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2016 Potomac Nationals Season in Review

P-Nats Fall in Northern Division Championship Series
By
September 16, 2016

Woodbridge, VA---After missing the playoffs in 2015, the Potomac Nationals set forth a goal of getting back to the postseason in 2016 in an effort to win their sixth Mills Cup Championship. Though the club finished four wins shy of that final goal, they did get back to the playoffs and made it to a winner-take-all game three vs. the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Northern Division Championship Series.

The Opening Day roster for the 39th campaign of Potomac Baseball featured seven players who were among Baseball America's pre-season Top 30 Washington Nationals prospects and 16 players who had previously worn The Red, White, & Blue.

The first half of the 2016 season got off to a good start, as the team opened up with a 5-1 road trip between Wilmington (Kansas City Royals) and Lynchburg (Cleveland Indians). The offense cruised over the first week of the season and scored more than 6.5 runs per game, but after a loss in the home opener, the team fell to second place in the Northern Division, a spot they held until the final week of the first half, when the Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles) jumped them in the division.

After a disappointing first homestand of the season on the field, one in which the team went just 1-6, the P-Nats stood 4.5 games behind Lynchburg and they could never make up the ground. Another trip to Wilmington helped, which included another sweep and ran Potomac's first half record to 8-0 at the home of the Blue Rocks. Potomac finished April at 14-8, 2.5 games out of the division lead. The P-Nats first walk-off win came on the final day in April, as with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning vs. Wilmington, SS Osvaldo Abreu reached on a bases loaded error. It was the first of eight walk-off wins for Potomac in 2016.

After a league-best 3.30 ERA in April, Potomac hit May and immediately saw weather play a factor. The first game in May was cancelled due to rain and was not made up, as it was to be the final first half meeting between Potomac and Wilmington. The P-Nats then went to Lynchburg, had the series opener suspended due to rain, the next day's doubleheader washed out, and then had a tripleheader scheduled. Though the tripleheader was eventually changed to a doubleheader and a game was scheduled for an off day, the P-Nats were swept in the doubleheader and fell four games behind the Hillcats.

With the game vs. Lynchburg on the off day, Potomac's road trip turned into a three-city, eight-game trip, the longest of the season. After a 7-2 loss to the Hillcats on the "off day", the P-Nats were walk-off victims three times in a span of four days, twice at Five County Stadium vs. the Carolina Mudcats (Atlanta Braves) and once in Winston-Salem vs. the Dash (Chicago White Sox). Despite going 1-3 in that stretch, Potomac had a positive run differential. As the eventual First Half Southern Division Champion Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) came to town for the first time in the season, Potomac fell in the opener but took the series with consecutive three-run victories. But the P-Nats wrapped up the month on a low note, as two losses to the Dash dropped Potomac to 12-14 in May and 5.5 games behind Lynchburg.

Despite three straight wins to open June, Potomac then dropped 10 of 11 games and fell 9.5 games behind the Hillcats. A series win, which included a pair of doubleheaders vs. the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Chicago Cubs), capped off the first half, as Potomac finished in third place in the division at 34-34. The club spent eight days in first place in the first half, seven days in third place, and the rest slotted between Lynchburg and Frederick. Two of Potomac's final three games in the first half ended with walk-off wins. In part of a doubleheader vs. Myrtle Beach, C Raudy Read hit a walk-off two-run home run in the eighth inning of a 4-2 win vs. the Pelicans. Two days later, in the 11th inning, 1B David Masters had a walk-off single.

Four P-Nats were selected to play for the Carolina League in the All-Star game in Lake Elsinore, CA. RHP Ryan Brinley, LF Alec Keller, CF Andrew Stevenson, and 3B Drew Ward each appeared for the Carolina League squad in the interleague matchup. Stevenson, with three hits, two RBI triples, and two runs scored, won the game's MVP award in the Carolina League's victory.

Potomac got off to a torrid start in the second half, as they swept the Hillcats in Lynchburg and then swept the Dash at home. A victory in Myrtle Beach in the series opener ran Potomac's second half record to 6-0 and gave the club a modest lead in the division, a lead they held at least a tie for throughout all but 12 days in the second half in route to a playoff spot. In the final home game of June, 2B Max Schrock ended the homestand on a high note, as his walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning vs. Winston-Salem capped a brief two-game sweep for the P-Nats.

