Kettering Royals

The Boys in Blue are glad the month of June is finally behind them. On Sunday the Royals picked up their first win since beating the Thunder way back on May 31st. Over the month of June the Royals lost a pair to the Sox, and then fell ever so close against the Astros and Rangers. In the Astros game the 'Stros centerfield made an unbelieveable game saving catch at the wall, literally, to seal the Astros 6-5 victory. And then the victim of another heartbreaking loss last week against Rangers losing by 2 in the 10th.

However with June behind them, the Royals turned the page in their calendar and looked to start July off on the right foot. On Sunday the team traveled north to face-off against the Indians on a beautiful day of baseball. Reynolds started the day for Royals on the hill and went 6 strong innings keeping the team in the hunt until the end before Jergens relieved him to finish the game. But at the plate Tim Biedenharn's hit in the bottom of the 9th finally got the Royals on the winning end of the close game. Biedenharn knocked a walk off single up the box to score rookie Tyler Allen from 3rd. The game was hard fought on both sides, but for the Royals it was nice to finally get back in the win column after a few heartbreakers the last couple weeks. Stay tuned for a full game recap and stats.

The game Sunday kicks off a busy July for the Boys in Blue. The Royals will play 3 doubleheaders over the next 3 weeks before wrapping up July in a single game against the Shockers. With lots of baseball to be played please come out and support the team.

After a rough 1-4 start, the Royals and the league had the weekend off to celebrate Mother's Day.  Well I'm not sure what it was, the home cooking or the family atmosphere, but since the break the Boys in Blue are 2-0 and outscoring their opponents 33-10.  The Royals began their streak against their opening day opponent, the Miami Valley Dragons.  Jason Holmberg started on the hill for the Boys in Blue and kept the Dragons guessing at the plate.  Holmberg threw the complete game allowing 1 run on 4 hits recording 6 K's.  At the plate Brian Duffy, Brett Reasoner, and Chris Tipton all lead the office with 2 hits each.  When the dust settled the Royals were finally back in the win column recording a 12-1 victory.

Looking to start a win streak the Royals faced off against the Miami Valley Thunder, who got the best of the Royals in their final at-bats in their last meeting.  Reasoner was on the mound for the Boys in Blue for his 1st start of the year.  Reasoner was looking to avenge the Thunders first victory against the Royals as he was the hard luck loser in the outing.  Off the mound Brett helped quiet the Thunder offense throwing the 7 inning complete game recording 9 K's as the Royals cruised to an easy victory.  At the plate the Boys in Blue plated 21 runs on 16 hits, 6 for extra bases.  Mirroring his performance on the hill Reasoner led the offense going 5-6 with 4 runs and a SB.  Other notable performances at the plate, Shawn Rudegeair was 3-3 (4 runs / 2 2Bs / 4 RBIs / SB), Tim Biedenharn and Jesus Velasquez III each had 2 hits a piece knocking in 6 RBIs.  On a great day for baseball the Boys in Blue looked to be getting back into their rhythm.

Up next for the Royals is a pair of games against the always tough Beavercreek Sox.  The Boys in Blue play Sunday night at 6:00 PM and then again Tuesday night at 8:30, both games will be played at Rotary Park in Beavercreek.  Please be sure to come out and support the team as they look to continue their win streak.

The Boys in Blue lost a pair of heartbreakers in the final inning to the revamped Shockers and the new Thunder.  On Thursday night the Royals met the Shockers, who are under new management and sporting a new look, in a pitching duel.  On the hill for the Shockers was MVABL vet Jeff Cherry and the Boys in Blue countered with Royals Rookie Frank Burgos making his first career start.  The game moved along quickly as on the night both teams only recorded 6 hits and the pitchers tallied 14 strikeouts over the short 7 innings.  The Royals scored first in the second of an errant pickoff throw, but the lead was short lived.  Burgos pitched well for the Boys in Blue, but in the 4th a bases loaded BB allowed the Shockers to plate their first run in the game to knot the game at 1.  It would remain that way until the bottom of the 7th as the Shockers were once again able to load the bases and capitalize on a well placed HBP-bat-deflection that actually trickled past the pitcher allowing the runner from 3rd to scamper home for the game winning run.  At the plate for the Boys in Blue Mark Franklin and Shawn Rudegeiar recorded a hit a piece, and off the mound both Burgos (4 2/3 IP / 4 K / 3 Hits) and Ubinger (2 1/3 IP / 3 K / 1 Hit) pitched well.

