BURLINGTON, N.C. – Uncertainty surrounds the Burlington Royals organization.

 


What You Need To Know


  • Slow pitch softball league will start June 9

  • Royals are optimistic the team will be in Burlington for years to come

  • The organization is exploring all options for future

 

 

The rookie league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals plays in the Appalachian League.

Major League Baseball included the organization on a list of 42 teams that could be eliminated due to restructuring of the minor league system. Since that announcement many things have changed for the Royals.

Ryan Keur bought the team back in March and restructured the front office. One of the many moves Keur made was naming former Royals intern Anderson Rathbun as general manager.

The team has since announced that it will sponsor an eight-team slow pitch softball league starting June 9.

"We wanted to provide sports for this area, so the fact that we can open our ballpark to some capacity with 25 people in here, we want to take advantage of that," Rathbun says.

The hunger for sports in the area was seen almost immediately. Rathbun says within a hour of the announcement, three teams signed up to play in the league, with one team reaching out from Durham.

As far as the future of the organization, the Royals are making plans to play at Burlington Athletic Stadium for years to come.

"Burlington lives and breathes baseball. There is not a scenario in our mind that baseball won't be played here for summers to come, whether that be in the minor league system. Whether that be in some other organized league, we're looking at all the possibilities and baseball will be here," Rathbun says.

The inaugural slow pitch softball league will have include eight teams consisting of 10 players per team playing over an eight-week schedule. The league will implement COVID-19 preparedness and overall safety rules, including temperature checks, no high fives, and 6 feet spacing between players within the dugout and on the sidelines.