Kettering Royals

With snow covering the ground the MVABL struck a deal with Extra Innings in Miamisburg to make them the official Offseason workout facility of the MVABL.  Beginning in February the teams of the MVABL will all be practicing at Extra Innings.  This is a great facility and the Royals are excited to continue their offseason workouts there.

The Royals will hit the cages for their first workout session of the 2010 offseaon on Saturday February 6th at 1 PM.  The team is excited and ready to get back together and start preparing for the upcoming season.

As the white snow begins to covers the ground, 2010 preparations are already underway. With Opening Day approximately 15 Sundays away the Royals are beginning to get warmed up. The Royals have currently received commitments from 13 of the 15 2009 Royals to return for another season of fun in the sun. Player availability really hampered the team in 2009, and Royals management hopes the addition of a few more bodies in the beginning will pay big dividends in the end. The returners hope to rebound from the 9-15 season, 1st losing season since 2005, and climb back into the top echelon of MVABL teams. With opening practices just a few weeks away the team is getting prepped and ready to hit the field in 2010.

In the 2009 Semi-finals the Royals faced off against the South Dayton Slammers.  The series needed 3 games to decided.  In Game 3 the Royals gave it all they could but were unable to surpass the Slammers and fell 9-7 ending their season.  It was a rough season for the Boys in Blue, but they hope to build on their playoff momentum and come out strong in 2010.

The Royals faced off against the 6th seed Slammers on Saturday in the MVABL Semifinals.  The Boys in Blue battled personnel issues in game 1 and fell 2-10, but were able to get the job done in the pivotal game 2.  Rookie Frank Burgos took the hill for the Royals in the must win game.  Burgos went 6 1/3 strong innings when a few stray balls finally caught up with him and he had to be relieved by veteran Kevin Reynolds.  Reynolds recorded a scoreless 6th and 7th as the Royals picked up the 10-7 victory to force a Game 3.

Game 3 will be played Tuesday night at Rotary Park. Game time is 7 PM and the two teams will claw and fight in this loser go home game for the chance to face the Rangers in the 2009 MVABL Finals.  Please come out and cheer your team on as they look to extend their season another week!

The Royals head into battle again this weekend as they continue their run in the 2009 Playoffs.  Their next opponent is the reworked South Dayton Slammers.  The Royals have fallen in all 3 games against the Slammers this season, but the same was true for their test against the Astros.  However hard work and solid baseball got them through to the semifinals.  The Royals hope to keep this streak going and advance into the finals where they would play either the regular season champions the Dayton Rangers or the 1st expansion squad, the Miami Valley Thunder.  However they can't look to the finals as they still have to play the Slammers this weekend.  The teams will take the field at 10 AM for game 1 at Brandt Field where Jason Holmberg will start it off for the Royals on the hill.  Please be sure to come on out and catch a great day of baseball.