Potomac's Skipper Tripp Keister to Manage in the Arizona Fall League
Woodbridge, VA--The managers, coaches and staff assignments for the upcoming Arizona Fall League were announced by AFL Director, Steve Cobb on Tuesday and Potomac's own Tripp Keister was named to lead the Salt River Rafters when the league starts on October 13th.
Keister, 44, is in his fourth season as a manager in the Nationals organization and second season at the helm of the reigning Mills Cup Champion Potomac Nationals after guiding the GCL Nationals in 2012 to a 27-33 mark, his only losing tally as a skipper. He then had a stint in Hagerstown in 2013, guiding the Suns to an 80-57 mark and winning the South Atlantic League Northern Division title en route to the Championship series. The former 33rd round draft pick in 1992 by the New York Mets then took over the Potomac Nationals in 2014 and led the P-Nats to a 78-58 ledger while bringing home the fifth Mills Cup Championship in franchise history. The former outfielder, in his four seasons in the Nationals organization, has a career managerial mark of 233-202.
Keister, the reigning Carolina League Manager of the year, will be the head man along with Pitching Coach Marc Valdes (NY Mets), Hitting Coaches Jason Camilli (Arizona) and John Tamargo (Toronto) and Athletic Trainers Drew MacDonald (Toronto) and Billy Whitehead (Colorado) for Salt River.
The Salt River Rafters are one of six teams in the AFL and will build their roster with top prospects from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, NY Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals.
Regarded throughout professional baseball as the "finishing school" for top prospects since its inception in 1992, the six-team league features top prospects from every organization in Major League Baseball. The league plays three games per day six days a week (Monday-Saturday) in six Cactus League stadiums. This year, the league returns to the Peoria Sports Complex. The returning sites are Camelback Ranch-Glendale, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale Stadium and Surprise Stadium.
The Potomac Nationals play at G. Richard 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. The P-Nats are the defending Carolina League Champions after winning the 2014 Mills Cup Championship Series. Potomac Nationals 2015 season tickets and mini plans are now on sale. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2015 season and beyond are available. Corporate outing reservations for the 2015 season to watch the future stars of the Washington Nationals at The Pfitz may be placed now as the P-Nats offer discounted group rates and all-inclusive picnics. Visit the P-Nats online at www.potomacnationals.com or call the Potomac Nationals Ticket Office at 703-590-2311 for more information!