Pirates edge Parksville to take Zach Downey memorial

How ‘bout them Bucs — winners of the seventh annual Zach Downey tourney.

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Not that teams don’t want to win ‘em all ... but if there is a tournament that Victoria Mariners gear up for it is the annual Zach Downey Memorial tournament.

The seventh annual Zach Downey tourney didn’t end in victory, but a tribute was paid to the Mariners’ former No. 6 in the program, but No. 1 in fans’ and teammates’ hearts.

The Mariners opened round-robin play with a 14-3 win over the Mariners II team. It was rough going after that: a 4-1 loss to the Victoria Eagles, a 1-0 loss to the Mid-Island Pirates and a 6-3 loss to the Parksville Royals.

Downey was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in October of 2012. For the next 18 months he battled returning to family, friends, school and the lineup. Downey passed May 25, 2014.

Mid-Island edged Parksville 7-6 in the Downey final at Layritz Park. The Royals led 4-0 thanks to the work of Tyler Kolopenuk, who put up four zeros in only his second pitching appearance this fall. Normally the slick fielding shortstop is called upon for his defence and his bat. Kolopenuk leads the team with an outrageous .517 on-base mark and has struck out once in 29 appearances this fall.

The Royals couldn’t hold the hot-hitting Pirates down. The game was tied 4-4 when Keitaro Adachi hit a laser down the left-field line scoring two to put the Royals in front 6-4. Liam McNamee had a drive which one hopped the wall.

The Parksville Royals were edged in the final.

The Pirates handed Parksville its only loss of round robin play as the Royals were 3-1 in round robin play. The Royals edged the Victoria Eagles in their semi-final 5-4. Cody Jackson had the big knock, driving in two runs on a triple to the power alley in left centre. Ryan Deagle, a threat all tournament, hit a double to open the scoring.

Jackson was hot the entire tournament, hitting .290 for the fall with eight RBIs. Seth Gurr and Ethan Dean, both on the heels of strong starts in the round robin, were on the mound.

Parksville edged Mariners II 3-2 with Gurr on the mound. Next, came a 5-4 loss to Mid-Island as Tyler Kolopenuk had a pair of hits. Trevor Carter, a strike-throwing machine, pitched the Royals to a 7-3 win against the Victoria Eagles and speedy Cody Jackson had the key hit in the 6-3 win against the Victoria Mariners #1.

Greg Hamilton, Junior National Team coach, was on hand and was impressed with the Parksville five: Carter Hall and Ryan Deagle, both Team BC vets, along with Tyler Kolopenuk, Breydan Riecker, and Breandan McLaughlin. All were invited to tjheJunior team I.D. camp.

And elsewhere: Parksville and the Victoria Eagles played a doubleheader at Springwood. Game 1 was a 4-4 tie after seven innings.

The nitecap was deadlocked 1-1 into the fourth inning when Chase Little hit a two-run triple into the left field corner. Another run gave the Royals a 4-1 victory.