In baseball terms, ‘there was joy in Parksville’ on the weekend, as both its Premier Baseball League teams posted exciting well-earned wins.
The Junior Royals marked their return Saturday with a terrific team effort and game one win in their regular season home opener against the Jr. Eagles from Victoria.
On Sunday back up at Inouye/Wallace Field the Senior Royals hit and ran their way to 5-4, 4-2 wins over the visiting BCPBL Eagles.
In game one of the double header, the Royals looked tight to start and Victoria opened the scoring off an error in the top of the first inning for the early 1-0 lead.
The Quality Foods crew replied with a run of their own and went on to rap out 10 hits.
“In the first game we showed that we can win a game when we don’t play our best defensively. We made the plays we needed to at the critical times … we hit the ball well,” said Royals’ skipper Dave Wallace, pointing out the top four players in the Royals’ lineup accounted for the scoring in that game.
Leadoff hitter Ashton Martin, he of the great big smile, was two-for-three with two doubles and three runs scored. Deep Bay senior Kevin Biro had two RBIs and a run scored, Josh Croft scored a run and had an RBI, and big Qualicum Beach first basemen Matt Ney was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Royals’ ace Clayton Isherwood got the start and left the game after five innings with a 4-3 lead. Isherwood had 8Ks and gave up an un-Isherwood like 10 hits. Chucker Marcus Drewry from Courtenay closed out the final two innings, striking out three with no walks to pick up his first win of the season.
“It was a real good relief effort from Marcus,” said Wallace.
The wining run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Martin, from Courtenay, got on on a two-out walk, and Biro, who was thrown out to end the inning in his previous at-bat trying to steal home on an overthrow, crushed a triple to drive him home.
The Royals picked up where they left off in game two riding seven hits to a 4-2 win.
Mitch Powelson got his second start and first win of the year in game two as he threw six solid innings of six-hit ball.
Victoria was up 2-1 after three innings in game two and the Royals scored two in the bottom of the fourth to go up 3-2.
Ney and Biro drove in a run each.
Ashton, said his coach, “has been playing extremely well. Defensively he’s the best centre fielder in the league. He made a catch in the first game against the fence in left centre … he had to run a long way, and so far he’s hitting .500. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and so is Matt (Ney). They’re the two most improved players on our team so far this year.”
Devon Heard hit a solo homer over left centre in the bottom of the sixth for the Royals’ second four-bagger of the year to make it 4-2, and Drewry came in and closed out the seventh on 12 pitches.
The sweep lifts the Royals to 3-1 and has them sitting second in the in 13-team BCPBL, considered one of, if not the top-rated high school aged baseball leagues in North America.
“(It’s) probably our best start in our last five years,” said Wallace. “They’re really swinging the bat well, and their approach is just excellent.
“There’s lots of leadership on this team, and it rubs off on the younger kids — it makes for a very good atmosphere.
“Winning is habit forming and it’s nice to get off to a start like that; it’s nice to see them rewarded for the hard work they’ve put in in the off season.”
GAME ON
The Sr. Royals are in Kelowna over Easter weekend for a four game set against the much improved 4-2 Okanagan Athletics.
DIAMOND BITS
Royals’ ace Clayton Isherwood is gone for 10 days as he heads back down to Orlando, Florida for spring training camp with the Junior National team in pitching rotation.
sports@pqbnews.com
