FORMER WILMINGTON INFIELDER MARIO LISSON TABBED AS SKIPPER FOR THE BLUE ROCKS 30TH YEAR

WILMINGTON, DE - Former Wilmington Blue Rocks Infielder Mario Lission was named by the Washington Nationals as the manager of the Blue Rocks for the 2022 season. Joining Lisson on the Blue Rocks staff in 2022 are pitching coach Mark DeFelice, hitting coach Tim Doherty, and development coach Mark Harris. In addition, Don Neidig will return for his second season as Athletic Trainer. Brandon Pentheny will begin his first season in Wilmington in 2022 as the Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Lisson, 37, will return to Wilmington as the field general in 2022, after spending the 2007 season with the Rocks as a player. That year, Lisson batted .285 with 132 hits, which included 27 doubles, 8 homeruns and 61 RBI in 118 games played (110 games at third base). He was named to both the Carolina League’s mid-season and postseason All-Star teams.

The Caracas, Venezuela native is the 18th different manager in the franchise’s 30-year history, and is just the second internationally-born skipper (along with Cambridge, Ontario, Canada native Scott Thorman, 2019).

Lisson signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Kansas City Royals on April 1, 2002. He spent the first 10 years with the Royals, until moving to the Mexican League in 2013. He spent the 2014 season with the San Francisco Giants (Richmond, Double-A), 2015 with the Nationals (Harrisburg, Double-A and Syracuse, Triple-A), 2016 in the Mexican League, and then back with the Nationals in 2017 (Harrisburg, Double-A and Syracuse, Triple-A).

In 2018, Lisson transitioned into coaching as he was named the manager for the GCL Nationals, and managed the team for two seasons. He was set to manage the Nationals Low-A Hagerstown Suns in 2020, before the season was canceled. In 2021, he was assigned to manage the new Low-A Fredericksburg Nationals.

DeFelice, 45, will serve as the pitching coach. Originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 15th Round of the 1998 MLB June Draft, the Havertown, PA, native, spent 14 seasons in professional baseball as a pitcher, including three Major League seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. There, he appeared in 77 games out of the bullpen, going 5-1 with a 3.79 ERA. He most recently spent time as a pitching coach in the Miami Marlins minor league system.

Doherty, 66, will serve as the hitting coach. Last season, the Kansas City, MO, native, served as a Major League coach on the Colorado Rockies staff. Throughout his career, he has coached in the college game for Oral Roberts University (1989), Seminole Community College (1990-92), University of Southwestern Louisiana (1993) and Southwest Texas State University (1994-97). Doherty spent time assisting hitters with the Boston Red Sox in 2012, and served as a hitting coach for the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins) from 2013-15, Grand Junction Rockies (Colorado Rockies) in 2016, Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) in 2017 and the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies) from 2018-2019. He also managed the Kansas City T-Bones of Independent Baseball in 2010 and 2011.

Harris, 63, will serve as the developmental coach for the Blue Rocks. A first-round draft selection of the New York Yankees (25th overall) in the 1978 MLB January Draft, the Bristol, VA, native, spent three seasons as an infielder in the Yankees minor league system. Harris joined the Nationals player development staff as a coach in 2011. Following a few years of scouting for the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies, Harris joined the Kansas City Royals as a roving hitting coach in 2007. He spent the 2008-10 seasons as the Royals’ minor league infield coordinator. Once he joined the Nationals in 2011, he served as hitting coach for Potomac (2011), Hagerstown (2012), Potomac (2013), Harrisburg (2014-15), Auburn (2016-19), and the FCL Nationals (2021).

The only returning face from the 2021 season is Athletic Trainer, Don Neidig. Before coming to Wilmington for the 2021 season, Neidig has previously spent three seasons with Potomac and four seasons with the Hagerstown Suns.

The Blue Rocks coaching staff is rounded out by Strength & Conditioning Coach Brandon Pentheny, who will also be joining the Blue Rocks for the first time in 2022.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks begin their 30th year on the Riverfront on Friday, April 8, as the Rocks host the Brooklyn Cyclones at 6:35 p.m. Information pertaining to individual game tickets, promotions, fireworks, giveaways and more will be available in the coming weeks. Please visit www.bluerocks.com for the latest information.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks are owned and operated by Main Street Baseball, Ballpark Digest’s 2016 Organization of the Year. The Blue Rocks Play at Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. Frawley Stadium was voted the Nation’s best Advanced-A facility in 2015 by Ballpark Digest.