CarL1 Frederick Keys

Frederick Keys Season Summary

Published on September 5, 2002 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Frederick Keys News Release


The Keys went 4-2 this week, splitting a doubleheader from the Lynchburg Hillcats and winning three of four games from the Winston-Salem Warthogs.

The Keys finished the 2002 season with a 47-92 overall record, the worst record in the club's 14-year history. The Keys finished the First Half with an 18-51 record and in last place in the Northern Division of the Carolina League, 28.5 games behind first place Wilmington. It was the Keys' worst record in a single half in club history. The Keys finished the Second Half with a 29-41 record and in last place in the Northern Division, 13.0 games behind first place Wilmington.

Streaks

The Keys opened the 2002 season with a 7-1 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats and went on to lose their next six games, marking their worst start to a season in club history. Following a 3-2 win at Myrtle Beach on April 13, the Keys once again lost a season-high seven consecutive games to put them at 1-14. The Keys finished the month of April with a 6-19 record, their worst record in a month in team history.

After losing the first two games of the month of May at Potomac, the Keys went on a season-high four-game winning streak between May 5-7. The Keys followed the winning streak by losing their next six games. They finished May with a 14-39 record.

The Keys lost 9 of their first 11 games of June and finished the First Half with two straight losses to Potomac at home on June 15 & 16. The Keys won two straight games at Wilmington to open the Second Half and finished the month of June with a 6-5 record in the Second Half and a 24-56 overall record.

The Keys went 9-9 through the first 18 games of July and were tied for 2nd place with a 15-14 record in the Second Half, their best mark in either half of the season. The Keys would drop 8 of their next 10 games to end July with a 17-22 Second Half record and a 35-73 overall mark.

The Keys dropped 12 of their first 16 games in August before winning 4 of their next 7 games. They lost four straight games between 8/25-8/29, putting them at 25-40 in the Second Half and 43-91 overall, their furthest point from the .500 mark this season. The Keys followed by tying a season-high with four consecutive wins before losing the final game of the season to the Winston-Salem Warthogs, 5-4.

Hitting

The Keys tied for 5th place in the Carolina League with a .251 batting average. The Keys were last in the CL with just 53 home runs, their lowest total since 1990, and tied for last with 65 stolen bases, their lowest total in club history. OF Mamon Tucker finished the season tied for 9th in the CL with a .300 batting average. CA Eli Whiteside and 2B Mike Fontenot tied for the club lead with 8 home runs and IF Kris Wilken led the team with 61 RBI.

Pitching

The Keys were last in the Carolina League with a 4.76 ERA and gave up a league-leading 1,310 hits and 113 home runs. RHP Jancy Andrade was 2nd in the CL with 151 strikeouts. RHP Beau Hale led the Keys with 8 wins, while RHP Eddy Rodriguez led the staff with a 2.23 ERA and 11 saves.

Fielding

The Keys committed 187 errors and had a .964 fielding percentage, the most errors and lowest fielding percentage in the Carolina League. The Keys committed 6 errors on April 5 and May 26.

Attendance

The Keys were 2nd in the Carolina League in attendance, drawing 305,950 to 68 home dates for an average of 4,499 fans per game. On April 27, the Keys hosted 10,542 fans to set a record for the largest April crowd and 6th largest crowd in Keys' history. The Keys set another record on their final night game of the season on August 31, when 10,572 attended, making it the 5th largest crowd in Keys' history. Another record fell on Labor Day Weekend, when the Keys drew a total of 27,519 fans played over three dates (August 30, August 31 and September 2), the largest three-date series in club history.

Whiteside & Fontenot Represent Keys At All-Star Game

CA Eli Whiteside and 2B Mike Fontenot represented the Keys in the annual Carolina-California League All-Star Game played in Wilmington, DE on June 19. Whiteside batted .259 with 42 RBI and was tied with Fontenot for the team-lead with 8 home runs. He was promoted to AA Bowie on July 27, where he would bat .263 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI in 27 games. Fontenot spent the entire season with the Keys, batting .264 and was tied for first on the team with 4 triples and third on the team with 53 RBI.

Tucking Away The Awards

OF Mamon Tucker finished his best professional season with a .300 average, 9th in the Carolina League. He also led the team with 142 hits and 38 multi-hit games, was tied for first with 4 triples and was second on the team with 55 RBI. Tucker hit in 16 consecutive games between June 1-June 22, the longest hitting streak by a Key this season. Tucker was named CL Player of the Week for the week of 8/1-8/7, batting .393 (11-28). He went 5-for-7 with 2 RBI and a run scored on August 10 at Wilmington, making him the second Key this season and third Key in club history to collect 5 hits in a game.

Keylor Shows Offensive Production

OF Cory Keylor led the Keys with 26 doubles, 70 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, 57 walks and 132 games played. Keylor blasted 2 home runs in the final game of the season on September 2 and batted .344 (21-61) over his final 15 games of the season.

Wilken Improves In 2002

IF Kris Wilken batted .259 with 6 home runs and a team-leading 61 RBI and 179 total bases, after hitting just .211 last season with the SAL Delmarva Shorebirds. Wilken played at all four infield positions at one point this season. On April 29 at Wilmington, he went 5-for-5 with a double, RBI and 2 runs scored. He and Tucker are two of just three Keys in club history to have five hits in a single game.

Hale To The Chief

RHP Beau Hale led the Keys' pitching staff with 8 wins and was third with 131.0 innings pitched. Hale went 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA (24.0IP/10ER) in his last five games with the Keys. He was transferred to AA Bowie on August 1, where he would go 2-0 with an 0.84 ERA (10.2IP/1ER) in his only two starts with the Baysox, before being shut down for the remainder of the 2002 season, due to injury.

Throwing Smoke

RHP Jancy Andrade finished 2nd in the Carolina League with 151 strikeouts. He moved into third place on the Keys' all-time list with 208 strikeouts in a Keys' uniform. In six May starts, Andrade pitched to a 1.89 ERA (38.0IP/8ER).

Rodriguez Saves The Day

RHP Eddy Rodriguez led the Keys with 11 saves and held opposing hitters to a .169 batting average. In six June appearances, he threw to a 1.17 ERA (7.2IP/1ER) while recording 2 saves. Rodriguez was promoted to AA Bowie on August 18.

Check out the Frederick Keys Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from September 5, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central