Monty Hoppel grew up in the mountains of Laurel, Montana. He attended Gonzaga University where he studied Journalism.

Monty has worked in professional baseball for 40 years. Having worked as the assistant general manager for the Tucson Toros for five years, one year with the Spokane Indians, and the last 34 years with the Midland RockHounds.

Along with his love for baseball, he also enjoys cheering on the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland A’s.

When Monty is not busy with work he can be seen around Midland giving back to the community. Active with the St. Ann’s Church as well as the Midland Chamber of Commerce. On top of working with local organizations, he’s also involved with ACTS Retreats, Dynamic Catholic, and Samaritans Purse.

Outside of the office, Monty enjoys many hobbies such as card collecting and reading books. One of his greatest loves though is traveling to cheer on his children.

Monty is married to Rita, together they have had three lovely children, Kelsey, Megan, and Bryce.

Email: [email protected]

Shelly is beginning her 10^th season with the RockHounds. She enjoys building meaningful relationships with clients and takes pride in being part of this strong and relevant organization in the community. The ‘Hounds were Texas League Champions her first four years with the club, so Shelly is hopeful for another four-peat starting with 2023!

Prior to joining our team, she was Marketing Director for the Midland Reporter-Telegram, where she managed advertising sales executives, artists and production staff. Before moving to Midland, Shelly ran a multi-media advertising and marketing agency in Victoria, TX, for eight years.

Directly out of college, Shelly spent several years in Los Angeles in marketing at Princess Cruises’ corporate headquarters as a graphic designer – and then as Creative Director for a large full service ad agency in Sacramento, CA.

Shelly grew up in Montana and attended Montana State University Billings, studying art and communications. As a young student, she initially thought she might make a living as a fine artist with sculpture, drawing and painting. Shelly soon took the more practical path of graphic design and commercial advertising, which she has a true appreciation for.

Email: [email protected]

Ray Fieldhouse joined the RockHounds in January of 1997 after working for the Everett Aquasox in 1996. Ray overseas Ballpark operations, grounds keeping, souvenirs and security as well as handling Sales for the RockHounds.

In his free time, Ray enjoys following his son Zachary’s golf career and family time! He and his wife, Laura, have 13 grandkids! And when they’re not busy with kids/grandkids lives they enjoy traveling the country for country and Christian concert events!

Email: [email protected]

Ryan Artzer serves as the Director of Tickets for the Midland RockHounds. Ryan oversees all ticket operations at Momentum Bank Ballpark pertaining to RockHounds games and special events, and manages box office operations during games. A Midland native, Ryan grew up going to Angels/RockHounds games, and eventually joined the team as a sales intern in 2018 before transitioning to his current role as Director of Tickets in October of 2019.

Ryan graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern New Hampshire University in 2019 with a Bachelors of Science in Sport Management. Outside of work, Ryan enjoys playing guitar, PC gaming, golf, traveling, attending sporting events and concerts, and spending time with his loved ones – including his mini-husky, Apollo.

Email: [email protected]

Sam serves as the Manager of Corporate Partnerships for the Midland RockHounds. Sam oversees all corporate partnerships at Momentum Bank Ballpark but does occasionally dabble in season ticket and group ticket sales. The Midland RockHounds is Sam’s first job in sports and first job out of college. Sam began in 2021 as a general intern before being brought on full-time at the conclusion of the 2021 RockHounds season. The 2024 season will be his 4th with the RockHounds.

Sam is from Kingwood, Texas, and graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2021 with a degree in Sports Business. When Sam is not at the stadium, he enjoys spending his free time golfing, playing video games or most importantly with his wife Abby and their dog Teddy. He is also a much superior slow pitch softball player to Jonathan Simmons. Sam is the second-best golfer on the RockHounds staff behind Dan Knapinski (but not for long).

Email: [email protected]

Jonathan Simmons joined the RockHounds in 2021. He has been with the team for two years and coming up on his third season and is a man of many talents (from what we hear).

• Slow Pitch Softball Champion
• Bowling Champion
• Basketball Player
• along with many others

He is a native of Midland and a lifelong RockHounds fan. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 2020 with a degree in Sports Management and a Business minor. In his spare time enjoys volunteering in the community, staying active, and being outdoors.

Email: [email protected]

Zelyn Zapata serves as a Sales and Media Relations Executive for the Midland RockHounds. Zelyn is the direct contact for all local media outlets who want to come out and cover the team. He prioritizes maintaining great and personable relationships with the sports reporters. On gamedays Zelyn also serves as the suite manager, where he assures all guests are taken care of while creating exciting and memorable times on the suite level.

Zelyn has explored many options before pursuing his dream career in sports, prior to joining the team he was a bouncer at Raider Bar across the street from Texas Tech University, worked in sales in the oilfield and even moved to Maryland for a summer where he worked as a white-water raft guide as well as a zipline guide.

Zelyn is entering his 2nd season with the RockHounds and is a native Midlander. Zelyn is a Texas Tech graduate, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Media and Professional Communication. When Zelyn is not at the stadium, he enjoys traveling and watching the Dallas Cowboys, despite the stress it causes him.

Email: [email protected]

Joey Gennusa is in his second season with the RockHounds, his first as a Sales Executive. Gennusa’s main responsibilities include creating fun and memorable times for companies, families, and sports teams at the ballpark. He is also a manager of the picnic area on gamedays. He will make sure the groups are enjoying their time at the ballpark.

Gennusa worked as an intern for the RockHounds in 2022, which was his first year in Minor League Baseball. He was a graduate at The University of Texas at Tyler in 2020, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Sports Marketing.

