Parksville's Breydan Riecker slides happily into third base after driving in one of Parksville's two runs Saturday against the Mariners (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

Two Island teams in PBL top four, join White Rock and Langley in semis

Story and Photos by Christian J. Stewart

July 31, 2021, Langley, BC – The Parksville Royals used a complete game, four-hit shut out from their ace Anson McGorman Friday night, to defeat the Victoria Mariners 2-0 and advance to the semi-finals of the BC Premier Baseball League championships to be played Sunday.

Parksville’s Anson McGorman was masterful Saturday, striking out 12 in a complete game 2-0 shutout of the Mariners (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Royals will now face the Victora Eagles at 12 Noon Sunday in the second semi-final of the day, following the 9:00 am semi-final between the White Rock Tritons and the host Langley Blaze.

Winners of each game will meet in the championship game which is scheduled for 3:00 pm at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley.

Parksville shortstop Tyler Kolopenuk makes a nice play against the Mariners (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The odd format of Pod A in the PBL playoffs meant that Saturday night’s Royals and Mariners game was a “win and your in” situation, as the winning team would finish second to Langley (3-1 overall in the round robin) and since they were the host team, the second place team would also advance.

McGorman made sure it was his Royals, who also defeated North Delta on Friday, by allowing just four hits and striking out 12 in his complete game domination of the Mariners.

Myles Chamberlain took the tough loss for the Mariners against Parksville, giving up just two runs on four hits (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The semi-final matchups on Sunday ensure that at least one Island team will play for the PBL championship on Sunday.  The Royals, or the Eagles, who had a perfect 3-0 record in their playoff pool, defeating Okanagan 8-2, walking-off the Whalley Chiefs 9-8 and defeating the Abbotsford Cardinals 10-6 on Saturday.

The Mariners Corrin Chapeskie slides safely into second (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

The Blaze, who get an automatic spot in the semis as the host, certainly earned the right to be in the top four, as they finished 3-1 in their playoff games, defeating North Delta, the Mariners and the Royals, while losing their very first game to the Coquitlam Reds.  They also had the best regular season record, finishing with a 19-5 record.

The Blaze used good defence to defeat Parksville earlier in the day Saturday (Photo: Christian J. Stewart)

They will face the White Rock Tritons, who picked up momentum at the end of the season and then went 3-0 in the playoff round robin, defeating the North Shore Twins, UBC Thunder and Mid-Island Pirates to finish with an unblemished 3-0 mark.

All the action gets underway at McLeod Athletic Park at 9:00 am. Admission is free.

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