Kettering Royals

As the Boys in Blue arrived at the field on Sunday there was an air of excitement. Making their second appearance at the big dance in as many years the Royals felt this was their opportunity to cash in. Royals veteran and a cornerstone on the pitching staff, Jason Griffith was the scheduled starter. Griffith was looking for a different outcome over his last Championship start where a walk-off homerun ended the Royals comeback in last season's winner-take-all finals. Griffith was coming off a 9-inning 3-hitter complete game victory against the Dayton Rangers in the League semi-finals when he got the nod from the Skipper for the start.

Playing behind their starter the Royals defense played at an unseen level. When Griffith wasn't controlling Astros hitters, his defense picked up outs on all but 1 ball that was just out of reach of the diving Duffy and not committing a single error en route to the 5-0 Victory!

This Royals Championship was a team effort all the way!! Every Royal did his part along the way throughout the season. After going 3-5 in the month of July, the Boys in Blue buckled down and got their focus back notching 5 straight victories through the month of August ,despite some injuries throughout the lineup, to secure the League Title.

In the playoffs veteran Brian Duffy (7-14/7 RBIs) and rookie Scott Falkowski (5-8/6 runs) led the offense. And off the hill their staff was tough as well. Duffy picked up the first win against the Kettering Outlaws help from another Royals Rookie, Kevin Reynolds who assisted with 3 scoreless innings to secure the Royals win. And veteran Jason Griffith capped off the League semi-finals and Sundays Championship with back-to-back complete games and only allowing 4 hits.

All in all it was an unbelievable feeling for all securing the teams first league title, but for a few the game was even more memorable. For veterans Mark Franklin and Eric Jameson, they have been with the team since 2000 and have seen the team struggle through the early years and to finally say they've won it all really is a great feeling.   Veteran Chad Campbell has played through injuries, most recent was his 8 inning performance on a broken foot, to help the squad compete many a times over the last 6 years.  Former Royal TJ Dean was there in our thoughts as we celebrated, he has been a Royal over the last 5 years but a great job offering pulled him from the squad before he could see the team finally cash in.  And for 3 of the Royals Rookies, Kevin Reynolds, Scott Falkowski, and Shawn Rudegeair they were able to go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs after dismal seasons in 2006 with their previous teams. But rookie Kyle Ubinger says we all have him to thank for our success this season as greatness just follows him where ever he goes and he wasn't going to settle for anything other than the title!!

Thanks go out to everyone who made it out to support us throughout the year, especially our littlest fan, Bernie Kosar Griffith, who seemed to be the teams good luck charm!! And congratulations to the Dayton Astros on their season, and especially to their coach Rob Johnson who turned the team around after a hard 2006 season and all-around good guy. And finally, thanks to all the Boys in Blue that made the commitment to play with on the team, and made it out each week to help the team succeed!!