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Keys Announce Coaching Staff!

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FREDERICK, Md. - The Frederick Keys will have a new manager and hitting coach for the 2016 season. After spending last year as the hitting coach for the Double-A Bowie Baysox, Keith Bodie takes over as the Keys manager. He will be assisted by fellow newcomer Erik Pappas, who begins his first year as hitting coach following three seasons in the Cardinals system. Kennie Steenstra returns as the club?s pitching coach.

A veteran minor league manager, Bodie, 59, joined the Orioles coaching staff in 2015 following 16 seasons as a manager and coach with the Houston Astros. Under his tutelage, Baysox hitters posted a .260 batting average, good for third-best in the Eastern League, while the team finished second in the circuit in home runs and RBIs. Bodie also helped mentor eventual batting champion and Orioles Minor League Player of the Year, Trey Mancini.

Before joining the Orioles organization, Bodie managed Houston's Double-A team in Corpus Christi for three seasons. Named the Texas League Manager of the Year in 2012, the Brooklyn, NY native guided the Hooks to the top record in the TL in each of his first two seasons, while posting a franchise record 83 victories in 2013. That season, Corpus Christi won first and second half titles. In 18 years as a minor league manager, Bodie has a winning percentage of .525 (1223-1108) and has claimed nine division titles.

In addition to managing three different levels of minor league baseball (including four at Triple-A) the veteran minor league skipper has served as a hitting coach, field coordinator, hitting coordinator, and outfield and baserunning instructor with six different organizations (Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, Kansas City, Washington and Baltimore). He began his professional coaching career in 1983 following parts of 10 minor league seasons with the Mets and Astros.

After two seasons with Double-A Springfield, Pappas, 49, joins the Orioles organization. In two of his three seasons with St. Louis, his teams finished with the fewest strikeouts in their respective leagues. Before starting his professional coaching career, Pappas worked at the Cangelosi Baseball Academy (2006-12) and served as a scout for the Texas Rangers (2005-09). A former sixth overall pick by the California Angels in the 1984 draft, Pappas played three seasons in the Major Leagues. After making his debut with the Cubs in 1991, he played for Joe Torre's Cardinals in 1993-94.

Steenstra, 45, returns to Frederick for the fourth straight season, while 2016 marks his fifth with the orange and black. Under his guidance, nine members of the Keys pitching staff received promotions in 2015. Currently in his 12th season on the Orioles minor league staff, Steenstra has also served as the pitching coach for Double-A Bowie and Low-A Delmarva. Named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year as well an All-American in 1991 at Wichita State, Steenstra pitched 11 minor league seasons for seven different organizations. He appeared in four games for the Cubs in 1998.

Brian Guzman and Chris Cecere round out this year's staff. Frederick's athletic trainer in 2015, Guzman returns for his second season. An athletic training intern for the Dominican Summer League Orioles in 2014, he held a similar role with the New York Mets in 2013. A 2007 graduate of Penn State, Guzman, 30, received his Masters Degree in Athletic Training from LIU-Brooklyn.

Cecere, 29, begins his sixth season with the Orioles and his fourth in Frederick. Additionally, he has served in the same capacity at Bowie and for the GCL Orioles. Cecere began his career with the Yankees Short-Season affiliate in Staten Island, after graduating with an Exercise Science Degree from South Florida.

The Frederick Keys kickoff their 2016 season on Thursday, April 7 against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on the Grand Strand, while the home opener is scheduled for one week later on April 14 at 7:00 p.m against Lynchburg. Ticket plans for 2016 are already on sale, while all plan holders will receive a Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop double bobblehead. For ticket information fans can call 301-815-9900 or visit frederickkeys.com

The Frederick Keys are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play their home games at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. For more information about the Frederick Keys please contact Geoff Arnold by phone at (301)-815-9915 or by emailing at GArnold@FrederickKeys.com.

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