Kettering Royals

For those eagerly awaiting the start of the 2015 MVABL season could have to wait another week.  Due to the heavy rains this past week Miami Middletown University has closed their field for the weekend.  In an attempt to still have a shot at playing this weekends all MUM games have been relocated to Kettering Fields off I-75.  You can find an address and link to a map by clicking the field name above.  Cross your fingers the strong winds and sunshine could be enough to save this Opening Day for all MVABL teams.

 If the Royals are able to take the field Sunday versus the Miami River Marlins, Royals Rookie Ron Roberts will take the mound for the Boys in Blue to kick off the 2015 Season.   Ron has been working hard this offseason and really showed good control and speed in the teams scrimmage.  The Royals are confident he'll get the team going in the right direction. 

The first 2 months of the MVABL schedule have been released so the Royals finally know who they'll be kicking the season off against.  They will open up with a 4:00 pm game at Miami Middletown University against the new expansion team the Miami River Marlins.  The Royals are 8-3 on Opening day the past 11 seasons, but ran out of innings last season against the Rangers and took a tough 6-4 loss.  They hope to rebound and kick off the season on the right foot.  The Royals will have a lot of new faces in the Powder Blues, but these new additions have seemed to bring a new fight to the team.  Everyone is onboard and excited to help the team to a successful 2015 season!  Be sure to come out and support your Boys in Blue on Sunday April 12th as they begin the 2015 season.  Stay tuned in the coming week to see who will be toeing up the rubber for the Royals .

Well as Mother Nature continues to blanket the Miami Valley with snow, the Boys in Blue are indoors preparing for the upcoming season.  The team has been active this offseason and will have some new, fresh faces in the lineup this year.    The Royals were hit hard this offseason as several veteran players decided to move on for various reasons, but the remaining players banded together and started looking for some players to help fill the void left by their veterans.  Their first pickup was Kevin Nossem.  Kevin is a former linebacker for the Case Western Reserve Spartans.  He recently moved into the area after transferring for work and is excited to be playing some baseball again.  Grant McCroskey also joins the team for his first season.  Grant is a 6'5" former high school baseball/basketball/football player that joined the Air Force out of high school.  Grant is stationed here in Dayton for a few years and is also ready to step back onto the baseball diamond.  With the departure of the Koopman Brothers Bryan Murphy and Kevin Reynolds have stepped up to help add a brotherly connection to the team.  Bryan's brother Sean will join the team after his season with Northmont is complete.  However Sean will only be able to be with the team for a short stint as he is already commited to a greater group, he will be shipping off to the USMC later this summer.  So we are excited to have him on the team to play alongside his brother while he's still here in town.  Kevin's brother Cole may join us this summer following his high school season as well.  Cole is a talented pitcher that has commited to the pitch for Sinclair this fall.  Another new addition to the Royals pitching staff is Tyler Eaton.  Tyler has played in the MVABL before, but after a season off to wrap up college and start his career he is excited to return to the league and play with the Royals.  His college experience on the mound will be a great addition.  Our final 3 additions come to us from the Mariner's, who unfortunately for the league are unable to return as a whole, but we are excited to welcome these Mariner's to don the Powder Blue.  Joining from the Mariner's are third baseman/p Chris Flaherty, outfielder Matt Piskor, and infielder/p Ron Roberts.  Chris and Matt will be great additions to the lineup as both were tops or led several offensive categories last season with the Mariner's.  Ron joined the Mariner's late last season, but did well notching 15 strikeouts in 13 IP.  The Royals are excited to see what he can do after getting back into game shape and playing a full season.

The Royals lost some key veterans, but this new group of Royals is excited and looking forward to getting out there and helping the team continue to succeed and strive towards that goal of reclaiming the league championship.

