost of getting the Royals to the mainland and back. “And we do it about 15 times a year ... we don’t get any breaks from BC Ferries, even though (the players) are students.
“And then we have the Jr. Royals team which makes about 12 trips a year, so between the two teams you’re looking at over $25,000 a year. They’re making it almost impossible to field teams on Vancouver Island, the costs are just getting so out of hand.”
The BCPBL and BCJPBL’s mainland teams make two trips to the Island for league games.
“That’s not complaining or whining, it’s just the facts,” said Wallace, who suggests perhaps some of the Lottery grant money could help offset the raising costs of competing.”
GAME ON
The Sr. Royals are home this weekend for four games after a seven games on the road.
On Saturday they host the Tritons and on Sunday the North Delta Blue Jays are in town for a two game set.Game one goes 12:15 a.m. on Saturday and first pitch Sunday is 11 a.m. Sunday.