On Sunday night the Royals were not out of the storm yet.  In their 1st matchup of the season against the new MV Thunder the Royals sent veteran Jason Holmberg to the hill.  However it was not to be Holmbergs night as the Thunder were right on at the plate recording 8 runs over the first 4 innings capped by a pair of Homeruns by Williams recording 5 RBIs himself to help the Thunder jump out to the early lead before 2nd year veteran Brett Reasoner took the hill to stop the hurt.  The Royals bats, which had been quiet, finally found some life.  The Boys in Blue were able to knot the game at 8 as they posted 5 runs in the 5th and 3 in the 6th.  With the Royals mounting a comeback the Thunder brought in mult-talented/mult-positional Drew York who began to sit Royals down 1 after the other in the final 3 innings of the game.  In the 7th York helped his own cause belting a triple to the deepest part of the field plating a run for the Thunder to give them the 9-8 advantage.  In the top of the 9th down by 1, the Royals were able to again tie the game as Duffy, who reached base for his team leading 10th BB, was able to score off a sharply hit single off the bat of Tim Peffley.  With the game tied 9 all in the bottom of the 9th the Royals took the field.  Reasoner recorded 2 quick K's before the Thunder batters recorded back-to-back singles.  With a 1-1 count and runners at 1st and 2nd the Thunder looked to move up a base and went for the steal, but Ubinger's pickoff throw went just wide and by the time OF Kevin Reynolds was able to field the throw the Thunder's runner scooted across the plate for the game winner.  For the Boys in Blue, Brett Reasoner did his best going 2-3 (2B / RBI / 2 runs / 3 SB ) at the plate and throwing 5 1/3 innings (7 K's) in relief to end up with the hard loss.

 The Royals have a week off to wish all the Royals Mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day.  After the bye week they will meet up with the 3-0 Rangers, who are off to their best start in team history.  The Royals/Rangers games are historically always very exciting and either filled with lots of runs or a very low scoring close pitchers duel.  Game time is 1:30 and the gates open at 1, so be sure to come on out as the Royals look to get back in the win column.

The Boys in Blue finally took the field to begin their 2009 Season.  They opened up with a victory in a 2h 35 minute marathon against the Dragons that didn't finished up until the wee hours.  But in their 2nd game of the weekend they faced off against the new look Astros.  As it was during the regular season last year the Astros had the Royals number, but they didn't go down without a fight.  Be sure to check the schedules page for in depth recaps of the Boys in Blue opening weekend outings.

The Royals get travel day as they prepare for their first matchup against the Warren County Shockers on Tuesday.  The Royals take the field at 7:00 PM at Rotary Park.  Be sure to come out and cheer your Boys in Blue as they look to get back on track.

As Opening day arrived Mother Nature threw the Boys in Blue a little curveball. Playing the nightcap in a day filled with sprinkles it was doubtful that the Royals would take the field. As the day of baseball began teams around the MVABL took the field. With the lingering threat of showers growing by the hour, Royals management hoped they'd be able to take the field as more and more games were being completed. However Mother Nature had different plans, and about an hour before the first pitch a larger rain cell rolled through to turn the only piece of dirt on the whole field to mud. Park personnel tried to salvage the mound but too much rain over the day finally added up. The team was thwarted before they ever got started. However what looked to be a bad thing may turn into something nice. Instead of playing in 40 degree drizzle, the Boys in Blue will meet up with the Astros next Sunday at 1 PM at Rotary park. Weather forecast for this weekend is 80+ and partly cloudy... A complete opposite of Sunday night.

With the Rainout, the Royals will take the field this Saturday again for the scheduled nightcap for their season opener against the retooled Miami Valley Dragons at AIA. Opening up for the Royals on the hill will be 3rd year veteran Kevin Reynolds. Game time is 7:30 so be sure to show up early to stake out a view as your Boys in Blue kickoff the 2009 Season.

In Sunday's rain makeup against the Dayton Astros, 2nd year veteran Jason Holmberg is still on tap for the start. The game will be played at Rotary Park and the first pitch will be thrown at 1 PM.

Lots of Royals action on tap for this weekend. We hope to see you out at the field.