The British Columbia Premier Baseball League (BCPBL) announced the All-Star game rosters over the weekend and four Parksville Royals were selected.
Kieran Bowles, from Parksville and in his final year with the team, was selected as an infielder. As a veteran and super-utility player, Bowles has been outstanding in the field this year. He has led the teams’ defence, logging innings at both shortstop and catcher.
Brodie Comerford, also a senior, was selected as a pitcher and has an ERA of 0.0 with two wins and one save so far this season. Comerford is from Campbell River and is hitting .309 at the plate this season.
Anson McGorman, in Grade 10 at Ballenas Secondary, was selected as a pitcher. The hard-throwing righty has been clocked in the mid-eighties on the radar gun and has struck out 31 batters in 22 2/3 innings this season. In his first start of the season, McGorman no-hit the Whalley Chiefs in 5 innings. At the plate, Anson is also a key contributor and is hitting .339 with an on-base percentage of .439.
Jacob Volkers, a senior from Comox, was selected as a pitcher. Volkers has been the Royals most consistent starter as well as one of the team’s leading hitters. Volkers has an ERA of 3.21 and threw a complete game 7 inning no-hitter against the Okanagan Athletics on May 5th . Jacob is hitting .357 with an on-base percentage of .455.
“I’m proud of our guys’ achievement being selected to the all-star game,” said head coach Frank Kaluzniak. “It’s great to see their hard work pay off and I’m looking forward to see what they can bring to the second half of the season.”
The Parksville Royals of the BC Premier Baseball League include a number of Campbell River players, as well as other North Island communities.
Junior Royals split double-header with Whalley
The Save-On-Foods Parksville Junior Royals hosted the Whalley Chiefs this past Saturday at Inouye-Wallace field and managed a split in their double-header.
The home team got off to a difficult start in game 1 as pitcher Ellis Vugteveen, recently returned from injury, showed some rust going only 2 innings and allowing 5 earned runs. Trevor Carter, once again in the role of fireman, came in and threw 5 innings of 2-run ball to keep the Royals in the game. The Parksville bats were contributing up and down the line-up as the boys in purple battled to stay with the Chiefs. Shortstop Carter Bell went 2 for 3 with a run scored and right-fielder Kevin Mulrooney crushed a double in the 6th and had an RBI. It wasn’t quite enough and the Royals lost to Whalley by a score of 9-6.
Staff ace Ethan Dean got the nod in game 2 and dominated Whalley, striking out 7 and walking none over 6 innings of work. Dean allowed just 2 runs, 1 of them earned, and brought his ERA down to 3.26. Nathan Underhill came on to pitch a clean 7th in relief. At the dish, the Royals brought plenty of offense to support the pitching staff. Austin Walper and Cody Jackson led the hit parade with a double and 2 RBI each. Owen Crouse went 1 for 2 with 2 runs scored and brought his team-leading average up to .343.
“In game 2, we were in a tight ball game, behind 2-1.” said head coach Connor Russell. “It was nice to see our guys battle together and find a way to come out on top. We scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 6th and it was a pleasure to watch and be a part of it. Moving forward out goal is to take this attitude and compete level into all of our remaining games. We are more than capable of doing this!”
This weekend
The Premier Royals were rained out on the mainland last weekend and return home to the friendly confines of Springwood Park for games on Saturday and Sunday. The third place North Shore Twins visit on Saturday, games start at 1 pm and 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Royals host the North Delta Blue Jays and games start at 11 am and 1:30 pm. Concession opens 30 minutes before game time.
The Junior Royals will be in Tacoma this weekend for the GSL Invitational. The Juniors won this tournament in 2017 and hope to again bring home some hardware.
The Bantam Royals are also home on Saturday as they play at Springwood Park against the 2nd place Langley Blaze. Games start at 1 pm and 3:30 pm.