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Travelling man Isherwood gets job done a la Jeff Francis

LHP Clayton Isherwood (Van Anda, BC) gets outs with off-speed offerings./Photo: Baseball Canada.

By Jamie Neugebauer - Canadian Baseball Network

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla: In the world of young baseball players there are those who are committed and then there’s Clayton Isherwood. The native of Van Anda, BC pitched in St. Petersburg, Florida, with the Canadian National Junior Baseball team during the International Series. But the Florida sun is a world away from his usual commute to Parksville on Vancouver Island, where Isherwood faces a daunting daily battle to pitch for the Parksville Royals.

"I have to take two ferries to get to where I play and then drive an hour and a half," he said. "I don’t get to go to practices during the week, it’s only on the weekend because I can’t get out of school in time and make the practice. It’s like a four or five-hour trip." At 6-feet, 185 pounds, the soon-to-be 18-year-old does not seek to overpower hitters with his fastball. Instead, he is the classic left-handed hurler who changes speeds and uses superb command to get batters out.

His manager Dave Wallace of the Royals, of the elite development-level British Columbia Premier Baseball League, spoke glowingly of the mild-mannered prodigy. "He’s a lot like (Cincinnati Reds) Jeff Francis," Wallace said. “He has a tremendous changeup, as good as any high school-aged player I’ve seen, and that makes his fastball better. He knows how to set up hitters and he understands the game better than most kids his age.”

In eight regular season starts for the Royals last season, Clayton went 6-0 with four shutouts. His ratio of 68 strikeouts to nine walks in 53 innings earned him team rookie of the year honours for the 2011 season. In 2011 he represented BC in the Canada Cup, striking out 12 in 9.2 innings pitched, to lead the team to a fourth-place finish while exerting and demonstrating his dominance over the best under-18 hitters in the country.

“It was pretty special,” Isherwood said about representing the province. “I was the only returning player from the team before so I was a senior on the team. It was a lot of fun except for the fact that we didn’t do as well as we were expected to.”

By now Isherwood is a veteran of Baseball Canada and has represented the nation at the Americas World Junior Qualification Tournament in Colombia in November 2011, and in exhibition action last March against Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves split-squad teams. According to Wallace, and despite his soft-spoken and unassuming demeanour, nothing fazes the tiny-town teenager.“He is never intimidated,” Wallace said. “He has travelled all over the world playing games and it doesn’t matter to him where he is. He just competes; he knows how to get people out.”

Wallace also suggested that the southpaw’s biggest drawback is that his development has been stunted due to a lack of playing time as a result of where he is from. Yet Isherwood, who recently committed to San Jacinto College in Texas, made no complaints about his situation.“I do miss a bit,” Isherwood said. “But it’s easier being a pitcher because I can play catch with my dad [a former college-level pitcher] to make up for it at home.”

Isherwood looks to be taken in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft, and said that more than 10 teams have expressed interest in his services.

Parksville Royals named PBL Organization of the Year for 2011

On behalf of the Royals we would like to congratulate the following players for their outstanding achievements this year. It's great to see players get recognised for their hard work and dedication to baseball.

League MVP: Kevin Biro
League Gold Glove Award (outstanding defensive player): Kevin Biro
Top Pitcher Award: Clayton Isherwood
Lowest ERA (Earned Run Average):
Clayton Isherwood
Most Runs: Kevin Biro
Most triples: Kevin Biro & Jordan Dugray
Most Home Runs (tied with five others): Kevin Biro
Remarkable Performance: Kevin Biro - 2 HR 6 RBI vs. Nanaimo July 2

All Conference Awards:
First team:
Infielders: Kevin Biro & Matt Ney
Utility Player Josh Croft
Pitcher: Clayton Isherwood

PBL Organization of the Year:
Parksville Royals

The is the fifth time the Parksville Royals have won the Organization of the Year Award since its inception in 2002. The other years were 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2008. This award is a credit to all the numerous volunteers within the Royals organization and their dedication to baseball within the league and the province.

We have always been fortunate to have extremely supportive parents who contribute invaluable amounts of time to make our team one that is well respected throughout the province. Clyde Inouye GM from 1995-2009 and Scott Rodway (2009-present) deserve a lot of recognition for the hard work, time, and commitment to baseball not just in our community but on behalf of the PBL as well. The Royals are very fortunate to have individuals like Clyde & Scott and the so many parents who volunteer their time to put together a great product that showcases baseball in a positive light at all times.

Click here for the full list of BCPBL awards.

Congratulations for a great job and enjoyable year.

Coach Wallace

Parksville Royals dominant at BC's Best baseball tourney

By James Clarke - Parksville Qualicum Beach News

Parksville’s Quality Foods Royals captured lightning in the bat last weekend and made team history by becoming the first local squad to win the BC’s Best Baseball Classic in the tourney’s 17-year history. The local PBL team lost 7-1 to the Okanagan A’s in their tournament opener last Friday, but this is no ordinary Royals’ team. They answered with five straight wins. This is the third or fourth time they’ve made the semifinals but first time winning it all. It was the first all-Island final in tournament history. "I was real pleased for the kids," Royals’ skipper Dave Wallace said. "They deserved it, and it helps them learn a bit more how to compete in meaningful games."

In their five-game run the Royals out-scored the opposition, 36-9. The Royals set the tone Saturday morning when they bounced back with one of their best games of the season and dumped the defending tournament champion Okotoks Dawgs, 4-0. On Sunday they clobbered the North Delta Blue Jays 11-1, and doubled up the Strathmore Reds 8-4. On Monday they beat the Victoria Mariners 6-4, then knocked the hide off the ball and blasted the Nanaimo Pirates 13-4 in the gold medal game that afternoon.

On hand to hand out the gold and silver medals afterwards was Lowell Hodges, former longtime MLB scout out of Sidney and one of the founding board members of the Island Premier Baseball League - precursor to the BCPBL comprised of Parksville, Nanaimo, Cowichan Valley and two Victoria teams back in 1995.

Pitching highlights there were lots of. Crafty righty Marcus Drewry picked up the win against North Delta and tossed a complete game two-hitter. Big southpaw Giles Virgin, 18, from Saskatchewan pitched and was outstanding for the pinstripes as well throwing 8 no-hit innings with 9 K's. Keeping the walks down - the Royals lead the league in fewest walks allowed - is something longtime dedicated pitching coach Jim Seredick has concentrated on this year. The Royals pitching staff walked only 15 batters over 40 defensive innings during the Classic. Catcher Mackenzie Parlow called every pitch and caught all 40 innings.

"The whole team, Matt Ney, Kevin Biro and Josh Croft, they’re our leaders and they had an outstanding weekend, and so did four our five other guys - the hitting right through our lineup was consistent," said Wallace. Ney and Croft both belted homers. Croft also pitched one inning in each of the last two games, picking up the save in the seminal against Victoria. Biro finished the tourney hitting .550 with three doubles, a triple, and a stolen base. Ney hit .400 with a tie-breaking, two-run home run in the semi-final game against Victoria.

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