Premier Royals woes continue

The Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals dropped another four games this past weekend and now sit 12th in the league.  Outmatched against the 3rd place North Shore Twins on Saturday, Parksville dropped both contests, 11-1 and 8-4. 

The highlight for the boys in purple came on Sunday morning as they faced the North Delta Blue Jays.  The Royals sent All-Star starter Brodie Comerford to the hill and Comerford was masterful.  The big right-hander from Campbell River scattered four hits across 7 innings, striking out 9, walking none, and allowing just 1 run.  Unfortunately for Parksville, runs were hard to come by on both sides and the score was tied after seven complete.  North Delta manufactured a run in the top of the eighth and the Royals had their backs against the wall in the bottom of the inning. 

The first batter up was Kieran Bowles and the all-star was a man on a mission.  Bowles took the first pitch on his shoulder, advanced to second on a ground-out to 1st, and then stole third on the following pitch.  With the tying run on third and only one out, Comerford delivered a sacrifice fly to left field and Bowles showed off his wheels, easily beating a strong throw to the plate to tie the game yet again.  Bowles finished the weekend going 4 for 10 with 5 stolen bases.  Alas the Jays scored again in the top of the 9th and this time the Royals had no answer.  Final score North Delta 3, Parksville 2.

Junior Royals win 2 games in Tacoma

The Save-On-Foods Parksville Junior Royals travelled south this past weekend to play in the Cardinal Classic/Summer Kickoff tournament in Tacoma and came away with a respectable 2-2 record. The tournament was comprised of 16 teams, primarily from the US.

After taking in an MLB game the night before at T-Mobile Park, spirits were high and the boys were ready to take on Wollochet BBC. Ethan Dean took the hill and brought his Yakkers and cheese, allowing only one run. Bats were on fire with Walper hitting 2 doubles, Crouse hitting a triple and Vugteveen with a double. Fox went 2-3, and Jackson also 2-3 with 3 runs scored. After only 3 innings, the score ratcheted up to 15-1 ending in a mercy.

On Saturday morning the boys faced the Saints 16U Elite. Nate Underhill got the start. Although Underhill brought his A game and pitched 6 solid innings, the boys didn’t have an answer for the Saints hitting, and the game ended in a loss of 6-2.

Later that day, the Royals took on the Seattle Wave Black. Austin Walper took the mound and pitched a good game, keeping the score close or tied for much of it. In the 5th inning with the score tied 4-4, the Wave hit a game changing ball to the fence bringing in 3 runs. Trevor Carter came in to relieve and pitched well, but the team couldn’t get the hits back and the game ended in a 7-4 loss.

On Sunday the boys took on the BBB Kings. Cody Jackson got the start and pitched 6 solid innings, with Cam Bell and Kevin Mulrooney relieving in the 7th. The Royals bats were alive with Walper leading the barrage with a triple. The final score was 8-5 for the Royals.

Bantam Royals split with Langley

The Save-On-Foods Parksville Bantam Royals had a two game set vs the visiting first place Langley Blaze. In tough versus the Blaze, the Royals started Liam McNamee on the mound who would work 3 innings. The Royals would use the day as a bullpen heavy day; having 4 pitchers, Owen Taylor, Gareth Macdonald, Keitaro Adachi and Rylan Baikie, after McNamee work effective innings. With the Blaze leading 7-2 after 4, the Royals waited til the bottom of the 7th to start a comeback.  In a wild 7th inning, Thomas Plant would start the inning off with a single followed by a Ryan Deagle double.  That was followed by key walks and clutch at-bats including Landon Bowers’ 10 pitch at bat leading to a single. This brought Plant back up to the plate with the winning run on 3rd and Plant delivered his second hit of the inning to walk off the Blaze in a thrilling 10-9 win for the Royals.

Game two was another great back and forth game by both teams. Tyler Kolopenuk would start for the Royals working 3 innings. Owen Lagos, Breandan McLaughlin and Breydan Riecker would work in relief in another bullpen heavy game. The Royals and Blaze would trade blows offensively with the score tied 4-4 after 5 innings with Bowers leading the offensive charge going 2-3 with a stolen base and Deagle and Hall and Baikie providing hits and stolen bases. The Blaze offense would be too much as they prevailed with a 7-4 win.

Royals coach Biro would say “the boys showed their ability to be down but not out and battle back. Baseball doesn’t develop character, it reveals it; and the character of this group is one of resiliency and perseverance to battle back. We continue to play our best baseball and we continue to trust the process”

Next up:

The Premier Royals are off to the Langley Invitational tournament.  The Royals won the highly competitive tournament last year and are hoping to find some of last year’s magic in their return.

The Junior Royals are in North Vancouver on Saturday to face the North Shore Twins.

The Bantam Royals are also on the road next weekend playing the top-ranked Victoria Mariners-Teal on Saturday.