Waring, Britton get top Carolina honors

The Keys' keys to success got their recognition on Wednesday.

Orioles prospects and Frederick teammates Brandon Waring and Zach Britton were voted the best players in the Carolina League and Winston-Salem's Joe McEwing was named Manager of the Year when postseason All-Star rosters and awards were announced Wednesday afternoon.

Waring, who drove in five runs in his Double-A debut on Tuesday with Bowie, was named Most Valuable Player after leading the Carolina League with 90 RBIs, a .520 slugging percentage and 63 extra-base hits for the Keys. The 23-year-old first baseman, a midseason All-Star batting .273, ranks second with 26 homers.

Originally the Reds' seventh-round pick in the 2007 Draft, Waring was traded to the Orioles along with Justin Turner and Ryan Freel on Dec. 10, 2008 for Ramon Hernandez on the heels onf a season in which he earned Midwest League All-Star honors for Class A Dayton.

Britton, a lefty from Panorama, Calif., was voted Pitcher of the Year. The Orioles' third-round pick in 2006, Britton has dominated for Frederick this season, going 9-6 with a 2.70 ERA in 140 innings. The 21-year-old ranks second in the league in strikeouts with 131.

McEwing, who spent parts of nine seasons in the Majors as a utility infielder, has guided the Dash to 70 wins this season, his first as a Minor League manager. The 36-year-old skipper led Winston-Salem, currently in first place, to 38 victories for the first-half division crown.

Catcher Caleb Joseph joined Britton and Waring from Frederick on the All-Star team after hitting .293 with 12 homers and 60 RBIs.

Potomac's Chris Marrero, hitting .287 with 16 homers and 65 RBIs, also was selected with Waring at first base after both received the same amount of votes.

Lynchburg's R.J. Rodriguez, who leads the league with 27 saves, was voted the league's top reliever.

Braves prospect Cody Johnson, who tops the circuit with 32 home runs for Myrtle Beach, was selected as the All-Star designated hitter.

2009 Carolina League Postseason All-Star Team
Infielders			DH/Outfielders/Pitchers
POS.	PLAYER NAME	TEAM	POS.	PLAYER NAME	TEAM
C	Caleb Joseph	Frederick	DH	Cody Johnson	Myrtle Beach
1B	Brandon Waring	Frederick	OF	Matt Angle	Frederick
1B	Chris Marrero	Potomac	OF	Che-Hsuan Lin	Salem
2B	Cord Phelps	Kinston	OF	Derrick Robinson	Wilmington
3B	Brent Morel	Winston-Salem	UTIL-OF	Tim Fedroff	Kinston
SS	Danny Espinosa	Potomac	SP	Zach Britton	Frederick
UTIL-IF	Lonnie Chisenhall	Kinston	RP	R.J. Rodriguez	Lynchburg
Manager of the Year: Joe McEwing, Winston-Salem
Trainer of the Year: Chas Miller, Myrtle Beach
Most Valuable Player: Brandon Waring, Frederick
Pitcher of the Year: Zach Britton, Frederick