July was Potomac's best month of the season, as the P-Nats went 18-12 and featured three winning streaks of at least three games. Potomac took a series from Wilmington, split with Carolina, split with Salem, swept Winston-Salem in a five-game series, and took three of four at Carolina amidst a couple of series losses in the month. The P-Nats were never more than a game out of first place during July. July featured three of Potomac's eight walk-off wins, two of which came on a walk-off home run. Less than a week after Schrock picked up a walk-off win to end the home campaign in June, the second baseman hit a 10th inning walk-off home run in a 4-3 win over Wilmington. Later in the month, Potomac tallied a walk-off win in consecutive days, both vs. the Dash. On 7/22, RF Drew Vettleson hit a walk-off two-run home run in a 9-8 win, while 1B Jose Marmolejos followed that the next day with a walk-off RBI single in game two of a doubleheader.

In position for a playoff spot, Potomac nearly guaranteed itself a berth in the postseason with another great start to a moth, as the P-Nats won seven of the first 10 gams in August. A 6-2 win on 8/7, which capped off a four-game sweep of Wilmington at home, had Potomac at a season best 16 games over .500 and in prime position to take the division title outright. However, from that point forward, Potomac lost 10 of 12. The final loss in the stretch, which was the final game of a seven-game losing streak, dropped Potomac one game behind Lynchburg and only a few games ahead of the Frederick Keys, who continued to creep closer to Potomac for the second half playoff spot.

On the brink, the P-Nats snapped the seven-game losing streak with an 11-inning walk-off victory at Pfitzner Stadium on 8/21 vs. the Keys and finished the month with five wins in the final nine games. Despite a 13-16 month, Potomac hit September just one game behind Lynchburg.

With only five games scheduled for September and already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, Potomac needed just a couple of wins, or Lynchburg losses to earn a home game in the first matchup of the Northern Division Championship Series. In each of the five days that the Carolina League played in the regular season in September, the P-Nats and Hillcats had the same outcome. Both teams won on 9/1, lost on 9/2, 9/3, and 9/4, and won on 9/5. Heading into September 5th, the final day of the regular season, Potomac needed either a victory or a loss by the Hillcats to clinch at least a share of the second half title and thus a home game to open up the playoffs. In one of Potomac's quickest games of the season, the P-Nats took down the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, who had already clinched the best record in the second half in the Southern Division, 3-1. RHP Whit Mayberry allowed just one hit over seven-shutout innings and tallied a career high nine strikeouts. Brinley gave up an unearned run in the ninth inning, but earned his 16th save of the season. The Potomac closer finished the year third in the Carolina League in saves.

Going into the playoffs, both Potomac and Lynchburg had dropped three of the final four games of the season, and the Lynchburg offense, which had been the best in the league all season long, had been sputtering. That continued in game one of the NDCS, as Potomac won 7-0 in a rain-shortened 6.5 inning game. After rain delayed the start of the game by more than an hour, RHP Boone Whiting pitched seven-shutout frames for Potomac. The righty gave up just two hits. Eight of Potomac's nine starters had a hit, while 1B Matt Page led the team with two RBIs.

As the NDCS transitioned to Lynchburg, Potomac knew a win in either of the two games at Calvin Falwell Field would send the club to the Mills Cup Championship. In game two of the series, Potomac jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, fell behind 3-1, and tied it at three in the top of the sixth inning on a fielding error. The Hillcats immediately answered with a go-ahead sacrifice fly from 3B Claudio Bautista and took a 4-3 lead into the eighth inning. Down to their final four outs in the game, RF Dale Carey drew a walk. The Hillcats brought in closer RHP Trevor Frank in search of a four-out save, but Frank allowed a game-tying double to the first man that he faced, as CF Victor Robles tied the game with an extra-base hit off of the left field wall. The score remained 4-4 until the 12th inning. 2B Bryan Mejia led off the 12th frame with a double and moved to third base a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly from Carey put Potomac back on top and three outs away from a berth in the Carolina League Finals. Brinley came on for the bottom of the 12th inning but gave up a leadoff single to DH Dorssys Paulino. After Willi Castro pinch ran at first base, he got to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Brinley got CF Connor Marabell to fly out, which put the P-Nats one out away from a series victory. On a two-strike pitch to 3B Yonathan Mendoza, the third baseman popped up to shallow right field, but three Potomac defenders collided and Mendoza tied the game with a fluke double. The teams went to the 14th inning tied at five before 1B Bobby Bradley leveled the series with a bases loaded walk-off single to right field.

In what turned out to be the final game of the 2016 season for the P-Nats, the offense couldn't muster much vs. LHP Sean Brady. Despite giving up at least one earned run in each of his final 12 regular season starts, Brady tossed 5.1 shutout frames in route to the victory. The left-handed starter struck out seven and barely pitched better than Potomac LHP Matthew Crownover. Crownover gave up just one earned run over six innings, but it was not enough, as the Hillcats picked up a 3-1 victory. SS Yu-Cheng Chang hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning off of RHP Gilberto Mendez, which proved to be the game winner. It was the only home run Mendez surrendered for the P-Nats in 2016.

