Charleston, WV – January 10, 2024) – Following the biggest attendance year in franchise history, the Charleston Dirty Birds are now turning their full attention to the upcoming baseball season. The team announced today the hiring of six new employees, including four whom fans might have met during the Salango Law Dirty Birds Light the Night, presented by GoMart, and one who will be the first woman play-by-play broadcaster in Charleston baseball history.

“We continue to empower women in several key leadership and supervisory roles within our organization, and adding a woman as the new and very experienced voice of our home team sends that message well beyond our ballpark and even our city,” Dirty Birds owner and CEO Andy Shea said. “I met Jill Gearin about four years ago and it's been absolutely awesome following her career nationally, locally, and industry wide. Jill's experiences and professionalism will undoubtedly continue growing our organization and community impact. We’ve put together a great team in our front office to prepare for what we hope will be a winning season on the field, throughout the ballpark and within our community.”

Jill Gearin will become the voice of the Dirty Birds’ live-streamed home games in 2024 as the first woman to be the main play-by-play announcer in the history of professional baseball in Charleston. She will also serve as the primary media contact for the team as the Manager of Media Relations, Community Engagement and Broadcasting. A softball team captain and summa cum laude graduate of Emerson College, most recently she led broadcasts and media relations for five years for the Visalia Rawhide in the California League. She’s also been the voice behind the mic for Major League Baseball’s RBI program, Arizona Fall League, Big West Conference Basketball Tournament and NFHS, which covers high school sports throughout the nation.

She joins recent hires Ana Hirschhorn, the team’s new Food & Beverage Manager, and A’ndrea Robertson, the new Office Manager, who arrived just in time to provide valuable leadership to help make Light the Night a truly special event for people attending.

Ana developed extensive experience in catering, event management, food & beverage preparation and presentation, hospitality, and personnel management in Florida over the past seven years. Most recently she directed the Catering & Events division of Delectables Fine Catering, a major special event catering company in the Tampa Bay area, following her management of banquets and supervision of food & beverage staff at Fenway Hotel, a destination hotel in Dunedin.  She also worked for two golf resorts after graduating from Johnson and Wales University.

A’ndrea is also making her first foray into professional baseball after extensive experience in human resources management, business finance and customer relations. Since 2021, she’s been a supervisor, host and customer relations leader at the Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes. She’s currently studying for two Master’s degrees:  in Clinical Psychology at Marshall University and in Human Resource Management through Southern New Hampshire University, where she also earned her Bachelor’s Degree in forensic psychology.

“As we head for home in our most recent expansion of new roles and sales executives for the 2024 season, we’re thankful to have Ana, Andi, Jill, and Lexi, joining Mackenzie in various leadership roles with our team as well as Hunter and Evan joining the sales “bullpen” to service our customers and partners at a higher level,” Dirty Birds General Manager Ben Blum said. “Each bringing their own professional and educational skill sets to best complement our existing team of accomplished industry leaders.”

With experience in rowing and professional soccer, Lexi Luke is also starting her first job in pro baseball today as the Assistant, Box Office and Merchandising.  She’s been a rowing coach for the South Orlando Rowing Association and in brand development and corporate sponsorship activation for the Orlando City Soccer Club and Orlando Pride women’s soccer team. She graduated with a sports business degree from Stetson University.

The team also has hired two new group sales executives, who are both starting their sport business careers and whom Dirty Birds fans might also have met during Light the Night.  Evan McGraw grew up in Coopers Creek in northern Kanawha County and recently received his degree in Sport Management from Marshall University, where he also served as a manager for the softball team.  Last May, Hunter Thomas earned a dual degree in both Marketing and Sport Management from Western Carolina University, where he also was president and captain of the university’s rugby team and served as a manager of the basketball team.