Four Potomac Nationals Honored as 2014 Year-End Carolina League All-Stars; Nationals Skipper Tripp Keister Named Circuit Manager of the Year

Wilmington, DE---The Potomac Nationals are proud to announce Potomac Field Manager, Tripp Keister, after guiding his club to 2014 First and Second-Half Carolina League Northern Division Championships, has been honored as the '14 circuit Manager of the Year while four members of the P-Nats roster have been voted as year-end all-stars.

Potomac Nationals 1B Shawn Pleffner, 2B Tony Renda, SS Stephen Perez, and DH Oscar Tejeda make up the season-end Carolina League All-Stars to represent the red, white, and blue.

Voting was conducted by league managers, general managers, and members of the media.

Tripp Keister, 43, in his first season at the helm of the Potomac Nationals after leading the 2012 Gulf Coast League Nationals and the 2013 Class-A Hagerstown Suns, has maneuvered the P-Nats to a (75-56) overall record in 2014.

Keister will attempt to capture the fifth Mills Cup Championship title in Potomac franchise history as the Nationals have secured home field advantage during the 2014 Carolina League Northern Division Playoff Series following the clinch of their second-half Northern Division regular season title.

Keister owns a lifetime (182-146) Minor League record as a manager inside the Washington Nationals system, and last season took Hagerstown to the South Atlantic League Championship Series.

Pleffner, 25, a 26th round draft pick in 2011 of the Washington Nationals out of the University of Tampa, was also named a 2014 mid-season Carolina League All-Star after submitting a first-half slash line of .312/.364/.429/.794 to complement 14 doubles, two home runs, and 21 RBIs before the 2014 All-Star break.

Pleffner has earned the 2nd-best batting average among qualifiers in the Carolina League this season (.298) in 95 games while playing stellar defense (.994 fielding % in 789 total chances).

The 6'5" first baseman was named a MiLB.com Organizational All-Star in 2012 and 2013.

Renda, 23, a product of the University of California-Berkeley selected by Washington in the 2nd round of the 2012 MLB Draft, is the highest drafted player on the current P-Nats roster. After claiming the organization's "Bob Boone Award" following his monumental 2013 campaign with Hagerstown that featured the second-most doubles in MiLB (43), Renda has turned in a tremendous 2014 summer.

Renda owns the highest batting clip (.307) among all active Carolina League swingers (4th-best average in the Washington Nationals Minor League system this season), and ranks in the top-five among his Potomac Nationals teammates in many prolific offensive categories including runs scored (1st, 73), hits (1st, 124), doubles (3rd, 21), triples (2nd, 4), RBIs (3rd, 47), total bases (3rd, 153), walks (3rd, 41), stolen bases (2nd, 18), on-base percentage (1st, .380), sacrifice flies (T-1st, 5), and hit by pitches (1st, 10).

Renda is also 2nd in games played (104) despite missing over one month from April 13th to May 12th due to injury.

Renda is fourth in the league with both his 124 base knocks and the 73 runs scored. The slight second baseman is tied for the 2nd-best OBP in the CL with his .380 mark.

Perez, 23, was the starting shortstop for the 2014 California/Carolina League All-Star Game, and currently is tied for the 2nd-most walks in the circuit (71).

The former standout at the University of Miami taken by the Nats in the 8th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, has submitted a .250 batting average in 120 games while scoring 69 runs, driving in 50 runs, belting 24 doubles, lashing two triples, cranking two home runs, and stealing a clubhouse-best 27 bases.

Perez has hit to the tune of a .316 (30-for-95) clip with runners in scoring position in 2014.

Perez owns a .955 fielding % and has committed only 24 errors in 529 total chances after Baseball America named him the "Best Defensive Infielder" in Washington's Minor League chain entering the 2014 campaign. The slick-fielding, rangy shortstop has been a part of 60 double plays this season.

Tejeda, 24, a Minor League veteran out of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, clubbed a team-best 16 home runs for the Nationals before being promoted to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on July 27th.

Tejeda received his promotion on the night of a two home run contest against the Carolina Mudcats (Cleveland Indians) that included the first and only walk-off dinger of the 2014 campaign for the Nationals which came for Tejeda off Mudcats reliever, RHP Clayton Cook in the 11th inning.

The powerful designated hitter and third baseman, a former top prospect in the Boston Red Sox system, hit .270 in 94 games with 57 runs scored, 18 doubles, one triple, 65 RBIs, and a .778 OPS for the P-Nats.

Note: All statistics are as of August 28th, 2014.

The Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League play at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Virginia, and are the Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Potomac Nationals have claimed four Carolina League Championship titles (1982, 1989, 2008, and 2010) and eight division championships. Most recently, the P-Nats earned a 2013 Carolina League Northern Division pennant. P-Nats 2014 Carolina League playoff tickets are now on sale. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2014 season and beyond are available. Plan your corporate outing now for the 2014 season to see the future stars of the Washington Nationals at The Pfitz as the P-Nats offer discounted group rates and all-inclusive picnic options. Visit the P-Nats online at www.potomacnationals.com or call the Potomac Nationals Ticket Office at 703-590-2311 for more information!

 -- Potomac Nationals -