Royals Win Their Second Championship in Three Years
When their 2024 season ended with a disappointing and injury-plagued four-game
loss to the Braves in the SABL finals, the Royals needed no further motivation going
into the 2024 season. An aging group of players benefitted from an influx of youth,
and fought their way to a hard won first-place finish in a league that featured a great deal of parity.
The Braves, Giants, White Sox, Pirates, and Cardinals all emerged as worthy championship contenders
in a league that was more tightly-contested than ever before.
Anchored by veteran pitchers Mike Barnett
(9-0, 2.67 ERA), the returning Dave Gemmell (4-1),
and Steve Nyczyk (3.68 ERA), the Royals also
boasted a strong lineup along with an excellent defence to finish atop the competitive SABL.
Phil Chan (.486, 27 RBI),
Niko Angelakos (.460, 17 SB),
Gbenga Ajasin (.388, 25 RBI),
and Andrew Goddard (.373, 15 RBI)
were the offensive standouts for the Royals during the regular season,
but they were hardly the only contributing offensive players.
Alex Sediqqi (.343, 26 SB)
rebounded from a slow start to anchor the lineup from the leadoff spot;
Phil Hiemstra (.360)
provided his usual excellent defence from the shortstop position to go along with strong offensive numbers;
while Jason Andrews (.326),
defensive whiz Tom Stevenson (.324),
and Michael Steward (.297) provided punch throughout the lineup.
The Royals - SABL's oldest team - were bolstered by the presence youngsters Angelakos,
Stephon Richmond (.333), and
Ayden Salam (1 HR),
while steadied by the veteran leadership of catcher Anthony Schiralli (.527 OBP)
and Richard Thompson (.321).
As always, infielder and team manager Donnie Burke (.323, 24 RBI)
pushed all the right buttons with his steady hand while providing critical base hits throughout the season.
Once the playoffs began, the true season started for the Royals, as they had one goal in mind: win the SABL championship.
The first round saw a sweep over the young and competitive Angels,
while the second round posed the Royals with their first major test:
an excellent Cardinals squad that boasted the tremendous pitching and
solid hitting that belied their misleading 14-14 record in the regular season.
After the Royals took the first two games, the Cardinals stormed back to win the
next two and forced a decisive game five for the ages.
Behind the gutsy pitching of Gemmell (8 IP),
the Royals found themselves in position to tie the game on Chan's
dramatic two-run homer to force extra innings, where Chan, once again, cast himself in the role of hero,
winning the game with a dramatic, walkoff RBI single to send the Royals back to the SABL finals.
Facing the offensively-talented Giants, the Royals found themselves in a dogfight. Back and forth the series went,
before the Royals - once again - found themselves in a decisive, championship-deciding fifth game.
Backed by the stout pitching of Barnett, their longtime ace,
the Royals took the lead in the first inning on a two-run double by Ajasin and never looked back.
Playoff stalwart Gemmell came in for the save in the final inning,
ending things on a leaping snare of a hot ground ball before throwing to first base and clinching the sixth championship in team history.
The playoffs featured the incredibly hot hitting of Angelakos (.583),
Ajasin (.543, 1 HR, 15 RBI),
Chan (.457, 1 HR),
Goddard (.500), and
Hiemstra (.455),
while the pitching staff consistently shut down opposing offences.
Gemmell anchored the pitching staff, winning five games to go along with his game five save.
In the end, the Royals reclaimed their perch as the league's top team. Mixing youth and experience with pitching,
timely hitting and defence, the team placed itself atop the SABL mountain once again.