The Parksville Royals will field a veteran-laden team should the BC Premier Baseball League get the green light to play ball this season.
The Royals and the other clubs in the league are waiting for games to resume, whether they be in a cohort group or even just intrasquad games.
The Royals head coach Frank Kaluzniak will have 14 of 17 senior players returning from last year’s successful 2020 team. He will also be assisted on the bench by coaches Connor Russell and Royals alumni Bruce and Kevin Biro.
The Royals roster, which includes players from across the North Island, will have six players from the Parksville Qualicum Beach area, five from Campbell River, three from the Comox Valley and three from Nanaimo. The players are: Keitaro Adachi, Trevor Carter, Ryan Deagle, Ethan Dean, Jesse Fox, Cameron Goodman, Seth Gurr, Carter Hall, Cody Jackson, Max Kolopenuk, Tyler Kolopenuk, Anson McGorman, Breandan McLaughlin, Liam McNamee, Trevor Nicoll, Thomas Plant and Breydan Riecker.
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With only two Grade 10s, Royals general manager Mike Parlow said it is an older group that aims to compete for a playoff spot if given the opportunity.
“This is a strong group of players and the only question now is when they’ll get a chance to play,” said Parlow. “Our season was supposed to kick off on April 11 and now we’re in a holding pattern as we wait for the virus numbers to get lower. I’m optimistic with the weather turning better and the vaccine roll-out finally getting traction that the players will get into games soon.”
The full schedule, including home games, will be announced as soon as it is available on the Royals website as well as on twitter @ParksvilleR.
Meanwhile, another former Royals standout, 2019 grad Tim Holyk, is tearing it up for Miles Community College Pioneers in Montana in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II.
Holyk, in his second year at MCC as an infielder, is currently hitting .319 and slugging a robust .536 in 25 games. Holyk is building off a shortened 2020 season where he hit .321 in 11 games.
In the Pioneers’ recent home-and-home series versus Dakota College, Holyk had a home run and six RBIs as Miles City swept the four game set.
Holyk will return to the Island in June to play summer ball for the new Nanaimo NightOwls of the West Coast League.
Holyk and former Royals pitcher Anson McGorman, who attends Vauxhall Academy in Alberta and will play for Sacramento State next school year, were recruited to play for the NightOwls in the inaugural 2021 West Coast League.
“This is an exciting group to add to our 2021 roster, giving us speed and pitching depth,” said NightOwls general manager and managing partner Jim Swanson. “Having a local prospect like Anson McGorman, who has already pitched at Fenway Park and he isn’t even in college, is exciting for our first year at Serauxmen Stadium.”
The West Coast League is a premier summer baseball league that will feature teams from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and now Alberta. The Canadian teams include, the Victoria HarbourCats, the Edmonton Riverhawks, Kamloops NorthPaws and the NightOwls.
The league is slated to start on June 4 and will end on Aug. 12. A schedule for the American teams are already in place and will follow strict guidelines regarding health and safety.
At this time, they won’t be visiting the Canadian teams and vice-versa. The schedule for the Canadian teams is still being reviewed.
