Taylor, Karns Named Carolina League Players of the Week

(WOODBRIDGE, VA) - The Carolina League has announced that OF Michael Taylor and RHP Nathan Karns have been named Players of the Week for the week of July 16th to 22nd. It's the first week Potomac has swept the awards.

Taylor earns his first Hitter of the Week award in his professional baseball career batting .483 (14-for-29) over seven games. Of those 14 hits, eight of them came in consecutive plate appearances over the weekend against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Taylor also hit his first three home runs of the season including a grand slam, the first by a P-Nat in 2012. For the week, Taylor scored 13 times and drove in eight runs while slugging .931.

Taylor, 21, is hitting .245 on the year and his third in the Carolina League with 29 doubles. The speedy centerfielder also shares the team lead with 44 runs and ranks in a tie for third with 15 stolen bases through 100 games.

For Karns, 24, this is the second time this season that he has earned the award for Pitcher of the Week. He shut down the Lynchburg Hillcats last Monday firing six scoreless innings yielding only a single and two walks for the win. Karns' second start of the week was even better as he threw six hitless innings on Saturday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans with the only runner reaching base on an error. In that game, Potomac was two outs shy of throwing a no-hitter. For his two starts, Karns was 2-0 tossing 12 scoreless innings surrendering only one hit and striking out eight batters.

In his first full season of professional baseball, Karns is locking down the Carolina League. His 1.88 ERA and 0.82 WHIP would be tops in the league if he had the necessary amount of innings to qualify. Karns is 6-0 in his last seven starts and has not lost a decision since June 9th.

The Potomac Nationals are celebrating their 35th Anniversary of professional baseball and family fun, for all your ticket needs please call the box office at 703-590-2311 or visit www.potomacnationals.com.