Chad Epperson Named 2022 Sea Dogs Manager
February 3, 2022 - Eastern League (EL)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release
Portland, Maine - The Boston Red Sox have named Chad Epperson the new manager of the Portland Sea Dogs. Katie Krall becomes the first female coach in Sea Dogs history in her role of development coach. In addition, Lance Carter will serve as pitching coach for his second season and Doug Clark as hitting coach. Nick Kuchwara has been named athletic trainer and Joe Hudson comes to Portland as the Sea Dogs' strength and conditioning coach. Chris Hess will join the staff as an additional coach.
Epperson returns to the role of manager after spending the last 12 seasons as the Red Sox Catching Coordinator. His first eight seasons with Boston was spent as a manager or coach at the minor league level. As a manager from 2004-09, he led his club to the playoffs in 4 straight seasons beginning in 2006, including Single-A Salem in 2009. A back-to-back California League Manager of the Year with Lancaster from 2007-08, he also managed Wilmington to the playoffs in 2006. The Kentucky native managed Capital City in 2005 and Augusta in 2004 after spending 2 seasons (2002-03) as Sarasota's hitting coach. He also managed Cook County of the independent Frontier League in 2001. Epperson played 9 years in the minor leagues in the Mets (1992-95), Red Sox (1997-99), and Orioles (2000) systems prior to his coaching career. He and his wife, Anne, reside in Andover, MA with their son and daughter.
Krall joins Portland's staff as Development Coach and becomes the first female coach in Sea Dogs history. With Katie's hire, the Boston Red Sox are the first franchise to have two female coaches after the addition of Bianca Smith in 2021. Portland also becomes the first team to have a female coach on the field and a female broadcaster, Emma Tiedemann, in the booth. Krall spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons working as a baseball operations analyst for the Cincinnati Reds' front office. Previously, Krall worked at the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (2018-2020), and as an Assistant General Manager in the Cape Cod Baseball League (2016-17). In 2016, she planned the World Series Trophy Tour for the Chicago Cubs. She graduated from Northwestern University and is pursuing her MBA from the University of Chicago.
Clark joins the Red Sox organization after spending the last seven seasons as a Hitting Coach in the San Francisco Giants farm system, including the last two seasons with the Richmond Flying Squirrels. In 2019, Clark was the Hitting Coach at Salem-Keizer (Single-A) where they led the Northwest League in batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI. He also served as the Hitting Coach for the AZL Giants from 2017-2018. The former Giants farmhand was drafted in the seventh round of the 1998 draft by San Francisco. He played two seasons in the Majors with the Giants (2005) and A's (2006). Prior to 2008, Clark signed with the KBO's Hanwha Eagles and was an All-Star. After leaving Korea, he signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League in 2011. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, initially attending on a football scholarship as a wide receiver, but walked on to the baseball team and played three seasons.
Carter enters his eighth season in the Red Sox organization and third as Pitching Coach for Portland. Carter led Portland's pitching staff to the fourth-best ERA (4.16) in the Double-A Northeast League in 2021. He previously served in the same capacity for Salem (2018-19) and Lowell (2015- 17). Prior to joining the Red Sox, he worked as a pitching coach in the Phillies minor league system from 2010-11 and as an assistant coach at the University of South Florida. A right-handed pitcher, Lance was selected as a 2003 All-Star as a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He played with Kansas City (1999), Tampa Bay (2002-05), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) before spending the 2007 season with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. Lance and his wife, Maeve, reside in Bradenton, FL with their daughters, Langley and Aelish, and son, Ronan.
Hudson begins his first season as Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Sea Dogs after spending 2021 in the same capacity for the Greenville Drive. He joined the Red Sox in 2018 as the strength and conditioning coach for the Salem Red Sox. Joe is the founder of Hudson Strength in Berlin, Connecticut. He earned his B.S. in Sport & Exercise Physiology from Plymouth State University and his M.S. in Strength & Conditioning from Springfield College.
Kuchwara returns to Portland after spending 2021 with the Greenville Drive. Previous to the Drive, he was the Athletic Trainer for the Salem Red Sox for five seasons and worked in the same capacity for Lowell in 2015. Kuchwara was a member of the Sea Dogs' staff in 2014 in the same role. A Colorado resident, Nick received his B.S. in Athletic Training from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2012 and went on to receive his M.S. in Exercise Science and Health Promotion with a concentration in Rehabilitation Sciences from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013.
Hess joins the staff after spending his first year in the Red Sox organization as a member of the Fort Myers staff in 2021. He previously spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island after three seasons as a New York Yankees farmhand. Hess finished his time in MiLB with a career .220 batting average with nine home runs and 61 RBI through 168 games.
The 2022 season will be the Sea Dogs' 29th season in Portland and 20th as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Sea Dogs open the season on Friday, April 8th at Hadlock Field against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Hadlock Field, online at www.seadogs.com or phone at 207-879-9500.
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