Four Comox Valley baseball players graduating from the Save-On-Foods Parksville Royals team will continue their passion at the college level this September.

Courtenay players Thomas Plant, Liam McNamee, Jakin Rohne and Comox catcher Keitaro Adachi are four of the eight graduating Royals moving on to play college ball.

Over the course of the Royals鈥� 29-year history, 102 players have realized their goals to play college and professional baseball. The Royals are honoured to provide this opportunity to youth on the Island and across BC.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the guys moving on,鈥� said head coach Frank Kaluzniak. 鈥淭hey will all be successful at the next level and I wish them the best moving forward in their careers.鈥�

Plant will head to California and play for the Cabrillo College Hawks. Plant brought power to the line-up with three home runs and his 30 RBIs were good for fourth in the British Columbia Premier Baseball League. Thomas patrolled right field with a strong and accurate arm recording two assists and no errors over the season. He elevated his game even more in the playoffs, driving in 10 runs on the strength of a .588 slugging percentage in the biggest games and against the toughest competition of the season.

Adachi has committed to Williston State College in North Dakota for the 2024 season.

Adachi was the leader behind the plate displaying strong defence, pitch-calling, and receiving. Keitaro caught 24 per cent of stolen base attempts this season. Adachi鈥檚 return from injury on July 8 helped power the Royals to a seven-game winning streak to finish the season. Keitaro was also the recipient of the General Manager鈥檚 Development Award in 2021. The General Manager鈥檚 Development Award is awarded to the player judged to have improved his game the most over their time with the Royals program.

Rohne will stay on the Island and join the University of Victoria Golden Tide. Rohne was a workhouse for the Royals this season, working deep in games and averaging 5.2 innings in his starts. His longevity came as a result of his strong strike zone command as he averaged only 3.4 pitches per batter faced. Rohne鈥檚 final start of the season was right in line as he threw a complete game victory allowing two runs, striking out four, and walking none. On July 15, Jakin was awarded the David Wallace Memorial Scholarship, granted based on the candidate鈥檚 baseball ability, academic assessment, and participation in the Royals program.

McNamee will also join the Golden Tide this September. McNamee, the staff innings leader in 2022, was sidelined by injury this past season. Building to recovery, he hopes to build on his most recent campaign where he struck out 54 batters in 51 innings of work.