WEYMOUTH, Mass. (October 30, 2024) 一 For the third consecutive year, the Futures League is proud to recognize and honor its teams and front office staff members for their accomplishments throughout the 2024 season with a series of off-the-field awards.
Commissioner Joe Paolucci announced the award winners during the Futures League’s Fall Organizational Meeting, which was held on October 17 in Worcester.
This series of awards began in 2022 to recognize the best in the Futures League from a variety of categories, including broadcasting and social media, food, promotions and events, as well as annual intern and front office staff honors.
The winners were individually recognized on the Futures League’s social media channels through mid-November, culminating in the announcement of the annual Organization of the Year Award and William J. Terlecky Executive of the Year Award. The winner of the inaugural Pete Wilk Award will also be revealed.
BEST BALLPARK FOOD
Champ’s Fury Original Hot Sauce
Vermont Lake Monsters
The Lake Monsters added to Centennial Field’s concession offerings in 2023 with the addition of Champ’s Fury Original Hot Sauce, a Maple Serrano Sauce made with many local ingredients. The sauce was originally made by hand and intended to be a condiment for tacos and other items sold at the ballpark’s “Taco Barn,” but the team has since partnered with Butterfly Bakery in Barre, Vt., to bottle it and meet the incredible demand it had that summer. In addition to being a fan-favorite condiment, the sauce is now sold in bottles at the merchandise store. Over the course of the 2024 season, over 100 bottles were sold online and at the ballpark.
BEST IN-GAME PROMOTION
Twister Tornado Takeover
Worcester Bravehearts
A first-of-its-kind “evil mascot” who actively roots against the Bravehearts, Twister the Tornado has made his mark at Fitton Field over the past two seasons after initially serving as the mascot for the now-defunct Worcester Tornadoes. The team created a storyline last season that Twister was upset the city turned their back on his beloved Tornadoes, and from then on plotted against the Bravehearts. This season, however, he did so in an even bigger way, challenging the Bravehearts' own Jake the Lion to a post-game base race for the chance to "take over" a Bravehearts home game, and that is exactly what happened. Setting the stage for Twister’s takeover day, the Bravehearts released a video of Twister breaking into the clubhouse and stealing the team’s uniforms, forcing the team to wear neon green pants, their road jerseys and customized Twister the Tornado hats. The ugly uniform combination drew priceless fan reactions, and boos followed Twister winning all of the in-game promotions run by his manager. Fortunately for Bravehearts fans, Jake resumed his mascotting duties following the game, as he won a base race rematch against Twister.
BEST COMMUNITY PROMOTION
Boston Celtics Night
Westfield Starfires
In a special New England sports crossover, the Starfires celebrated the Boston Celtics’ “Banner 18” with a memorable night as part of their Fan Appreciation Weekend in August. Not only did the Starfires take the field in Celtics-themed basketball-style jerseys, but Celtics legends Cedric Maxwell and Brian Scalabrine visited Western Massachusetts to take part in a full day of festivities. Before attending the game at Bullens Field, Starfires Sports & Entertaiment hosted a luncheon in downtown Springfield for corporate partners which included a Q&A with both celebrities. Scalabrine also appeared on social media to promote Celtics Night and the Starfires’ playoff run soon after. The events earned media attention from Springfield area outlets, including Western Mass News, WWLP and MassLive.
BEST COMMUNITY PROMOTION
Worcester Red Sox Partnership
Worcester Bravehearts
The Bravehearts forming a partnership with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox was among the Vaccaro Family’s first orders of business upon officially taking over the team, marking a fresh start after the organizations had previously coexisted without interacting. On February 29, the 175th anniversary of Worcester officially becoming a city, the partnership has been a key piece to growing the game in the community. Initially based around a series of baseball clinics featuring instruction from both teams’ players, a Q&A session with youth participants and an autograph session, the partnership is only continuing to grow and has also included the WooSox introducing the entire Bravehearts roster at Polar Park before the Futures League season began in May.
BEST NON-BASEBALL EVENT
Dodd Stadium Disc Golf Series
Norwich Sea Unicorns
Running from April through October, the Sea Unicorns established a unique offseason and non-baseball game experience with the Dodd Stadium Disc Golf Series. The team created a nine-hole course on the field and in the stadium concourse, hosting a monthly series where disc golf enthusiasts and beginners alike could play 18 holes. A round consisted of completing the course twice. The inaugural event in April drew over 40 players and grew with each following month. Golfers paid a nominal fee to play and the Sea Unicorns also added a charitable component, creating the “Aces For Awareness” campaign which raised money for “Throw Pink” and other local non-profits.
BEST SOCIAL MEDIA
Nashua Silver Knights
The Silver Knights were awarded for providing a variety of consistent, engaging content throughout the summer across all of their social media channels. A scroll through the team’s feeds not only provided in-game video highlights and post-game score graphics and interviews, but showcased everything that was going on around Historic Holman Stadium. Hype videos, recap videos and photo collages gave a look into both on-field action and fans and promotions throughout the ballpark. Nashua’s social media team consisted of Grace Calandrella, Chase McTaggart, Alina Michalski and Tyler Rodriguez. Check out a sampling of their work on Instagram, TikTok and X/Twitter.
BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
Jake Klein
Worcester Bravehearts
A native of nearby Southborough who attends Syracuse University, Klein joined the Bravehearts in 2024 after spending three summers as a broadcast producer and media assistant for the Cape Cod Baseball League’s Chatham Anglers. He immediately made an impact within the organization and around the league, creating the Bravehearts’ Mixlr radio channel and broadcasting every home and road game throughout the summer. The regular schedule of road game broadcasts was the first in the Futures League in more than five years. Klein was recognized by Bravehearts staff and others throughout the league for his informative, entertaining broadcast, which was made possible through meticulous preparation on every game day.
INTERN OF THE YEAR
Dan Allison
Nashua Silver Knights
Allison spent the past three summers with the Silver Knights, starting out as the public address announcer at Holman Stadium while developing into a key member of the staff. The Arizona State University student took on a variety of duties during his tenure, including writing game scripts for stadium activities, as well as game recaps, news articles and press releases for the team’s website. This season, he also learned the Production Truck software to help produce Nashua’s broadcasts on the Futures League Network. Silver Knights GM Cam Cook said, “Dan never missed a tarp pull, attended every Silver Knight community event and even stepped in as the mascot during games and community events. He is an absolute all-star intern and will be a noticeable loss from our staff.”
STAFF MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Grace Vincent
Vermont Lake Monsters
The Lake Monsters’ Concessions Director & Assistant Merchandise Manager, Vincent has worked with the ballclub for nine seasons beginning as a teenage concessions employee before working her way up to her current invaluable role on the staff. She oversees a team of 75 day-of-game employees and manages and maintains the entire concessions operation at Centennial Field throughout the summer. Vincent has helped grow the concessions menu, including the addition of Vermont’s second “Best Ballpark Food” item with Champ’s Fury Original Hot Sauce. Vincent is tirelessly committed to ensuring that the all-important concessions operation runs smoothly, especially on many busy nights at the highest-attended ballpark in the Futures League.
For the latest Futures League news and information throughout the year, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow the league’s Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram pages.
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