We have personnel news this afternoon from the Lowell Spinners (short season A; NY-Penn League), Traverse City Beach Bums (independent; Frontier League) and Augusta GreenJackets (Low Class A; Sally League).
In Lowell, Seth Distler is a new Senior Sales Executive for the Spinners.
Distler, a native of Springfield, Virginia, joins the Spinners staff after spending the previous five seasons with the Potomac Nationals (High Class A; Carolina League), where he was also a Senior Sales Executive with a focus in corporate sales and the team’s 2012 Executive of the Year. He has previous Minor League Baseball experience with the Bellingham Giants (short season A; Northwest League).
Outside of the industry, Distler has worked with a number of media outlets in a variety of roles, including the Associated Press, Westwood One/CBS Radio, the National Captioning Institute, Inc. and Federal News Service.
“We are thrilled to welcome Seth to the Spinners organization,” said Spinners President and General Manager Tim Bawmann. “Seth’s strong background and previous industry experience allowed him to stand out in this process and we look forward to his contributions to the organization.”
With the Spinners, Distler’s focus will be on ticket sales, connecting with both groups and individual ticket buyers.
Away from the ballpark, Distler is a Rotarian and Eagle Scout, and plans to remain involved with both organizations as he joins the Merrimack Valley community.
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Scott Montesano is the new Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the Beach Bums. He comes to Traverse City following six seasons with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL), where he was the broadcaster and lead sales executive. With the Buccaneers he handled all the game broadcasts, media requests, social media accounts and worked directly with corporate partners.
Additionally, he spent the previous two summers calling games for the Waterloo Bucks and five summers with the Eau Claire Express (2006-2010), both Northwoods League.
The Utica, N.Y. native is a graduate of Marist College and is relocating to the area with his wife, Angela and preschool age children, Derek and Alexia.
For the second season, all Beach Bums’ games will be broadcast live on THE BEAR 98.1 and 107.1 with Montesano’s on-air debut coming with the 2015 season opener May 15 at Evansville at 6:35 p.m.
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The GreenJackets announced the addition of Brandon Greene, Caitlyn Smith and Derek Herron to the team’s the full-time staff.
A former Richmond Flying Squirrels (Class AA; Eastern League) Director of Group Sales, Greene is the team’s new Assistant General Manager. Prior to his time with Richmond, he spent time working with Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Class AAA; International League) and got his start in baseball in with the Daytona Cubs (High Class A; Florida State League) in 2005. This season will mark his eleventh year of working in Minor League Baseball.
Smith will come on board for her first season as a full-time front office member in 2015 as the Promotions & Marketing Coordinator. Prior to the GreenJackets, Smith worked for the East Texas Pump Jacks (summer collegiate; Texas Collegiate League) and the Newberry College Athletics Department. She is on track to graduate from Newberry College in May with a degree in Communications and Graphic Design.
Joining Smith in the front office is Group Sales Executive Herron, who comes to the GreenJackets from the Atlanta Hawks as a Membership Associate. Born right here in the CSRA, Herron graduated from Presbyterian College in 2010 with a degree in Business Administration.
In addition to three new full-time staff members, the GreenJackets are adding Patrick Marshall and Zach Oliver to the sales department as sales interns.
Marshall hails from Charlottesville, Virginia. after graduating from West Virginia University in 2014 with a degree in Sports Management. This will be his fourth season in minor league baseball.
Oliver joins the team after spending the summer as a Tournament Operations Intern with the Ripken Experience-Myrtle Beach. Oliver earned a Sports Business Degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2014.
The GreenJackets are returning eight front office staff members from last season, including general manager Tom Denlinger, who will embark on his second season with the team.