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Royals Salvage Split, Lose Leonard to Season-Ending Injury

By Larry Lachman, 10/09/20, 9:30PM CDT

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In his second at-bat of the inning, Reese Leonard blasted a 402-foot grand slam over the left center field fence to put an exclamation point on a 14-run first inning against Kravitz’s Rangers, but exited two innings later with a torn left ACL and sprained MCL.  The Royals’ shortstop leapt to make a circus catch during the Rangers’ 8-run third, but came down awkwardly on his left leg, and had to helped from the field.  Leonard joined the team near midseason at a time when the team had been ravaged by injuries, and stabilized the Royals’ infield defense with stellar play at shortstop.  A great teammate and a positive influence on everyone, Leonard will be sorely missed as the Royals’ begin their postseason run.

Final

1

2

3

4

R

H

Royals

14

3

0

0

17

11

Rangers

0

1

8

3

12

15

 

In what looked like a blowout win early on, the Rangers displayed tremendous character and heart, rallying for 11 runs over the last two innings as Jon Kilburn and Ryan Richardson went yard, but Leonard’s grand salami proved to be the difference in the 17 – 12 victory, with the 14-run first inning representing the Royals' largest offensive output of the season.

Game 2 Offensive Stars

Reese Leonard  1 – 1, 2 Runs, 5 RBI,  2 BB, GS HR
Sheldon Fulton  2 – 3, 2 Runs, 3 RBI, HR 
Max Henry  2 – 4, 1 Run, 3 RBI
Jason Hanlin  2 – 3, 1 Runs 2 RBI, 2B
Irwin Kaufman  2 – 3, 1 Run, 1 RBI

In the opener – in what was the most crucial game of the season – the Royals found themselves shorthanded, missing one of their star players – as they took on Nutt’s/McDonald’s Cubs to basically decide which team would qualify for the postseason.  The Cubs exploded for six runs in the first inning against the Royals’ patchwork defense and never looked back, winning easily 17 – 7, as Kevin Gandy had a career day going 5 – 5, homering, and driving in five.

Final

1

2

3

4

5

6

R

H

Cubs

6

2

0

5

1

3

17

22

Royals

0

2

1

4

0

0

7

13

 

Leonard and Max Henry had three hits apiece to lead the Royals.  

With a record of 14 – 12, the Royals finished in a tie with Prim's Muckdogs for the fourth best record in their division, with the same divisional record.  Since the two teams split their two regular season games against each other – the tie breaker was run differential; the Muckdogs’ victory was by six runs, and the Royals’ victory was by two.  Consequently, the Muckdogs qualified as the fourth seed, and the Royals qualified as the top seed in the mini-playoffs.  Considering the Royals played six games without their 1 and six games without their 2, it is quite an accomplishment, and the Royals look forward to a long postseason run.

Game 1 Offensive Stars

Mike Anders  2 – 2, 1 RBI, BB
Reese Leonard  3 – 4, 1 RBI
Max Henry  3 – 4, 2 RBI
Ashley Mort  2 – 4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

 

Royals Salvage Split, Lose Leonard to Season-Ending Injury