FRONT OFFICE

President: Russ Rumford

Russ Rumford is the current President of the Ballantyne Smokies. He is a native of South Carolina and attended Lewisville High School located in Richburg, SC. playing three varsity sports. After High School, he attended The Citadel and graduated from Wofford College playing baseball at both schools. He has been involved for many years with Youth baseball and has coached and founded multiple Showcase and Travel baseball teams involving several age groups. Russ served as President, Treasurer and worked in Operations with the 2011 Carolina Stingers. This will be his second year serving as President of the team. Russ has worked for Bank of America for 28 years and currently resides in Rock Hill, S.C. with his wife Lisa and two children Lindsey and Brantley.

General Manager: John Spencer

John Spencer is the General Manager of the Ballantyne Smokies. Also local, John played at Independence High School and Wingate University. He also played two years of professional baseball in the Frontier League. Since his playing days, John has been the head coach at Myers Park High School and currently works for Lids. He now resides in Indian Land, SC with his wife Jamie and two kids, Lyric and Jett.

Host Family Coordinator/Social Media: J.P. Ippolito

J.P. Ippolito and his family started out a Host Family on pure coincidence.  After seeing what a life changing experience his family had he wanted to ensure that other families were given an opportunity to share in this baseball magic. J.P. took on the Host Family Coordinator role with the Carolina Stingers (Smokies) that following year.  J.P. has placed players with families for the last 4 years.  Moving from Long Island, N.Y at age 6 J.P. "grew" up down south and so did his love for baseball. J.P.'s goal is to place families with players and create a special bond that lasts well after the season is over. Not only is J.P. the Host Family Coordinator his family too is a Host Family. J.P. and his wife Melissa have two boys, Donovan and Graeson.

 Statistics: Brett Bostick

Grew up in Manchester Township, New Jersey. Pitched collegiately 4 years at St. Andrew's College. Pretty sure he struck out John Spencer and Andrew Romberger any time he faced them. Moved to Charlotte after college and is currently in sales.

Visiting Team/Umpire Liaison: John Shelton

John is entering his second year with the Smokies. He will attend Appalachian State University in the fall after graduating from Ardrey Kell High School, where he has been a manager for the Knights' Baseball program all four years. For the Smokies, John is the liaison for visiting teams when they come and play at Ardrey Kell and for all umpires working home games for Ballantyne. When your team comes to play the Smokies or if you are working one of our home games, contact John at 704-975-9663 or find him at the ballpark!

SPS, USAW: Hunter Yard

Head Speed/Strength and Conditioning coach at Orthocarolina.  Hunter Yard started the personal training program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and worked there as the head trainer over three years. He also got his Bachelor of Science in Health Fitness and Kinesiology at UNCC. He then went on to work with the men's basketball strength and conditioning program and helped with athletic training at UNCC for two years. He is a member of ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) Health Fitness Instructor and NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) and also USA Weightlifting Sports Performance and Level 1 Sports Performance Coach (USAW). "I highly enjoy what I do and always live by my motto, A healthy mind equals a healthy body." Always "be a better person, a better student and a better athlete!"

Public Address Announcer: Paul Self

Born in Portsmouth, VA, Paul moved to Charlotte at the age of 12. Throughout his childhood, Paul participated in several different sports including, soccer, baseball and basketball and in high school played soccer and basketball. Paul played soccer and men’s softball collegiately while also coaching basketball and soccer at the collegiate level.

Paul has been involved in sports even after graduation from college. He has coached several different high school sports including: football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, golf, softball and track. Paul has also been involved in the field of public addressing for several years. He was the voice of the Metrolina Christian Academy Warriors Varsity Basketball teams for many years, was a part-time public address announcer for the Charlotte Checkers and currently is the public address announcer for the Carolina Pride Varsity Football team.

I am very excited and honored to be the voice of the Smokies!

Voice of the Smokies: Will Long

Will Long is entering his second season announcing for the SCBL & his second year broadcasting for the Ballyntine Smokies. Will graduated from Reinhardt University in 2010 with a degree in Sports Information. Since his graduation from Reinhardt, Will has worked at some of the biggest sports radio stations in Atlanta. He has worked at Sports Radio 790 The Zone, where he produced shows for the midday & weekend shows, interviewed players at Atlanta Falcons training camp, & was on air occasionally. After 790, Will got a job with WREK, Georgia Tech's student station where his broadcasting career is starting to take off.

He is a co hosts of the Ramblin' Wreck Report, the all Georgia Tech sports talk show, which airs every Wednesday night from 6-7 on 91.1 fm & wrek.org. Will has also covered the men's ACC Basketball Tournament for GA Tech where he has interviewed several top college players & coaches such as Kyle Singler, Chris Singleton, & Seth Greenberg to name a few.

Will's main job at GA Tech is that he is the play by play broadcaster for GA Tech baseball. This year will be Will's second year with the jackets & has already called ACC tournament games for them! This is a dream job for Will, who wants to be a Major League Baseball broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves.

Intern: Bo Coggins

Bo Coggins is entering his first season interning with the Smokies. Bo attends Hampden-Sydney College where he was awarded the President's Scholarship. He is majoring in history and is interested in pursuing a career in Sports Management after graduation.  Bo played three years of baseball at Myers Park High School for Coach John Spencer and has always had a tremendous love for the game. He is an Eagle Scout and in his free time he enjoys playing golf and spending time with his friends and family.  He is excited about the opportunity to gain experience working in the marketing and public relations department with the Smokies this summer.

Intern: Jeff Paradis

Jeff Paradis is entering into his 1st season with the Smokies. He is a Presidential scholar at Campbell University where he is studying Trust and Wealth Management. He played baseball at Olympic High School for 4 years. He is also an assistant baseball coach at Cape Fear Christian Academy. In his spare time he enjoys fishing, camping, playing baseball, watching baseball, coaching baseball, and hanging out with friends and family. Jeff looks forward to helping out in whatever role is needed.

Web Content Manager: Doug Shipley

Doug joined the Smokies in 2013 as Web Content Manager. Doug played catcher for St. Mary's College of Maryland in the early 90's. He went on to work for the Baltimore Orioles in 1995 in their Public Relations and Player Development departments as an intern. From there, Doug earned his Masters Degree in Sport Management from the University of Georgia while working for the Bulldogs Men's and Women's basketball teams. After earning his Masters, he spent three years at Emory University in Atlanta, GA managing all athletic facilities. In 2000, Doug moved to Christopher Newport University as their first ever Director of The Freeman Center, the athletic and recreation complex. Over the next decade, Doug would hold several positions at CNU, including Assistant Athletic Director. In 2010, Doug and his wife Melissa moved to Marvin, NC as she accepted an offer to join a local Ophthalmology practice as their Pediatric Specialist. Doug is now Director of Development and Operations for the Rugby Athletic Center, a new sports complex set to open in Uptown Charlotte in the Summer of 2014. He also teaches Sports Management at Johnson & Wales University and volunteers for several different nonprofit organizations.