(Waldorf, MD, November 24, 2021) The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball announced their Postseason Awards on Wednesday afternoon. The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs received numerous honors both on and off the field.
Southern Maryland’s Stan Cliburn was named the Atlantic League Manager of the Year. Cliburn posted win/loss records over .500 in both halves of the season, leading the Crabs to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Stan and the squad won 10 of their final 15 games, and 6 of their final 7 to secure a playoff berth. 2021 marks Cliburn’s second ALPB Manager of the Year honors, having also won the award with the New Britain Bees in 2016.
Multiple Blue Crabs received All-Star nods, with Endrys Briceno named the ALPB Reliever of the Year, and Daryl Thompson landing the starting pitcher spot on the ALPB All-Star Team.
Briceno was nearly untouchable in 2021, posting a 1.87 ERA despite runs being up dramatically in the ALPB. The Venezuelan struck out a whopping 77 batters in less than 58 innings pitched, and in the month of September, he struck out 26 batters in 13 innings pitched.
As for Daryl Thompson, who was already named the 2021 ALPB Pitcher of the Year, the right-hander continued to bring home the awards. For the second consecutive season, Thompson was named the Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year, awarded the starting pitcher spot on the All-Star team, and was named the ALPB Defensive Pitcher of the Year. Furthermore, Crabs have now secured two of the three pitcher slots on the Atlantic League All-Star team in back-to-back seasons.
Zach Collier earned a spot on the Atlantic League’s Red, White, and Blue All-Defensive Team as an outfielder. Collier had the second-best fielding percentage among all position players in 2021, and landed on SportsCenter’s Top 10 for a spectacular catch in September.
The Blue Crabs also received the Atlantic League’s Outstanding Club Community Service Award. Among reasons for winning the award, the Blue Crabs hosted a mass COVID-19 vaccination site serving 6,000 people per day, managed one of the state’s largest coronavirus testing sites, hosted a highly successful Toys for Tots drive, presented free community resource days (providing items like food and school supplies), sent staff volunteers to area food banks, and dispatched Pinch, their mascot, and on-field host into numerous community events to lift spirits during the pandemic.
“To receive all of these awards is incredibly humbling, and each and every person in our organization should be very proud of what we achieved in 2021,” said General Manager, Courtney Knichel.