Five Parksville Royals including four players from Campbell River and one from Nanaimo were among 21 players invited to Victoria Sept. 19-20 for a chance to be seen by pro scouts and Greg Hamilton, the coach of Canada’s Junior National team.
All five players did well and showed off the skills and talent that had generated their invites. In addition to Hamilton, scouts from the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, and Minnesota Twins took in the showcase.
“All of these players were candidates to go to the Tournament 12 in Toronto this year but, with COVID, that central showcase event couldn’t happen,” says Mike Parlow, Royals GM. “As a result, we’ve had increased scout attendance at our events this summer and fall. Almost immediately after we were allowed to return to play, a scout was up to look at our guys. It’s been a silver lining to a very difficult situation. When one scout came to see Anson McGorman pitch in August, he stayed right through both games and kept commenting on how impressed he was with the talent he was seeing. I think that led directly to Greg Hamilton’s decision to come out to the Island to see the best we had.”
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