We have personnel news today from the Nashville Sounds (Triple-A East), the Missoula Paddleheads (Pioneer League), the Stockton Ports (High-A West) and the Danville Otterbots (Appalachian League).
Adam English is the new General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the Nashville Sounds. The announcement was made by Sounds co-owner Frank Ward.
A native of Lexington, Ky., English joins the Sounds after serving as the Vice President and General Manager for the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A East). English was with the Stripers since November of 2018.
“This is a very exciting day for the Nashville Sounds organization,” said Ward. “Adam English brings over 17 years of experience in professional baseball and is a talented and dedicated executive in the business. He brings a wealth of knowledge in leadership, corporate partnerships and fan experience to Nashville. I look forward to Adam’s relationships with our staff, fans, partners, community organizations and the Milwaukee Brewers.”
Prior to his three seasons with Triple-A Gwinnett, English was previously with the Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A West) from 2013-18. He started with Sacramento as the Director of Ticket Sales and received promotions to Senior Director of Ticket Sales and Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service.
English was with the Lexington Legends (Low A; Sally League) from 2010-13 as the Director of Ticket Sales and later the Assistant General Manager. He began his professional career in sports with Ripken Baseball in 2006.
“It’s my honor to take over as General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the Nashville Sounds,” said English. “Frank Ward and the Sounds are widely recognized as leaders not only in Minor League Baseball, but the entire sports industry. Nashville is a great sports town, and MiLB is all about community. I cannot wait to get involved in Middle Tennessee and make an even greater impact. First Horizon Park is a world-class facility and I’m dedicated to continuing to improve upon the fantastic fan experience already in place.”
English currently serves on the Board of Directors for the following organizations: Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is also a member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club and previously served on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sacramento.
English graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He comes to Nashville with his wife, Kerstin, and their son, Truett.
In Missoula, Matt Ellis is the new presidents of the Paddleheads, while Kim Klages-Johns is now the Senior Director of Sales & Retail.
With the Pioneer Legue transitioning to an MLB Partner League, the PaddleHeads were tasked finding, signing, and developing players. Ellis oversaw the creation of the PaddleHeads Baseball Operations department. Missoula put together a team that included Manager Michael Schlact and Hitting Coach Bobby Brown that finished with a record of 66-32 during the regular season which culminated with a Pioneer League Championship. Their .673 winning percentage during the regular season was the highest of any franchise in all professional baseball.
“It’s been an amazing and challenging reentry into baseball this year, and Matt and Kim were instrumental in making a championship possible during unprecedented times of uncertainty,” said owners Peter Davis and Susan Crampton-Davis. “Matt brought leadership and foresight to the hiring of the coaching staff and player operations as we moved those functions in-house as a new independent baseball franchise. Kim brought tenacious oversight to the team’s rebrand in our first official baseball season as the Missoula PaddleHeads, while also ensuring our team members were acknowledged and cared for during a challenging hiring climate. Both of their contributions, in addition to the tireless efforts of an extraordinary team, catalyzed our ability to win the Pioneer League Ellis has worked in professional baseball at numerous different levels for over 30 years and has been a part of the Missoula PaddleHeads organization as both an owner and operator since 1994. In his time in the Pioneer League, Ellis has been named League Executive of the Year four times most recently in 2011. He also has helped bring 5 Pioneer League Championships to Missoula.
“I am honored to be entrusted as President of this franchise,” Ellis said. “I thank our ownership, Peter, Susan, and Bob for their confidence in our front office team and myself to lead this franchise. My promise is that our team will continue to work hard for our community, corporate partners, fans, and team members to make PaddleHeads baseball the place to go for fun affordable family entertainment. Our goal is to provide our community a level of entertainment and community engagement that is unmatched in professional baseball.”
Klages-Johns has been in the retail industry for over 40 years owning her own business for 13 of those years. Her journey in the Missoula baseball world began when Klages-Johns joined the organization as the Retail Manager for the MSO Hub in 2011. Klages Johns would then join the sales team in 2015, and would be promoted to Director of Retail, and Community Engagement in 2018. Klages-Johns has now been a part of three Pioneer League Championship teams in her time in Missoula.
Over the past three years, Klages-Johns oversaw a franchise rebrand from Osprey to PaddleHeads, and a downtown store rebrand from MSO Hub to PaddleHeads Post. The franchise rebrand was also named the number-one rebrand in all of professional baseball in 2019. In 2021, the PaddleHeads would also set new high marks for retails sales.
Kieran McMahon is the new general manager of the Stockton Ports.
“I am delighted to welcome Kieran to the City of Stockton, and the Stockton Ports baseball team,” Ports President Pat Filippone said. ”I have had the pleasure of working with Kieran for the last three years and have been impressed by his passion for our industry and our company. I look forward to having our fan base interacting with and meeting Kieran and am confident it will be a positive and productive relationship.”
McMahon began working in sports the summer after graduating high school when he received an offer to be a play-by-play radio broadcaster in his hometown of Burlington, Washington. From there, he was asked to start selling advertisements.
After about three or four months, McMahon left for college at Washington State University, where he landed another job with a radio station doing the same thing.
While McMahon may be new to Stockton, he is no stranger to the Ports’ ownership, 7th Inning Stretch. McMahon, a Washington native, has put up an impressive career with the Everett AquaSox’s for the past three years. McMahon graduated in 2017 with a degree in Political Science and was gearing up to become a lawyer, but ultimately decided that was not for him. He took six months off and backpacked around Central and South America.
We have two promotions for the Danville Otterbots: A.J. Harper has been promoted from Ballpark Operations & Outside Events Manager to Director of Ballpark Operations & Outside Events; and Hogan May has been promoted from Ticket Sales & Experience Manager to Director of Ticket Sales & Experience.
“I know it and every member of #BOTSNation knows it—the inaugural Otterbots season wouldnot have been the same without A.J. and Hogan,” said General Manager Austin Scher. “Both of these guys deserve all the credit and recognition in the world, and I could not be prouder of them if I tried.”
Harper enters the 2022 season as his second with the Otterbots, and his first as Director of Ballpark Operations & Outside Events. Harper was responsible for the rebrand of the ballpark preceding the 2021 season and the strong community involvement over the course of team’s first calendar year. He was an integral piece of the team’s success in its inaugural campaign.
Currently, he manages all ballpark events and community appearances, all Otterbots merchandise operations, and the seasonal BOTSpitality Crew game-day staff. Harper received the 2021 PACE Award from the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.
Harper was born in Charlotte, N.C., moved to Charlottesville, Va., and eventually out to Denver for high school. He currently resides in the River District.
May enters the 2022 season as his second with the Otterbots, and his first as Director of Ticket Sales & Experience. May was responsible for season ticket, mini-plan, and group outing sales, and food & beverage operations during the 2021 season. He was a key component to fans leaving each and every Otterbots game with a smile on their face. Currently, he manages all ticket sales & strategy, food & beverage operations, and the seasonal BOTSpitality Crew gameday staff.
May, a Burlington, N.C., native, has always had a love for the game of baseball. He played from the time he was five up until he graduated high school. May was a pitcher and third baseman for his high-school team. He then went on to attend Elon University, where he got his degree in sport management with a minor in professional sales. Upon graduating from Elon in 2020, May moved to Providence, R.I., and completed a six-month internship with Mass Golf.