Kettering Royals

While the Royals are gearing up for the 2005 MVABL baseball season... The Royals first had to replace some familiar faces in the dugout. Long time Royals captain and leader, Neil Lynch, is taking a season off to spend some quality time in the mountains of Tibet. Dave "Turrets" Rooker is trying to make his mark in the wet leagues of Seattle where he was picked up by the Puget Sound Mets. Fireballer Bill Langdon will be lost to wedding plans and honeymoon hangover this season. "Fire Marshall" Chad Campbell is leaving to pursue his studies in the medical field. "Jazzy" Jace Anders is heading back to the motherland, Colorado Springs, to enjoy some rounds of golf in the mountains and many Air Force college womens basketball games. And another Royal, not always in the dugout, but in the field, Jason Errett is going back to school to finish up his Nuclear Physics degree. A couple other Royals are currently MIA, TJ "Mule" Connley and "Big" Chad Daniel, have gone unseen for months? New Skipper Mark Franklin was forced to fill a lot of holes left from these vacancies. After long hours and many emails the roster has started to take shape. The Royals have inked deals with 9 new players. Starting with a pair of MVABL Veterans, Jason Griffith and Bryan Braswell. Griff will be looking to help solidify the hot corner left vacant with the departure of "Jazzy" Jace Anders. Griff will also play a key role on the mound and provide some support on the hill. Braswell will provide the Royals with spot starts throughout the season and lending his bat when he can. After that the Royals have added 7 new faces to the league. The main focus of the new skipper was help on the mound. Last season the arms of Anders and Lynch had to carry the team as best they could. With that in mind, the skipper has added a slew of arms. Challenging Big Ron for Royals senior member, Christian Fugate is looking to get back into the baseball grove after a few seasons away. Young hurlers Kevin Johnson and left hander Daniel Losito also hope to give the Royals some quality innings. Phil Beach is also returning to the Royals since the 2000 season where he once threw a pair of CG in a DH! Phil is just iching to help out on the mound. And in the outfield, the Royals picked up "Broken" Steve Pennington and speedy Titus Matthews. Already on the DL, Steve is working with trainers to get back into the Royals lineup, and Titus was a bit rusty at the plate, but he was signed to a pretty hefty deal that the Royals hope he can pull through on!! :) Finally providing some all around help, Kevin Prudhoe was acquired from the draft to help in the field and provide some innings off the mound. After 1 scrimmage the Royals veterans are excited about the 2005 season. Defense looked solid and at the plate we put a lot of balls in play. With a few days until opening day, the Royals wait eagerly in anticipation. The moral is high in the clubhouse and everyone is ready for things to count for real.