2024 Royals Take Down Ospreys in 35+ National Division Championship Series of Arizona MSBL
Arizona MSBL, 35+ National Division
Arizona Royals 8, Arizona Ospreys 2 (Game three in best-of-three Championship series)
Submitted by Ernie Green, Arizona Royals
The AZMSBL 35-over playoffs turned into the Dave Tendering Show, as the ace of the Royals willed them to its second consecutive playoff championship with a pair of complete-game victories over regular-season champion Arizona Ospreys to capture the title in three games.
Tendering, who finished the playoffs 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA, pitched 24 out of the team’s 36 innings in the playoffs. It was also the second consecutive year he won the championship-clinching game for the Royals.
“Dave is a lights-out, stellar warrior when it comes to playoff baseball,” teammate and 2024 MSBL Hall of Famer Joe O’Brien said. “He just grinds out every pitch until the job is done.”
“Along with being a great pitcher, DT (Tendering) has a great feel for when the team needs some comedic levity and when to stroke the competitive fire,” player-manager Todd Trollope said.
The offense in deciding game three, an 8-2 Royals victory, was led by Troy McNaughton, who hit a two-run home run, his second of the playoffs, and John Bagley, who hit two doubles, including one that just missed being a home run by two feet. One of the doubles plated two runs, as the Royals opened up a 4-1 lead in the third inning. Bagley also stymied several rallies in the deciding game with stellar defensive play in center field.
Jesse Gift started an inning-ending double play from right field to stymie an Ospreys bases-loaded rally in their half of the third inning. Ever Rodriguez had a pair of hits in the game as well. Brian MacKinney led the Ospreys offense with three hits.
The Royals opened up the finals with a 7-5 victory. Leadoff hitter Mark Flatten had three hits and scored two runs. Sam Oldenburg had a pair of hits, including a double, and Gregg Carroll had a two-RBI double in the eighth inning, which provided the winning margin. Rikki Kline also had two hits in the victory. MacKinney had four hits in the game for the Ospreys.
The Ospreys, with their backs against the wall in game two, came through with a series-tying 8-6 victory. Matt Huggins and Heath Hagge pitched well for the Ospreys, and Jim Glaim led the offense with a 4-for-5 effort, including a double. Andy Rocha added three hits, including two doubles, and Charlie Calamia contributed two hits. Kline, Bagley, and Carroll each had two hits for the Royals in the loss.
Overall, the Royals have won one regular season title and two playoff titles in its three years of existence.
“The best thing about playing and managing on this team for the last three years has been the collective team-first mentality,” Trollope said. “We pride ourselves on playing solid defense and throwing strikes on the bump which puts the pressure on the other team to have to come out and beat us.
There are a lot of good ball players that show up and do what is needed from them to contribute to our teams success that night.”
Other members of the Royals include Scott Archer, Dan Armstrong, Heath Brown, Alex Gift, Ernie Green, Joe O’Brien, Gerrad Smith, Tim Spatz, and Scott Telfer.