The Mid Island Pirates won a matchup between mid Island rivals.
The Hub City Paving Pirates defeated the Parksville Royals 2-0 on Wednesday night in B.C. Premier Baseball action at Serauxmen Stadium.
Nanaimo scored runs in the first and third innings and that was enough.
Pirates manager Doug Rogers said the team didn’t play its best but had two facets of the game working with the pitching and defence.
“If you have those two things, you’re going to be in every game,” he said. “You can always scratch a run or two across and we did that … the pitching was good and we made a couple plays that wiggled us out of innings.”
The Royals loaded the bases in the last inning but didn’t score. In the second-to-last inning, the visitors also threatened, but right fielder Wyatt Dorman threw a runner out at third for an inning-ending 9-5 double play.
“Our pitching was good with all three guys throwing strikes and coming up big when they needed to, and defence didn’t let us down, a lot of good plays,” Dorman said. “Even when our pitcher got in a jam a couple of times, our defence was able to save him.”
Jackson Stephen earned the win on the mound, throwing three innings and allowing four hits while striking out seven. Josh Hill threw two innings for a save. Marcus Steen had Nanaimo’s only RBI.
With Parksville as the opposing team, there were some extra fans in the stands, which the players like to see.
“It’s always nice, especially when we can win – that’s always the best part,” Dorman said.
Rogers said with grad celebrations coming to an end, he expects the team to be focused down the stretch, in position to achieve its goal of home-field advantage in the playoffs, and to play to its abilities.
“We haven’t been playing our best for a little while, but a sign of a good team is when you’re not playing your best, you can still post a win here and there,” the manager said.
GAME ON … The Pirates travel to the mainland to take on the Fraser Valley Cardinals on June 30 and the North Delta Blue Jays on July 3. Next home action is July 6-7, when the Okanagan Athletics are in town for a four-game series at Serauxmen Stadium.
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