The Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals senior baseball team had a topsy-turvy weekend on the road and at home.
On Saturdy, the Royals travelled to Abbotsford for a doubleheader against the Cardinals. They ended up spliting the games, dropping the first game 7-4 and then bouncing back to edge the Cards, 11-6.
In the first game, Jacob Volkers tossed four innings and surrendered five hits and six runs before Ethan Christensen came in relief in the sixth inning. He limited the home team to just one more hit and a run. At bat, Brodie Comerford went 2-for-3 while Kiran Carcary was 2-for-4.
In the second game, Brayden Baker started strong on the mound and had a 6-0 lead. He faltered in the top of the fifth, giving up five runs, but Jaxon Ackermann took over and was able to stop the bleeding, shutting out the Cards. He gave up a hit, no runs and had one strikeout to earn the win.
The offense was led by Bob Munger, who went 2-for-5 with one RBI. Carcary had two RBIs while going 2-for-2 and Thomas Green went 2-for-2.
After a good start to the season, the Royals have dropped down to fourth spot in the standings with 16-9 record.
The Royals are on the road on Saturday against Coquitlam Reds but will be back home on Sunday to host the North Shore Twins at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Springwood Park diamond.
Junior Royals go 3-1
The Junior Royals had a successful weekend on the Lower Mainland, winning three of four games. Saturday’s games were at McLeod stadium against the 3rd place Langley Junior Blaze.
Game 1 was a defensive battle with Brier Pilon on the mound for the Royals. Pilon pitched another solid game, limiting the Blaze to six hits and four runs over six innings. The Royals tied the game in the top of the sixth, with Tyler Newby scoring on a hit and run by Jamie Ingersoll followed by a single by Trevor Nicoll that drove in Kevin Mulrooney. The Blaze wouldn’t give up, however, as they charged back with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. The Blaze held the Royals to three hits and three runs for a final score of 4-3 in Langley’s favour.
Nolan MacDonald started for the Royals in Game 2, throwing five full innings and allowing four hits and two runs. The Royals broke out in the top of the second inning with a three-run double over the centerfielder’s head by Jamie Ingersoll. The Blaze had the bases loaded in the fifth inning but Nicoll made a clutch double play, followed by MacDonald forcing a fly ball to right field which ended the inning. Travis Frank came in relief in the sixth and kept the Royals in the game by allowing only a hit and a run over two innings. The Royals managed three more runs in the top of the seventh behind singles by Henrik De Calvares, Laine Rogers and Nicoll. Macdonald got the win 8-3, and Frank got the save.
On Sunday, the Jr. Royals travelled to Whalley for a double header against the Chiefs. Game 1 began with Rogers on the mound for the Royals for the first two innings, followed by Brett Wildeman for the next three and Jayden Barr for the final two.
In total the Chiefs could only manage four hits on three runs against the Royals’ trio of pitchers. Some nice hitting by the Royals’ Max Kolopenuk and Nicoll, along with 11 walks and four errors by the Chiefs, led to a 12-3 Royals win. Wildeman got the win for the Royals.
Game 2 starter for the Royals was Nathan Lagos, who threw for five innings with only three hits and a run. The Royals took advantage of the Chiefs’ pitching with a dozen hits at the plate. Lagos helped his own cause with two triples, one of which followed a nice triple to right-center field by Frank. Jacob Stockton, Wildeman and Pilon each had two hits as the Royals mercied the Chiefs in five innings with a final score of 12-1. Lagos finished the game and secured the win for the Royals.
Bantams get Black and Blue
The Bantam Royals rolled into Milner Park in Langley this past weekend for two double headers tied for the top spot in the BPBL standings.
Saturday the Royals faced Langley Black and on Sunday Langley Blue. Ellis Vugteveen got the start pitching four innings allowing two runs on two hits. Nathan Underhill and Kolby Wood came in relief allowing only one hit and no runs in the next three innings. At the plate Anson McGorman chipped in a single and a double while Austin Walper and Vugteveen each had a single. The Royals had a few errors early and were unable to cash in base runners at key times to fall to Langley Black 3-2.
Walper took to the bump in game two and was on his game. He threw six innings allowing a run on two hits with four strikeouts. Will Roberts would come in to close in the seventh and kept the Langley squad off the board in the final inning.
With the Royals pitching and defense dialed in, the bats came to life, putting together nine hits and 11 runs over seven innings. Crouse kicked in a single and double with two RBIs, Underhill and Ethan Dean both hit singles with two RBIs each, McGorman a single with two RBIs and Roberts with a single and RBI as the Royals rolled over Langley Black 11-1 in the rematch.
Sunday was the main event, with the two top teams in the league going head-to-head. McGorman took to the mound and threw five complete innings allowing no runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts. Wood came in relief on the last two innings allowing no runs on a hit with two strikeouts. The Royals pitching dominated shutting out Langley batters for the first time this season. It was a 1-0 lead all the way to the seventh inning were the Royals blew it open putting up four runs. Hall hit a deep shot to the gap for a double and RBI. McGorman, Wood, Crouse and Roberts would all add in single shots as the Royals broke Langley’s 11 game win streak with a 5-0 win.
Game two saw the tall lefty Dean take to hill for the Royals throwing three innings while allowing five runs on eight hits. Underhill came in the fourth inning in relief giving up four runs on five hits. Roberts came on in the sixth trying to solve the Langley batters, but Langley came out swinging and put together 15 hits and four home runs. The Royals pushed back with McGorman going 2-for-3 at the plate with a single and double. Elijah Oelke, Roberts, Walper and Nash Donkersley would all add singles but it was not enough to defeated Langley. The long ball was the difference, Langley had seven RBI’s off of 4 home runs. The Royals dropped game two, 11-4.
It is another busy week for Bantam Royals with two practices and the final tryout for the B.C. Summer Games squad. The Royals take to the road next weekend, taking on the UBC Thunder and the North Shore Twins.
“Our defense and our approach at the plate were not at our best in game 1 and 4 this weekend. Fortunately, Walper and McGorman brought their A game in games 2 and 3, salvaging a split on the road,” said head coach Wes Dieleman.
