In transition, Parksville still a formidable force
The 2017 league runner-up Parksville Royals, off to another strong start, have over the years kept up with some heady company in the B.C. Premier Baseball League.
Seattle Mariners pitcher James Paxton’s no-hitter this month against the Toronto Blue Jays propelled yet another BCPBL alumnus into the headlines. That was followed by Victoria Eagles alumnus Nick Pivetta, of the Philadelphia Phillies, fanning 11 Baltimore Orioles batters last week over seven innings. Before that, it was Tyler O’Neill, from the Langley Blaze, making his debut last month for the St. Louis Cardinals.
An earlier-generation BCPBL-to-MLB pitching product, Rich Harden out of the Victoria Mariners, has been voted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2018.
Although his MLB career looks to be over, Michael Saunders, out of the Victoria Mariners, will be in that Hall one day, too, and is part of a BCPBL alumni list that includes Brett Lawrie, Ryan Dempster, Larry Walker, Justin Morneau, Jeff Francis and Adam Loewen. You need to know your way around a diamond to keep up with this sort of company.
The Royals, an annual contender who have produced former Milwaukee Brewers player Taylor Green and UBC Thunderbirds and Victoria HarbourCats pitcher Adam McKillican, know how to do just that.
“We’ve had a tremendous run the last couple of years, and won the silver medal and came within one run of the [North Shore] Twins in last year’s league championship game,” said Royals general manager Mike Parlow.
“But we are in a bit of a transition season.”
That’s because head coach Dave Wallace has stepped aside after 23 seasons of guiding the Royals. But the new dugout boss, Frank Kaluzniak, hasn’t lost a beat and has the tied-for-second-place Royals off to a 13-6 record heading into today’s home doubleheader against the Mariners (8-5).
“Frank has done a tremendous job with this group,” Parlow said.
Parlow, meanwhile, has done a good job of creating a seamless path to the senior Parksville team with Bantam AAA and Junior Royals teams established.
“We found we were having kids coming up to the senior team who were not quite ready,” Parlow said.
“Now we have a feeder program and kids come up playing in, and knowing, the system and know exactly what to expect when they reach the senior team. It’s worked out beautifully.
“And anyone in the neighbourhood who wants to play, has a place to play.”
That progression has produced three Junior Royals graduates — Connor Hall, Brodie Comerford and Jacob Volkers — who have moved up to make rookie impacts this season with the senior squad. Hall is hitting a league fourth-best .408.
Parksville has been paced this season by a formidable mound trio in Josh Laukkanen (2-1, 1.75 ERA), Ethan Christensen (3-0) and Brady Radcliffe (6-0), the latter who leads the league in wins, ERA (1.10) and strikeouts (35).
Those arms will be tested today by the Mariners’ league secondand third-leading hitters in Chris Niketas (.441) and Jon Gale (.424).
These Royals hurlers, however, are dual threats, with Laukkanen batting .367 with 13 RBIs and Radcliffe hitting .262 as Parkville averages seven runs a game.
“They have shown such leadership for us and have been nothing short of fantastic,” Parlow said.
Laukkanen made the Blue Jays’ Tournament 12 last year while only in Grade 11.
“Josh performs with such skill and character,” said Parlow, adding that he is now working through his college/university ball options for next season.