Though the team came up just shy of a 10th Northern Division Championship and an opportunity for a sixth Mills Cup Championship, the return to the playoffs and the development of the roster has to be considered a big success. Four hitters were promoted throughout the season, as Stevenson, Marmolejos, Ward, and 3B Khayyan Norfork all got promotions to at least Double-A Harrisburg. On the mound, 10 pitchers earned a promotion of at least one level, while RHP Koda Glover, who was on Potomac's Opening Day roster, made it all the way to the Majors, as the righty debuted for the Washington Nationals in July.

There were various P-Nats scattered throughout the final league leaderboard. Marmolejos (.286) and Keller (.285) finished in eighth and ninth place respectively among the batting average leaders. With 11 wins, Whiting finished in second. Both Brinley (16) and LHP RC Orlan (9) finished in the top five in saves. Marmolejos finished the season fourth in doubles with 36, fourth in OBP (.381), and second in SLG (.495). Abreu scored 86 runs, third most in the league, while Carey drew 63 walks, tied for the fourth most in the Carolina League. Though he just missed out on qualifying for the league leaders with a late season promotion to Harrisburg, RHP Erick Fedde would have finished with the second best ERA in the league (2.85), the best WHIP (1.13), and the fourth best opponent's batting average (.244).

With the 2016 season in the books, attention quickly turns towards the 2017 season, the 40th go-around for the Potomac franchise. With a squad that made the playoffs, paired with a playoff run for Class-A Hagerstown, the team should be primed for another playoff run through Pfitzner Stadium.

2016 P-Nats Fast Facts

  • P-Nats hosted seven sellout crowds at Pfitzner Stadium during the 2016 season
  • Three of the Washington Nationals' top 10 prospects according to Baseball America played for Potomac, CF Victor Robles, RHP Erick Fedde, and CF Andrew Stevenson
  • Victor Robles (13) and Erick Fedde (61) made it into Baseball America's midseason Top 100 rankings
  • P-Nats raised $125,000 through the club's community service avenues in 2016
  • The Washington Nationals sent five players to Potomac on rehabilitation in 2016, including 1B Ryan Zimmerman, 2B Stephen Drew, RHP Matt Belisle, LHP Sammy Solis, and RHP Jonathan Papelbon
  • Three former P-Nats earned a promotion to the Washington Nationals in 2016: RHP Lucas Giolito (2015), RHP Reynaldo Lopez (2015), and RHP Koda Glover (2016)
  • 14 2016 P-Nats earned a promotion, 13 to Double-A Harrisburg and one (Glover) to Harrisburg, Triple-A Syracuse, and then Washington
  • Of the 40-man roster for the Washington Nationals at end of the regular season, 23 previously played for the P-Nats either as a full-time player or on a rehabilitation assignment with Potomac
  • Four P-Nats captured a Carolina League Weekly Award in 2016, as RHP Boone Whiting (6/6-6/12), LHP Justin Thomas (7/4-7/11), and RHP Erick Fedde (7/11-7/17) earned Pitcher of the Week honors, while CF Andrew Stevenson (6/20-6/26) earned Player of the Week honors
  • Potomac had four Carolina League midseason All-Stars in CF Andrew Stevenson, LF Alec Keller, 3B Drew Ward, and RHP Ryan Brinley, while Brinley was also a member of the postseason All-Star team
  • The Washington Nationals traded Potomac 2B Max Schrock to the Oakland Athletics for LHP Marc Rzepczynski on August, 25th
  • P-Nats "Halfway to Festivus" promotion and Frank Costanza Festivus bobblehead drew national spotlight from publications including the Washington Post and Sports Illustrated Online
  • "Halfway to Festivus" was a finalist for an MiLB "Promo of the Month" award
  • Potomac's celebration of the 30th anniversary of Top Gun and Barry Bonds Prince William Pirates bobblehead also earned national recognition from Yahoo Sports and ESPN
  • Celebrities to visit The Pfitz included WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi and NHL Hall of Famer Rod Langway

The Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League play at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Virginia, and are the Carolina League affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Potomac Nationals have claimed five Carolina League Championship titles (1982, 1989, 2008, 2010, and 2014) and nine CL Northern Division Championships. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2017 season and beyond are available, as well as corporate outings for the 2017 season to watch the future stars of the Washington Nationals at The Pfitz. For more information on Potomac Nationals 2017 season tickets, mini plans, group outings, and picnic packages, visit the P-Nats online at www.potomacnationals.com or call the Potomac Nationals Ticket office at 703-590-2311.

-- Potomac Nationals --