Royals Romp Kernersville in Exhibition Game

A three-run Royals fourth led Burlington to a win in a preseason exhibition game at Burlington Athletic Stadium. Following an hour and a half rain delay, the Royals defeated the Kernersville Bulldogs, a collegiate summer team from the Carolina Virginia Collegiate League, by a 5-1 final score.

Burlington took advantage of two hit batsman, two errors and a walk to take its first lead of the game. Royals C Chad Johnson broke the scoreless deadlock with an RBI single that drove home CF Alfredo Escalera. Two batters later, RF Alex Newman kept the rally going with an RBI single of his own. The Royals tacked on another run when LF Desmond Henry drew a bases-loaded walk to cap the team's most productive inning of the game.

The Royals got a couple of insurance runs across in the sixth and seventh to help solidify the win. Burlington DH Luis Villegas hit a solo homer over the left field wall in the sixth and 3B Mauricio Ramos added an RBI single in the seventh.

Those runs were enough support for five Royals pitchers to seal the win. Burlington's second pitcher of the night, RHP Jake Newberry got credit for the win. The 18-year old pitched two perfect innings in relief, registering three strikeouts. Newberry's predecessor on the mound, RHP Leonel Santiago, pitched three scoreless innings. The Dominican right-hander allowed just two hits and struck out three in what amounted to a brief rehab appearance for the 23-year old recovering from a shoulder injury.

With its one exhibition game in the books, Burlington will begin its regular season this Thursday, at home, against the Pulaski Mariners. Local lefty Matt Tenuta, from Apex, NC, is scheduled to start for the Royals against Puerto Rican right-hander Edwin Diaz. First pitch is at 7 p.m. and the gates open at 6 p.m.