8 Royals Graduates move on to US and Canadian College Baseball programs

The Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals are pleased to announce that 8 of 9 graduating Royals will move on to play college ball this September.  Over the course of the Royals 25 year history, 84 players have realized their goals to play college and professional baseball.  The program exists to give north island youth that are serious about competing at the highest level this opportunity.   

· Kieran Bowles of Parksville will join the Nebraska Northeast Hawks of the NJCAA Div II.  The Hawks are ranked 17th in the US heading into the season on the heels of a 6th place finish last year.  Bowles was a super-utility player for the Royals this season playing innings at short-stop, third base, catcher, and pitching. Kieran finished the season with a .290 batting average and his memorable games include a home game against Coquitlam where he went 2 for 2 and stole 4 bases.

· Jacob Volkers of Comox and Tim Holyk of Nanaimo head to Miles City Community College in Montana of the NJCAA Div II.  The Miles City Pioneers finished 18th in the US in 2019 with a record of 42-14.  Volkers pitched 50+ innings for the Royals and led the team in wins while throwing 3 complete games including a no-hitter.  Holyk was a stalwart on the infield and brings a steely focus to his play.  Tim’s highlight reel includes a game at UBC where he went 4 for 5 with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base.

· Nolan Macdonald of Parksville will play for Douglas College of the North West Athletic Conference.  Douglas has a long history of developing & graduating players.  Macdonald was a regular on the mound for the Royals this past season.  On the scoresheet, Nolan’s highlight came in his start on the road against Okanagan when he threw a complete game 2-hitter.   

· Keegan Chard-Hill and Carter Chard-Hill of Powell River, Brodie Comerford and Nathan Lagos of Campbell River, will suit up for Vancouver Island University of the Canadian College Baseball Conference.  Keegan Chard-Hill caught 90 innings for the boys in purple with an impressive fielding percentage of .989 and 6 assists.  Carter Chard-Hill made his first appearance of the season in mid-May following his recovery from a 2018 shoulder injury.  Carter threw 39 innings with an ERA of 3.23 including a complete game 2-hitter at UBC.  Brodie Comerford threw 35 innings with a sparkling 1.20 ERA.  Brodie’s highlight reel includes a complete game victory over the Victoria Mariners where he struck out seven and allowed only 4 base-runners.  Nathan Lagos was a regular in the outfield and stepped up to throw 12 innings in relief appearances.  One of Nathan’s most memorable games came in a victory against Victoria where he went 2 for 4 and crushed a clutch go-ahead triple with the bases loaded.      

“It is gratifying to see the players’ hard work get rewarded,” said Royals Senior GM Mike Parlow.  “These young men bring their efforts to bear against the highest level of competition in the province.  It can be difficult to maintain the focus required to achieve your goals with all of the challenges and distractions that grade 12 students face.  I wish them all the greatest success in their future endeavours.”