2018 P-Nats Sweep Washington Nationals Minor League Awards

Woodbridge, VA---The Washington Nationals named four 2018 P-Nats as organizational award winners for the 2018 season. The Nationals named SS Carter Kieboom  their 2018 Minor League Player of the Year, LHP Ben Braymer  and RHP Wil Crowe  their 2018 co-Minor League Pitchers of the Year, and INF Jake Noll  as the winner of the sixth-annual Bob Boone Award. Kieboom, Crowe, and Noll all began the year with Potomac and ended the season with Double-A Harrisburg, while Braymer began with Class-A Hagerstown and ended the season with Potomac.
It is the third consecutive season that Washington's Minor League Player of the Year has spent a significant portion of the season with Potomac, as CF Daniel Johnson  won the award in 2017, while INF José Marmolejos  took home the award in 2016.

The 21-year-old Kieboom began his season as the starting shortstop for Potomac. In route to a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star Team appearance, Kieboom hit .298 with 11 home runs, three grand slams, 15 doubles, and 46 RBIs for The Red, White, & Blue. In the Carolina League All-Star Game, Kieboom joined teammate Tres Barrera  with a home run for the Northern Division Team.
Kieboom earned a promotion to Double-A on June 21st. At the time of his promotion, he ranked in the top five in the Carolina League in home runs (11), RBIs (46), and hits (73). In 62 games in the back half of the season with the Senators, the former 1st round pick hit .262 with 16 doubles, five home runs, and 23 RBIs. The second youngest player in the Eastern League, Kieboom finished in the top five overall of nearly every offensive category in the Nationals' system in 2018. He led the system in hits (84), finished second and doubles and RBIs with 31 and 69 respectively, third in hits, home runs, and walks (138/16/58), and fourth in SLG and OPS (.444/.801). Kieboom finished the 2018 season as the #2 ranked prospect in the Nationals' system according to MLB.com.
Braymer started his 2018 campaign with seven outings for Class-A Hagerstown, where he allowed just five earned runs in 25.2 innings out of the bullpen. The left-handed pitcher earned a May 10th promotion to Potomac, where he spent the rest of the 2018 season between both the starting rotation and the bullpen. In 21 appearances for Potomac, 11 as a starter, 10 out of the bullpen, Braymer went 6-3 with a 2.73 ERA. He struck out 93 batters in just 89 innings in the regular season, and then struck out 13 batters and didn't allow a run over two appearances, six innings, in Potomac's Northern Division Championship Series victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats.
An 18th round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft out of Auburn University, Braymer won the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week award on 4/15/18, and he will join seven other former P-Nats in the 2018 Arizona Fall League, which is set to get underway on October 9th.
Pitching at three different levels during the 2018 season, Crowe went 11-5 in 22 games (21 starts) and tied for the organizational lead for wins. With a perfect 11-0 record in 17 games for Potomac, the right-handed starter led the Carolina League in wins until the final day of the 2018 regular season, when he dropped to second. In 87 innings with The Red, White, & Blue, Crowe struck out 78 batters and had an OBA of just .220.
With five starts for the Senators to complete the 2018 season, Crowe ranked fourth in the Nationals' system with a 3.40 ERA. The righty wrapped up the 2018 campaign as the #5 prospect in the Washington system according to MLB.com, and the #2 ranked pitcher in the system. Crowe was a 2018 Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star and was named the 2018 Carolina League Pitcher of the Year.
The 24-year-old Noll is the sixth recipient of the Bob Boone award, which is given out annually to the Nationals' Minor Leaguer who best demonstrates the professionalism, leadership, loyalty, passion, selflessness, durability, determination, and work ethic required to play the game the "Washington Nationals Way."
A Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star, Noll finished the first half of the 2018 season among the top five in the Carolina League in batting average (.302), RBIs (46), and hits (80). Noll earned a promotion to Harrisburg on June 21st, where he tallied 12 XBH's in 66 games. A seventh round pick out of Florida Gulf University in the 2007 MLB Draft, Noll led the Nationals' Minor League system in 2018 with 72 RBIs.
All four players will be honored in a ceremony during Washington's 2019 Spring Training.  
The Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League play at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Virginia, and are the Carolina League affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Potomac Nationals have claimed five Carolina League Championship titles (1982, 1989, 2008, 2010, and 2014) and 10 CL Northern Division Championships. Sponsorship opportunities for the P-Nats' 2019 season and beyond are available, as well as all-inclusive corporate picnic outings to watch the future stars of the Washington Nationals at The Pfitz. 2019 Potomac Nationals season tickets and mini plans will be on sale soon. For more information on Potomac Nationals 2019 season tickets, mini plans, group outings, picnic packages, fundraisers, and all things Red, White, and Blue, visit the P-Nats online at www.potomacnationals.com, follow the P-Nats on Facebook (@PotomacNationals), Twitter (@PNats42), and Instagram (@pnats42), or call the Potomac Nationals' Extreme Custom Collision Ticket Office at 703-590-2311.
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