(March 30, 2016) With the start of the minor league baseball season just one week away, several more STAA members have accepted broadcasting/media relations assistant positions with affiliated teams. They include Kevin Gehl (Lansing Lugnuts), Marshall Kelner (Lancaster JetHawks), Jason Kempf (Dayton Dragons), Alan Key (Peoria Chiefs) and Kevin Piel (Corpus Christi Hooks).
Here is a closer look at each broadcaster:
Kevin Gehl (Lansing Lugnuts)
Gehl is adding minor league baseball to a resume that already includes play-by-play and studio work for the Big Ten Network. Gehl has been living in East Lansing, MI since 2011 when he started a four-year stint as a sports anchor/reporter for WLNS-TV With the Lugnuts, he will be calling games alongside fellow STAA member Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Gehl is a 2009 graduate of the University of Missouri.
Marshall Kelner (Lancaster JetHawks)
A 2011 graduate of USC, Kelner moves back to Southern California to join the JetHawks. A minor league baseball veteran, Kelner spent last season with the Dunedin Blue Jays. He has also served as a broadcasting and media relations assistant with the Harrisburg Senators, and worked in summer collegiate and independent baseball.
Jason Kempf (Dayton Dragons)
Like Kelner, Kempf has paid his dues in independent league baseball. He spent 2013 as an assistant with the St. Paul Saints before moving into the lead broadcasting/media position the past two summers with the Wichita Wingnuts. Kempf gained additional media relations experience with an indoor football franchise in Green Bay. He is a 2012 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Alan Key (Peoria Chiefs)
Key joins the Chiefs after spending last summer with the New Britain Rock Cats. He earned a B.A. from the University of New Mexico in 2011 before getting his Masters from Syracuse four years later.
Kevin Piel (Corpus Christi)
Piel makes the move to affiliated ball after two summers calling college games in the Great Lakes and Alaska summer leagues. A 2015 graduate of Bowling Green University, Piel gained considerable broadcasting experience while in school. He also calls various events for Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network in Toledo.
To read about more STAA members who have accepted broadcasting and media relations assistant positions this summer in minor league baseball, click here.