The Parksville Bantam Royals were on the road to face to first place Victoria Mariners-Teal in a two-game set last Saturday.
The Royals would start off game one with workhorse Thomas Plant who would throw four innings only giving up two runs. The Royals would turn to the bullpen and Owen Taylor and Gareth MacDonald would come in relief and work effective innings.
The bats simply were quiet and overmatched by the Mariners’ pitchers. The Royals were no-hit through the first four innings, where Keitaro Adachi would break it open with a single to right while playing a solid second base on defense. The Royals would be able to put a run on the board with a seventh run homerun by Carter Hall. But in the end, the Mariners would be too much to handle for the Royals as they fell by a score of 5-1.
In game 2, Royals starter Breandan McLaughlin would go four innings giving up five. He would throw the ball hard but through the order, the Mariners were able to figure him out. The Royals then turned to Rylan Baikie who would work two innings in relief.
Defensively, the Royals would make some good plays, Owen Taylor with a diving stop at third base and Carter Hall solid behind the plate. The bats would again be quiet, but a Tyler Kolopenuk double followed by an Owen Lagos single would be the offense for the Royals as they would drop game 2 by a score of 7-1.
Coach Biro said, “it is always tough to play on the road and it seemed like we were just a step behind the whole day. We had good at-bats, and we did some things right but we were just a little flat today. There were some guys who swung the bat really well, but hit them right at guys. Unfortunately, that is baseball sometimes.”
The Royals will be at home next Saturday, June 15 playing host to the White Rock Tritons at Bill Moore Park in Courtenay. Game times 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Carter Hall will start in game 1, and Breydan Riecker will start in game 2.
The Bantam Royals will also play an exhibition game vs the Nanaimo Bantam AAA Pirates on Tuesday, June 18 at 6 p.m. at Bill Moore Park. Rylan Baikie will start on the mound