By Mike Parlow

With college signing season in full swing, another Island player made his college commitment.

Parksville’s Anson McGorman has signed with Sacramento State for the fall of 2021. He grew up in Parksville and played in the Parksville Royals program before moving on to the Vauxhall Academy.

McGorman, who just turned 17 in September, last played for the Royals in the 2019 season recording 69 strike-outs in 54 innings pitched. At age 15 in his first season in the BC Premier Baseball League, he competed against players 2-to-3 years older than he was and finished the season hitting for a .297 average with a .413 on-base percentage.

“Our program keeps a close eye on the talent coming out of the BCPBL and we are thrilled that Anson is joining our program,” said Reggie Christiansen, new coach at Sacramento State. “With a number of our players graduating in the spring of 2021, Anson has an opportunity to make an impact on our rotation early in his time with us.”

This past October, McGorman was invited to compete for Team World at the Future Star Series showcase held in Boston at Fenway Park. McGorman impressed scouts with a lively 90 mph fastball, working in a 77-79 mph curve ball in a clean 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts and a ground-out.

“We feel the Royals were a huge part of this for Anson,” said Anson’s dad Rob McGorman. “As it turned out, Anson committed to Sacramento before ever playing a game with Vauxhall. Anson matured under Coach Dieleman in the Royals’ Bantam program and really flourished under coach Kaluzniak on the senior team.”

Royals head coach Frank Kaluzniak worked closely with Anson this past summer on his mechanics and pitch execution and was pleased to hear McGorman’s news.

“Anson has rare raw talent,” said Kaluzniak. “I’m proud of all of the hard work he’s put in and the sacrifices he’s made to get where is today. If Anson continues to work hard translating his talent to skill, his projectable ceiling is very high.”