Memory Lane trip: The 2011 Carolina League champion Frederick Keys

The year was 2011. Two teenaged Orioles prospects were about to play their first full seasons of professional baseball. One was an international signee, the other a No. 3 overall draft pick.

They would soon become close friends and would play together in Baltimore. But that year, Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado began the season as teammates at low Single-A Delmarva and ended the year leading high Single-A Frederick to the Carolina League championship.

The last two O's farm teams to win titles are the 2011 Frederick Keys and the 2015 Double-A Bowie Baysox.

Neither of the young O's infielders lit up the stat sheet in the Carolina League, and both were 19 when they played together at Frederick. But by the end of the year, they both had hot bats going, leading Frederick past Potomac, three games to two, in round one of the playoffs and then to a three-games-to-one win over Kinston to claim the championship, the Keys' fourth following titles in 1990, 2005 and 2007.

For the regular season in 63 games with Frederick, Machado hit just .245 with a .692 OPS. But he was the Mills Cup MVP for the playoffs, batting .344 (11-for-32) in the nine games with a homer and nine RBIs, and he drove in seven runs in the championship series. Schoop batted .271 with a .704 OPS in 77 games during the season. But in the playoffs for Frederick, he hit .314 (11-for-35) with a homer and four RBIs. The duo turned several highlight-reel double plays that September, with Machado at short and Schoop at second base.

I recently talked with current Double-A Bowie broadcaster Adam Pohl, who was the Keys radio announcer from 2007 to 2013 before moving up to Bowie starting in 2014. Adam and I recorded a Zoom interview you can watch at the end of this entry, discussing the 2011 Keys championship, and soon in this space, he and I will also discuss and remember the Baysox's Eastern League title from 2015.

"You know, Schoop and Machado, they were just so young," Pohl remembered about that 2011 season. "Manny Machado was just 18 when he came to Frederick and he turned 19 with the Keys. That's unbelievable. Jonathan Schoop was also a teenager when he was first debuted.

"The thing that stood out immediately was their impeccable defense. Schoop was the best and still is the best double play turn I've ever had on one of my teams. He was spectacular making the turn, and Manny was an unbelievable shortstop."

In the championship series, the Keys lost the first game to Kinston and then won three in a row. On Sept. 16, they beat Kinston on the road 11-3 to close out the series. They scored all 11 runs in the third inning, which featured a Machado three-run home run.

"That series was just rain-ridden," remembered Pohl. "Kinston won Game 1, a low-scoring game. But Game 2 was the game that won the Keys the championship, really. And it started (due to rain) at nearly 11 p.m. at home. So there was almost nobody in the crowd. And here is Frederick, down by a run in the eighth, and here was Machado's biggest play with the Keys. He gets on base and the Keys are down one in the eighth. Cleanup hitter Aaron Baker hits a long fly ball to center and Machado tags and gets second. That was the second out, and by him tagging, he was in scoring position. Miguel Abreu singles and takes second on the throw home as we tie it and Brian Ward singles him in for the lead. The Keys end up winning that game by a run."

The Keys were managed by Orlando Gomez with Blaine Beatty as pitching coach and Mike Devereaux as field coach. Despite finishing just sixth among the eight teams in the league in runs scored, Frederick went 80-59, which was the best record in the league.

Right-hander Bobby Bundy, Dylan's older brother, went 11-5 with a 2.75 ERA, but was with Bowie when the playoffs started. Tyler Townsned led the hitters with 13 homers but missed the playoffs with an injury. Oliver Drake was 8-3 with a 2.14 ERA on that staff, and lefty Jake Petit made 10 starts, going 7-0 with a 1.62 ERA and won two more games in the playoffs. Sean Gleason had three saves in the postseason.

Check out my Zoom interview with Pohl as we look back at the 2011 Keys.