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Personnel news from Lake County, Lowell

lake-county-captainsWe have personnel news today from the Lake County Captains (Low A; Midwest League) and the Lowell Spinners (short season A; NY-Penn League).

At Classic Park, Matt Fox, Andrew Luftglass, Brent Pozza, Kevin Shiley and Christo Wallace have all accepted positions with the club in recent months and will be taking on various responsibilities as the Captains prepare for its 14th season in Eastlake.

Luftglass has been named the Captains Play-by-Play Radio Broadcaster and Assistant Media Relations Manager, bringing with him four years of experience in professional baseball. Andrew began his career in 2012 as the voice of the Burlington Royals (rookie; Appalachian League). During his time in Burlington, the Denison University alum also served a dual-role as Media Relations Manager of the independent Can-Am League. Following a two-year stint in Burlington, Luftglass served as a Broadcasting and Media Relations Assistant for the Brevard County Manatees (High A; Florida State League). Last season, the Montclair, N.J. native became the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations of the Sussex County Miners (independent; Can-Am League.

Fox joins the Captains as a Ticket Sales Account Executive following his graduation from Bowling Green State University where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and a minor in Marketing. At BGSU Matt worked for the athletic department as a marketing intern and also interned with the Captains Promotions Department in 2014.  The Mentor, OH native interned for the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.

Pozza has also been named a Ticket Sales Account Executive following two seasons as an intern for the Captains in both the Promotions and Ticket Sales Departments. Prior to the Captains, the Willoughby, OH native interned with SportsTime Ohio and worked as a high school sports reporter in Ashland, Ohio. He graduated from Ashland University in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Communication. Brent is currently enrolled in Cleveland State’s MBA program where he will be obtaining his MBA in Marketing in the summer of 2016.

Shiley joined the Captains last Fall as a Corporate Sales Executive following two years as an Intern in the Marketing and Corporate Partnerships Departments of the Cleveland Indians. The Avon Lake, OH native graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management, where he also played rugby. Following graduation, Kevin attended Kent State University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Sport and Recreation Management in December of 2012. Kevin also enjoyed internships with the Lake Erie Crushers (independent; Frontier League) and the Cleveland State University Recreation Center while completing his education.

Wallace has been named Field Turf Manager of the Captains bringing a wealth of professional experience to the position. The Lake County native spent the 2015 season as the Assistant Grounds Keeper for the Captains and also enjoyed earning considerable experience as a member of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns and Mahoning Valley Scrappers (short season A; NY-Penn League) field turf teams in recent years. Christo graduated from The Ohio State University with a Turf Management certification.

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After 18 seasons with the Lowell Spinners, Jon Goode, the team’s Executive Vice President of Communications, has announced he will not be returning for the 2016 season in order to pursue other opportunities.

“Goodie” will be shifting his focus to running his business, KBK Sports, on a full-time basis. KBK is a high quality sports memorabilia service that specializes in running silent auctions for charitable causes. These auctions have been seen not only at Spinners games but throughout New England as well.

Among his many accomplishments with the Spinners, some of his greatest ideas consist of introducing the Yankee Elimination Program, a program in which over 100 local youth baseball teams changed their name from the “Yankees” to the “Spinners.” The program received recognition from national outlets including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and CNN.

Goode also was the brains behind several Guinness World Records, including the world’s largest game of “Duck, Duck, Goose,” and “The Human Home Run,” an event in which the Spinners shot a person out of a cannon and over the outfield wall between games of a doubleheader.

“Jon is one of the most creative people I’ve ever been around.” said Spinners General Manager Tim Bawmann. “He has helped put Lowell on the map in Minor League Baseball as one of the most respected promotional teams in the country. He will be sorely missed.”

Goode will continue to serve as a special consultant for the Spinners though his main focus will be on KBK, whose offices recently relocated to Nashua, NH. His responsibilities with the team will shift over to Connor Sullivan, who joined the front office in November as the team’s Creative Services Representative.

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