VICTORIA 8 PARKSVILLE 7
A three-run sixth inning in Game 2 of a season-opening doubleheader turned out to be a godsend for the Victoria Eagles.
Karsten Waters’s bloop single to right field scored Tyler Duncan and provided the winning run in an 8-7 victory over the Parksville Royals on a sunny afternoon in the second of the two games played at Lambrick Park.
The Eagles, who are defending B.C. Premier Baseball League champions, won Game 1 by a 9-6 count as manager Anthony Pluta’s club was forced to come back in both outings, erasing 6-2 and 3-1 deficits, respectively.
Waters’s hit gave the Eagles an 8-4 advantage in that second game and it turned out the Victoria team needed it as the Royals pecked away with three runs in the seventh before reliever Drew Davidoff finally managed to close the door. Second baseman Alex Hendra-Brown, who played for the Royals last year, made the final out for the Eagles on a ground ball off Keller Anderson’s bat.
“We’re happy to get the win, it doesn’t matter who we were playing,” said Hendra-Brown, who was with the Eagles two seasons ago before trying his hand in Parksville in 2013. “It’s nice to come out here on opening day and get two [wins]. It was close, that second game, and it was nice getting that last put-out.”
Adam Bontkes started on the mound for Victoria and trailed 3-1 despite giving up just two hits after four innings. The Eagles chipped away in the bottom half, tying it at 3-3 before the Royals rebounded for another run in the fifth.
The Eagles rallied for two runs in the fifth when reliever Tyler Deman replaced Bontkes and cut through Parksville, allowing one hit in the sixth. That’s when Victoria’s bats came alive off Royals’ reliever Josh Anderson, who replaced starter Owen Kelly.
Kieran Waters (no relation to Karsten) walked with one out, Hendra-Brown followed with a single and Tyler Duncan delivered a run to make it 6-4 on a double to right. Sam Stevenson’s sacrifice fly upped the lead to 7-4 before Karsten Waters’s flare to right ended the Victoria scoring.
Parksville wouldn’t go away, however. Jacob Ingersoll cut the lead to 8-5 with a bases-loaded single that chased Deman off the mound, bringing in side-armer Davidoff. A wild pitch and Andrew Evernden’s sac fly cut the lead to 8-7 before Davidoff induced the final ground ball in the tight game.
“It was nerve-racking in both games, from beginning to end,” Pluta said of battling back for the two wins. “That’s baseball. It’s the beginning of the season and we have to work out some kinks. We’re excited we were able to fight, keep our heads in it.
“You’re almost expecting to see the sloppiness. I was excited to see the aggressiveness on the base paths. It’s a young team and they’re testing themselves,” added Pluta, who was happy with Karsten Waters’s ability to get on base six of seven at-bats on the day.
Stevenson reached on an error, walked, doubled and recorded the sac fly in Game 2 after going 2-for-4 in the opener in which the Eagles were up 2-0 in the first.
They surrendered six runs in the second, but got six back in the fourth.
“We made too many mistakes,” said Royals manager Dave Wallace. “We’re young and learning.”
The Eagles were set to entertain the North Shore Twins today, but the mainland team pulled out of opening weekend because of a trip to Las Vegas. North Shore ended up forfeiting its two games on Saturday to the Victoria Mariners, who will now face the Nanaimo Pirates today at noon and 2:30 p.m. at Layritz Park.
