We have personnel news to report from the Visalia Rawhide (High A; California League) and the Charleston RiverDogs (Low A; Sally League).
In Visalia, the Rawhide promoted Mike Candela and Julian Rifkind to co-General Managers. Former General Manager Jennifer (Pendergraft) Reynolds stepped down on Monday.
“Jennifer announced this week she wanted to resign in order to spend more time with her family. We support her decision and wish her the best in the future,” said Sam Sigal, co-owner of the Rawhide. “Jennifer was a huge reason the Rawhide have been successful, and we are thankful to her 13 years of dedication. We are excited to move forward with the baseball season being less than two months away and we know the Rawhide, under the current staff and leadership, will continue to be successful.”
The Rawhide will now have the leadership of Rifkind and Candela. Rifkind is originally from Brooklyn, NY and moved to Visalia for the 2015 season as an intern, working his way up the ladder on the baseball and ballpark operations side of the organization. He was awarded the Assistant General Manager position in October of 2019.
Like Rifkind, Candela is originally from Brooklyn, NY and moved to Visalia in 2008 to take over the ticketing operations at that time. He spent five years in Visalia before the Bakersfield Blaze (High A; California League) and working his way up to General Manager of that organization. After Bakersfield, Candela accepted a Vice President position with the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low A; Midwest League). Wanting to be closer to his wife’s family in the Visalia area, Candela recently re-joined the Rawhide in October as Assistant General Manager.
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In Charleston, the RiverDogs have hired Emily Lemmon and James Holloway as group sales account executives.
Lemmon joins the RiverDogs after serving as the Director of Events and Sales at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco for parts of the last four years. While with the hall of fame, she coordinated induction ceremonies, planned events, solicitated sales and developed marketing and social media plans.
The graduate of Western Michigan University also previously spent time as Event Coordinator for the ClubCorp Baylor Club inside McLane Stadium on the Baylor University campus. In this role, Lemmon coordinated private events and managed the executive suites on football game days.
“Emily’s positive attitude and enthusiastic approach to sales are both qualities that we are excited to add to our organization,” said RiverDogs President and General Manager Dave Echols. “Her unique experience at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame will provide us with a great new perspective in our ticketing department.”
Holloway makes his way to the Lowcountry from Atlanta where he held the title of Sales Account Executive for the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL since 2018. He was responsible for the Gladiators group sales department as well as selling corporate partnerships.
Prior to working in hockey, Holloway occupied a variety of different roles in professional baseball. He began as a sales and marketing intern with the Texas AirHogs (independent; American Association) before becoming the box office manager for the Great Southwest Collegiate League. Holloway was assistant to the President of the Texas League in 2017 before joining the Memphis Redbirds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) as a group sales account executive. He earned a bachelor’s degree in History and Anthropology from Baylor University and received his master’s degree in Sports Management from Dallas Baptist University.
“James brings with him a wealth of experience in minor league sports and his recent work in Atlanta speaks for itself,” stated Echols. “We believe he will enhance the experience we are able offer to our groups going forward.”
In addition to bringing on Lemmon and Holloway, current staff member Daniel Armas was promoted to senior account executive.