We have some personnel news to report: the Tri-City ValleyCats (short season A; NY-Penn League) added three to the front office, while the Medford Rogues (summer collegiate; West Coast League) added an assistant GM.
Dan LaLonde, Anthony Pettograsso and Ben Whitehead are the new hires for the ValleyCats. LaLonde will serve as accountant, Pettograsso as promotions manager, and Whitehead as account executive. The ValleyCats have also promoted Christopher Dawson to senior account executive.
LaLonde joins the ValleyCats as their full-time accountant, after working as a box office intern for the team this past summer. LaLonde earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Communications from SUNY Plattsburgh, and went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern University in Boston.
Pettograsso, the public address announcer for the ValleyCats since 2004, will now lead the promotions team and assist with the planning and execution of entertainment at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. Prior to joining the ValleyCats on a full-time basis, he spent 12 years working in college athletics as Assistant Director of Athletic Programs at Hudson Valley Community College and Assistant Facilities & Game Operations Director for the University at Albany.
Whitehead, the teams’ newest Account Executive, comes to the ValleyCats from Oklahoma, where he spent time in various fields including customer service and journalism. He earned a Sports Management degree from Clemson University, and most recently served as an intern with ValleyCats New York-Penn League rival, the Lowell Spinners.
Dawson, a six-year veteran of the ValleyCats sales team, has been promoted to Senior Account Executive. He spent the last four years as Account Executive after joining the ValleyCats in 2008 as a sales intern. A native of Clifton Park, NY, Dawson holds a Sports Management degree from Endicott College in Beverly, MA.
The Tri-City ValleyCats now have 13 full-time employees working to prepare for the teams’ 2014 season.
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Medford native Griffin Boyd joins the Rogues as the team’s Assistant General Manager.
A product of Medford’s South High School, Boyd, 23, graduated from Western Oregon University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies and a minor in Sports Management. He most recently worked with International Sports Management in a sales capacity before returning to Medford and joining the Rogues.
Boyd played baseball at South High School, with the American Legion Medford Mustangs and at Western Oregon as well as for the West Coast League’s Corvallis Knights. He played for the Knights in 2010-11.
“Griffin is a perfect fit as we take the next step in the community,” Rogues General Manager Chuck Heeman said. “He not only has successful sales experience, he knows the Rogue Valley business and non-profit community very well and understands our product. Having played in the West Coast League, Griffin has seen first-hand the kind of entertainment product we want to provide, and the vision of what we need to do in 2014 and beyond. This is a great step for him in his young career and a great addition to our front office staff. We’ve been looking for just the right person to fit this role and we’re very fortunate to have found Griffin.”
Boyd’s focus will be on group, fundraiser and party deck ticket sales and on working to improve and expand the game day entertainment the Rogues offer every night at Harry & David Field. He joins the staff on Monday, November 4.
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