Paint Tab John Penn as Field Manager for 2021

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The Chillicothe Paints have named John Penn as the team’s next Field Manager for the 2021 season which begins May 27th.

“I’m just very thankful and humbled for the doors that have opened up for me to be able to take this role” Penn stated in a team press release. “I’m looking forward to a great season. The Paints are a team with high standards and, technically speaking, are the defending champs.”

Penn fills the vacancy left by the departure of Brian Bigam last week (Brian Bigam Steps Down as Paints Field Manager) and becomes the team’s ninth field manager since the organization took the field in 1993.

Penn is currently an assistant coach at Bryant & Stratton Community College in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The 2010 graduate of Zane Trace High School, Penn earned his degree at Wabash College. Penn was a relief pitcher and a member of the 2011 team that won the North Coast Athletic Conference at VA Memorial Stadium that year.

“I’ve celebrated high school District Championships at VA Memorial Stadium and celebrated Wabash’s first NCAC Championship in school history on that field,” Penn said. “I have a ton of great memories stretching back to being a little kid going to Paints [youth baseball] camps. It’s all a little surreal that I’m going to be at the helm of a team in a town I grew up in.”

Prior to joining the staff at Bryan & Stratton, Penn spent two seasons with NCAA D1 Old Dominion working with catchers and hitters. The Monarchs reached the CUSA tournament and their catcher was selected in the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft by the Chicago Cubs.

Before his time at Old Dominion, Penn spent two seasons with Iowa Western Community College, working with catchers and hitters and assisting in recruiting. While in the IWCC, the Reivers earned a spot in the JUCO World Series in 2018 and produced 20 NCAA DI signees, 9 DII signees and three MLB draft picks.

The defending Prospect League Champion Chillicothe Paints open the 2021 season Thursday May 27th with the Lafayette Aviators at 7:05pm at VA Memorial Stadium.