Kettering Royals

This past week a new little Royal was added to the growing fanclub and one-day farm team... Outfielder Ben Ailes is the pround new father a baby boy, Jackson Ailes. Jack was born Monday July 9th, weighing a trim 4lbs 9oz. Mom and baby are doing well and hopefully by the time this reaches the press young Jack will be at home sleeping in his own bed. Congratulations to Ben and Kelly on their new addition.

The Royals got back in the win column on Sunday with a 11-6 victory over the Dayton Panthers.   Royals Rookie Kevin Reynolds picked up his second win for the Boys in Blue with 4 innings of work in his start, and Griffith and Ubinger assisted keeping the Panther hitters at bay over the final 5 innings to seal the deal. The Panthers put up a fight with a crafty 1-1-3-3 defensive alignment that robbed many Royals hitters of would be hits throughout the game, but the shift didn't happen soon enough for the Panthers as the Royals racked up 8 of their 11 runs in the first 2 innings of play. The home game win broke the 3-game skid the Royals had been on during their road trip.

As the 2007 season winds down the MVABL teams all begin to jocky for playoff positioning. There is less than a game seperating the 2nd - 5th place teams. The Boys in Blue have a tough road ahead as the season comes to close with 2 games remaining with the 1st place Beavercreek Sox, 3 games with the 4th place Dayton Astros (only a 1/2 game back), and 1 with the 3rd place Rangers, who are also only a half game back. It will be an exciting race as the team plays out their final 6 games of the regular season. Be sure to come out and support your Boys in Blue and catch some exciting baseball.

Each season it just seams that two Royals hitters just seem to click, and this years twin-killing combo would have to be Brian Duffy and Kevin Reynolds. Kevin and Brian are 1-2 in serveral offensive categories, Hits, 2Bs, 3Bs, AVG, and Slugging %age. As well as their bats at the plate, both members have also put in quality work off the mound this season as well as stellar defensive play in the field. With Slugging %ages close to .800 can either of them catch Royals Retiree Dave Rooker's 4 year old record, and Duffy is only .002 behind Rooker's 4 year old Batting Average record also set 4 years ago.

Royals Veteran Jason Griffith recorded his 50th strikeout of the season during his 4 innigs of relief against the Panthers on Sunday. For those fans not watching the league page, Griffith is leading the MVABL in Strikouts. Congrats from Royals Management on reaching #50 this season.

The Royals always known for the long ball, with Griff's deep blast on Sunday he ties Jason Errett as the Royals career Home Run leader with **5** !!

As the summer sun heats up the summer, the Boys in Blue have cooled off a bit. After starting out 7-3 over the first 2 months of the season the Royals have lost their first 3 games of July, and 5 of their last 6... The Royals showed offensive life stroking out 13 hits in their 7 inning outting Tuesday night against the tough Sox team, 2 hits more than both games combined on Sunday for the Boys in Blue, but still fell after a few costly drop balls led to 6-back-breaking Sox runs.

The Royals are off this week for the All-Star break this weekend before heading back into action Sunday 7/15 against the Dayton Panthers. The Royals are up 2-1 in the series this year, and will be looking to get back into the win column. With only 7 games left the Royals are battling the tough competition, vacations, and injuries as the regular season is winding down. Be sure to head out to the park to cheer on your team as the charge into the last half of the season.