Futures League Recognizes 2025 Team & Staff Award Winners

ROCKLAND, Mass. 一 For the fourth consecutive year, the Futures League is proud to recognize and honor its teams and front office staff members for their accomplishments throughout the 2025 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 last month in Lowell.

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 will be individually recognized on the Futures League's social media channels throughout the month, 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 second Pete Wilk Award will also be revealed.

BEST BALLPARK FOOD
Lake Monsters Pizza
Vermont Lake Monsters

A fan favorite in Burlington, Lake Monsters Pizza already earned the inaugural Best Ballpark Food honors in 2022 and remains a centerpiece of the Lake Monsters experience. An Italian-made, custom Lake Monster-colored Neapolitan pizza oven made its Centennial Field debut in 2021 and has been a fan favorite ever since. People travel from near and far for a taste of the best pizza in Vermont. The pizzas feature handmade dough and cook at 720 degrees, with over 300 made per home game with cheese, pepperoni and mushroom toppings. 

BEST IN-GAME PROMOTION
Return of the Nashua Pride & Butch Hobson
Nashua Silver Knights

On June 27, the Silver Knights rebranded as the Nashua Pride for one night and celebrated the former independent league team that called Historic Holman Stadium home from 1998-2008. Former Pride manager Butch Hobson returned to the dugout and joined the Silver Knights' coaching staff during the game, which was played before a jam-packed crowd of over 3,000 fans. The night also featured appearances by other Nashua legends like Rich 'El Guapo' Garces, Glenn Murray, The World Famous Monkey Boy and several other former Pride players, owners and staff. 

Jonathan Papelbon's One-Day Contract
Westfield Starfires

The Starfires signed Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer, 2007 World Series champion and six-time MLB All-Star Jonathan Papelbon to a one-day contract on Aug. 8, bringing a level of excitement and prestige rarely seen at the summer collegiate level and creating an unforgettable experience for fans across Western Massachusetts. Papelbon's starting pitching appearance for the Starfires drew cheers from a sold-out Bullens Field, but the festivities also featured both VIP and public ticketed meet-and-greet sessions before the game. 

BEST COMMUNITY PROMOTION
All-Star Communities Donation Drive
Worcester Bravehearts

While hosting the 2025 Futures League All Star Game at Polar Park, the Bravehearts made an impact bigger than the game with the All-Star Communities Donation Drive. Each Futures League team hosted a school supply drive to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Worcester prior to the All-Star Game, where over $800 worth of supplies were brought together to help local students go back to school prepared. The program was created to be an annual event, allowing it to benefit all of the communities the Futures League calls home.

BEST NON-BASEBALL EVENT
Camp Ta-Kum-Ta Softballathon
Vermont Lake Monsters

In the continuation of an annual tradition, the Lake Monsters hosted the Camp Ta-Kum-Ta Softballathon at Centennial Field. The 12-hour softball game supports Camp Ta-Kum-Ta, which provides challenging, extraordinary experiences in a safe and loving environment for children in Vermont and northern New York who have or have had cancer. Donations allow year-round programs benefitting the children and their families to be provided at no cost, including over $50,000 raised since the event was started.

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA
Vermont Lake Monsters

The Lake Monsters' social media accounts featured informative and entertaining content while growing their following on Instagram and Facebook throughout the summer. Pre-game and post-game updates helped Vermont fans stay on top of the action, while fun, behind-the-scenes video content and promotional night and sponsored items were also staples of the team's accounts. The team's top post of the year was a parody ESPN "breaking news" graphic of Juan Soto during his free agency, which drew major buzz and engagement.

BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
Adam Plager
Norwich Sea Unicorns

Working in conjunction with local partner SNSN Sports, Plager has taken Norwich's broadcasts to a new level in two summers. The Sea Unicorns' home game streams integrated new pregame show features and advertising sponsorship spots, but Plager also took to the road quite often to provide an audio broadcast for Norwich fans if they were not tuned into the home broadcast. His tireless work ethic also had him writing game recaps for the team website, as well as compiling statistics for Sea Unicorns and opposing players. Plager was also selected to call two NESN games, including the All-Star Game at Polar Park in Worcester.

INTERN OF THE YEAR
Gabby Reinbold
New Britain Bees

Reinbold joined New Britain's intern team as a student-athlete playing softball at Wheaton College, where she found out about the opportunity through fellow Wheaton athletes and Bees pitchers Evan Mello and Ben Oliveira. She played a leading role in the team's social media efforts, taking high-quality photographs and building a great relationship with the team on the field that was showcased in interactive and behind-the-scenes content on a revived TikTok page. 

Henry Ramey
Vermont Lake Monsters

Ramey spent his second season in Vermont as a Promotions & Operations Assistant. In this role, he led grassroot marketing efforts by delivering pocket schedules to local businesses, ran the Bat Kid Program for kids and executed in-game promotions at all home games. He was also a key member of the team's ballpark operations, conducting setup and takedown and coordinating jersey auctions and promotional nights. He is entering his senior year at Coastal Carolina University, where he hopes to bring this past season's experience to impact the school's athletic department. 

STAFF MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Nick DiLello
Vermont Lake Monsters

DiLello has been with the Lake Monsters since 2019, rising from game day staff to front office leadership with his current position of Director of Tickets & Group Sales. He has contributed to a major increase in group sales attendance in recent years, created new programs to retain and grow corporate sponsorship and season ticket members, and played a key role in the team's community efforts, raising money for local schools, sports teams and nonprofits. DiLello's hard work, creativity and commitment to the Lake Monsters have made a lasting impact on the team and the community.

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.