The Boys in Blue were back in action Sunday following the Holiday Weekend against the Miami Valley Thunder at Howell Field.  It was a beautiful day for baseball and the Royals were able to get on the board early in the first as they finally had a bit of luck go their way as they were the beneficiary of a 2 out error that allowed the Royals to clear the bases for the early 3-0 lead.  However Thunder starter Max Ramsey kept the Royals in check after that until the 5th when Royals leadoff man Kevin Reynolds was able to reach base and move over to 2nd on an errant throw and then swiped 3rd to get into scoring position.  Royals SP, Jason Holmberg brought him home 2 batters later for the 4-0 lead, but the Thunder weren't going to give up that easily.  Holmberg worked quickly through the 1st 6 innings scattering 5 hits, but in the 7th the Thunder started the inning off with a HBP, and 2 quick back-to-back doubles cut the Royals lead in 1/2, and they would get a Sac Fly to bring the game within 1 after 7.  The Royals went to the bullpen to bring in their big lefty reliever who struggled with control, but was able to close out the 8th with no damage.  The Royals took the field in the bottom of the 9th clinging onto the slim 1 run lead, but the Thunder would get 2 quick singles forcing another pitching change.  The Royals brought in Matt Koopman to try and close the door and preserve the win for Royals starter Jason Holmberg, but the Thunger got 2 more singles though to allow John Ramsey to scamper home from 2nd to tie the game up at 4.  Koopman got an easy 6-4 to close out the 9th, but we were all tied up and headed to extras.

In the top of the 10th the Royals were a bit more patient at the plate trying to get some runners on and worked back-to-back walks off Thunder reliever John Connell, forcing the Thunder to the bullpen to bring in their hard throwing right hander Evan Koogler.  The speed change was apparent as Koogler picked up a quick K to start it off, but Brad Koopman delivered with a clutch single, his 1st of the game, to score Bryan Murphy from second.  With a runner at 3rd Koopman was able to move up to 2nd, and Shaun Delozier loaded the bases working a walk to bring Royals Rookie Shane Page to the plate.  Page delivered with his 1st hit of the game as well to score 2 more runs.  That was all they would get, but it was more than enough for Matt to finish out the game.  In the bottom half of the 10th Matt Koopman got a strikeout and a soft rolling 4-3 out quickly, but Max Ramsey worked the full count walk to extend the inning.  Koopman though would get Thunder Rookie Jason Osterman to flyout to center to end the game, with the final score of 7-4 for the Royals victory.

It was a great day for baseball, and a hard fought game by both teams, but the Royals can't relish on it too long as they have to prepare for their 1st matchup of the season against the youthful Beavercreek Sox this upcoming Sunday.  Game time is 6:00pm at Rotary Park so be sure to come out and cheer on your Boys in Blue as they look to extend their 2 game win streak.

The Boys in Blue faced off against the South Dayton Slammers for a heated battle at Bellbrook High School on May 18th.  The Royals were able to get on the board first as Matt Koopman found a hole with a soft liner up the box to score Jesse French from 3rd with 2 outs.  However the Slammers would bounce back in the top of the 2nd and were able to string together a few hits of their own to plate 3.  From their Royals started Shaun Delozier and Slammers starter Jeff Beal battled back and forth sending hitter ofter hitter back to the bench.  Until the bottom of the 5th when the Royals were able to load the bases bringing Rookie Brandon Reaman to the plate with 2 outs, Reaman launched a "no-doubter" over the left center field fence to propel the Royals back on top 5-3.  In the bottom of the 6th Eric Jameson added some insurance runs belting another 2 out hit to the Right Center gap to plate Delozier and Bryan Murphy.  With a comfy 7-3 lead Delozier continued to work, but would face a few bumps in the 8th.  The Slammers got 2 quick back-to-back hits and Rick Anderson made him pay for that mistake and lauched the 3 run homerun to Center to bring the Slammers within 1.  After a quick mound visit to assess the damage Delozier stayed in the game to close out the top of the 8th without anymore damage.  Holding onto the slim 7-6 lead the Royals weren't able to add anymore runs on in the bottom of the 8th so they sent Matt Koopman to the mound to close out the game.  Matt worked quickly and got a strikeout to start off the 9th, but an errant pitch hit the Slammers next batter to put the tying run on the bases.  However firstbase is as far as he would get as Koopman only needed 4 more pitches to wrap up the inning getting the next 2 batters to flyout to closeout the game preserving the 7-6 victory.

 1 Slammers was a nice morale boost heading into the Memorial Day Holiday weekend.  Up next for the Royals though is a tough weeknight matchup with the Beavercreek Sox, another team that you have to play perfect against, as that will kickoff the busy summer schedule because they'll have little time to reflect on that game before they'll be back on the field on Sunday at Howell against the Miami Valley Thunder, one of the games that the Royals let slip through their fingers with some sloppy play.  They hope the 2nd time's the charm. 

Have a safe weekend and thanks to all those out there that are currently serving or have served, we appreciate all you give/gave to us so we can enjoy to play the game we all love.