Email: [email protected]

New to the Midland Rockhounds, Edwin serves as a Sales Account Executive, selling season ticket packages and sponsorships. Edwin looks to create memorable experiences on and off the field. As a graduate of Texas Tech University, he received a BS in Sport management with a minor in advertising. Edwin returned to West Texas after working for the Houston Dynamo where he served as an Inside Sales Account Executive.

Email: [email protected]

Vanessa started in the Souvenir Shop here at the Midland RockHounds on the first Kid’s Day in 2017. She worked her way up to sales then manager in the Souvenir Shop. In November 2021 she was asked to become a team player as the Office Manager here at the RockHounds.

Prior to coming onboard here at the RockHounds, Vanessa had worked 13 years at Verizon doing sales and inventory. She had also worked several other places doing sales and area manager in retail businesses. At one point in here career, she taught school in the Ector County School District, where she tried her hand at teaching History to Junior High kids. She thought her career would have been in the teaching field but quickly found out that retail and office manager was more of the field in which she was cut out for in life.

Vanessa enjoys traveling, playing at Disneyland and Disney World, hiking in Colorado, taking pictures of sunsets, and enjoying life.

Vanessa grew up in Odessa attended and graduated from Odessa College with her associate degree and UTPB with her bachelor’s degree.

Email: [email protected]

Bob joined the franchise before the 1992 season with the “master plan” of spending a “few seasons” here. So much for the master plan. He is now in his 32^nd year (31^st season) as the team’s radio voice and will broadcast his 4,000^th game with the club in late June of the 2023 season.

The Seattle, Washington, native’s first job was as a traveling musician about a thousand years ago (that’s a rough estimate) and he began his broadcasting career in 1978 in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the Angels and RockHounds, he was the radio voice of the Odessa Jackalopes hockey club for the first 11 years of the club’s existence.

Along with his broadcast duties, Bob serves as the RockHounds’ Director of Publications. In 2016 he was honored to be (on the coattails of team owners Miles Prentice and Bob Richmond and general manager Monty Hoppel) named to the Texas League Hall of Fame.

Email: [email protected]

Peyton Taylor joined the RockHounds in January of 2020 after interning for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2019. She oversees all of the press box operations and game entertainment for the team and enjoys creating videos and graphics.

The Alabama native graduated from The University of Alabama with a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunication and Film and a minor in Digital Media. In her spare time Peyton loves watching horror movies, playing video games, and spending time with her husband Jacob and her cat Lily Cakes.

Email: [email protected]

Rylee Darnell grew up in Austin, Texas attending many sporting events with her dad and developing her love of sports. She attended Texas Tech University where she received her bachelor's in Electronic Media and Communications. While at Texas Tech she worked for Raider Vision where she learned about sports production and broadcasting.

In her free time, Rylee enjoys rocking out to The Beatles and watching movies. As well as cheering on the Dallas Cowboys, and spending time with her husband John, and their two dogs Abbey and Layla.

Email: [email protected]

Denessa Leary joined the RockHounds in early February 2023. She has been a longtime fan of the RockHounds and is excited to be working with the community again.

Prior to joining the team, she was an Accountant at Trinity School of Midland. She attended The University of Permian Basin where she earned both her BBA and her MBA.

In her free time Denessa enjoys movies, family, outdoors, and her dog Stormy. Denessa has three daughters and two grandchildren.

Email: [email protected]

Al Melville, who is entering his 7^th year with the RockHounds, serves as Concessions Manager of OVG Momentum Bank Ballpark and oversees all concessions and picnic operations, in addition to also overseeing Astound football stadium concessions and Sr. Manager for all special events.

Al worked for the Professional Sports Catering in Dayton, Binghamton, and Hartford as concession supervisor, before joining the Midland RockHounds in 2017. Before that Al was working with Oak Hill Country Club where he was supervisor for special events working with Cheol Kessler and garde cook for four years under Master Chef Dan Scannell and Executive Chef Chris Roth. While at Oak Hill, Al had the pleasure to work the 95^th PGA Championship.

He obtained a Sports Management degree from St. John Fisher University in Rochester NY, in 2016.

Al is originally from Rush, NY. When Al is not at the ballpark, he is on the board of Directors for the Green Hill Terrace Pool, playing golf, backpacking, skiing, and volunteering on the BSA Buffalo Trails Council.

Email: [email protected]

Dan Knapinski is the Director of Operations and has been with the RockHounds since January of 2020. He oversees everything happening in and around the ballpark, including ballpark operations, maintenance, events, working with the City of Midland and additional behind-the-scenes efforts.

Dan has worked in amateur and professional baseball since graduating from Ohio Northern University with a degree in Sport Management in 2015. Previous stops include the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in Torrington, Connecticut, the California Winter League in Palm Springs, California, and with the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins at their complex in Jupiter, Florida.

Dan is from Neenah, Wisconsin and when not at the stadium, enjoys playing golf, working out, bar trivia, traveling, collecting sneakers, blackjack, college football, and watching his beloved Milwaukee Bucks.

Email: [email protected]

Brian Mitchell has been leading The RockHounds grounds department since 2021. Spending most of his professional life in the agronomic field, he has a passion for maintaining world-class playing surfaces for professional and collegiate athletes. Brian is owner to the Hounds' unofficial team dog, Dirk. When he’s not at work he enjoys spending time with family and traveling in his Winnebago RV.

Email: b[email protected]

Mitch Riddle is in his 7th year and 6th season with the Midland RockHounds. Mitch serves as the Assistant Groundskeeper, where he assists in overseeing the grounds and maintenance at Momentum Bank Ballpark. He is a West Texas native and a 2017 graduate of Permian High School. In the offseason Mitch enjoys attending sporting events and spending time with his family.

Email: [email protected]