WINCHESTER ROYALS

Head Coach Mike Smith and the rest of the Royals 2019 coaching staff. “If I ever write a book,” says Winchester Royals coach Mike Smith over the crackling speakerphone, ‘I’ll call it ‘Life on a Ball Bucket’ because that’s life in the Valley League. You sit on a ball bucket all summer and develop young ballplayers.” Throughout his extended coaching career, Smith has accumulated an incredible amount of baseball experience. He has spent 12 years sitting on his ball bucket in the

HARRISONBURG -- After retiring the first batter of the eighth inning, Winchester Royals starting pitcher Nick Beardsley allowed a single up the middle to Cameron Irvine and walked Paul Castillo. With the game tied 2-2 and a pair of left-handed hitters due up , Royals head coach Jacob Mays took the ball from his starter and brought in southpaw Ryan Flores to record the final two outs of the frame. "We get into a ball game going into the seventh or eighth, we want to do matchup

39 illustrious summers of college baseball have come and gone for the Winchester Royals. June 1st marks the beginning of the organization’s 40th season. Much like the game of baseball, the Royals have experienced an ample amount of change and growth over the past four decades. Some 150 or so players have been drafted and/or signed to play professional baseball after their tenures with the Royals. Collectively, 31 players have been promoted to a Major League roster. Mark David

The Royals roster will stretch as far as Alabama this summer as Alabama-Huntsville’s Kaylib Hanson will sport green and gold for Winchester on June 1st. Hanson has not gotten the chance to play for the Chargers yet, as he will be transferring after two successful seasons at Snead State. He will be making the transition from JUCO to Division II NCAA baseball next spring, similar to what the Royals’ Jordan Huntley experienced this spring. In his sophomore season catching for th