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 Athletics.

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 Haenggi joined the RockHounds staff in 2013, starting out in sales and marketing. She previously served as Sports Complex Director as well. In recent years, Shelly has gained significant experience managing many areas of the business in her leadership role.

Haenggi enjoys building meaningful relationships with RockHounds clients. She is passionate about providing a positive memorable experience for our fans, with a focus on service and quality family entertainment. Offering tremendous value to RockHounds sponsors and partners is a priority to Haenggi and the team. She takes pride in being part of this strong and relevant organization.

Prior to joining our franchise, Shelly was Marketing Director for the Midland Reporter-Telegram and the Hearst Corporation, where she managed advertising and community relations, as well as graphics and production. Before moving to Midland, she ran a multi-media advertising and marketing agency in Victoria, TX, for eight years.

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

Email: [email protected]

Ray Fieldhouse joined the RockHounds in January of 1997 after working for the Everett Aquasox in 1996. Ray handles a large part of the RockHounds’ corporate sales and oversees ballpark security, operations, groundskeeping, and souvenirs.

Ray is an avid Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Cardinals fan and enjoys playing golf 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. 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]

Agustin Brizuela joined the Midland RockHounds in December 2023 as the Ticket Operations Manager. In his position, Agustin oversees all aspects of the team’s ticketing system including creating, servicing and managing events, as well as overseeing box office operations. The RockHounds are Agustin’s third team in Minor League Baseball after spending 2021-2023 with the Corpus Christi Hooks, and the 2021 season with the Rocket City Trash Pandas as an inaugural member of the team.

Prior to professional baseball, Agustin served as the operations intern for the Texas Collegiate League’s Texarkana Twins, and, as a college student, was an equipment manager for the North Texas Mean Green football team.

Agustin, a native of McAllen, TX, graduated from the University of North Texas in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation, Event and Sport Management. Outside of the ballpark he enjoys collecting records, listening to/playing music, being with friends/family, and rooting for his favorite teams (¡Vamos Argentina!).

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 2025 season will be his 5th 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 also the best golfer on the RockHounds staff.

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 the Senior Manager of Marketing and is entering his fourth season with the RockHounds. Along with his marketing duties, Zelyn oversees the media relations department where he serves as the main contact for all media outlets. He is passionate about his work and prioritizes maintaining great relationships with fans, clients, and local media.

Zelyn is a native Midlander, and is a graduate of Texas Tech University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in digital media & professional communications.

Outside of work, Zelyn enjoys traveling, golf, snowboarding (despite needing to travel 7 hours to find any snow), keeping up with Tech athletics and Dallas sports. Any free time he has, he makes the drive to Dallas to spend time with his family.

Email: [email protected]

Joey Gennusa is in his third season with the RockHounds, his second as a Sales and Picnics Operations Executive. Gennusa’s main responsibilities include creating fun and memorable times for companies, families, and sports teams at the ballpark. He is also the manager of the picnic area on gamedays. He will make sure the groups are enjoying their time at the ballpark. Joey worked as an intern for the RockHounds in 2022, which was his first year with the Midland RockHounds and in Minor League Baseball.

Joey was born in Kingwood, TX and attended The University of Texas at Tyler, where he was a graduate at in 2020. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Sports Marketing. He also played college baseball for The University of Texas at Tyler from 2016-2019 where he won a Division III National Championship.

In his free time, he loves to play video games, hangout with his friends, and watch his favorite team the New Orleans Saints disappoint him every year. When he has time, he likes to travel home to see his family and friends and spend time with them as much as possible.

Email: [email protected]

James Barela is a native of Midland and graduated from The University of Texas Permian Basin with a degree in Political Science. He is entering his second season as a Sales Executive with the Midland RockHounds and is looking forward to continuing his work with the team.

In addition to his role with the RockHounds, James serves on the board of directors and volunteers at Casa De Amigos. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, traveling to new cities, and spending time with family and friends. His favorite sports team is the Dallas Cowboys, and he also enjoys watching the NBA, WWE, and boxing.

Email: [email protected]

Savannah was born and raised in Flower Mound, Texas, and is a graduate of Texas Tech University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. Before joining the RockHounds, Savannah worked as a student assistant in the Texas Tech Athletic Department, focusing on promotions and fan engagement. Her passion for sports led her to summer internships with the Macon Bacon Baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, and the Missoula PaddleHeads in the Pioneer Baseball League.

Outside of her professional life, Savannah enjoys spending time with her perfect four-year-old German Shepherd, Oakley. She also likes reading, trying new coffee spots, and visiting family and friends.

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. Now in his 34th year (32nd season) with the franchise, Bob has called more than 4,000 games as the team’s radio voice.

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]

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]

Nicole Correia joins the Midland RockHounds from sunny San Diego, California. A former collegiate softball player, she holds a BA in Business Administration from Point Loma Nazarene University and is pursuing her Master's in Sports Administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Nicole's sports journey began with an internship at a summer collegiate baseball league in San Diego right after undergrad. She interned with the RockHounds during the 2024 season before becoming the manager of retail merchandise, having previously worked with organizations like the San Diego Padres, the San Diego Seals, and RCX Sports.

Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time with loved ones, binge-watching Netflix, connecting on social media, and relaxing with paint-by-numbers projects.

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 three granddaughters.

Email: [email protected]

Mitch Riddle is in his 8th year and 7th season with the Midland RockHounds. Mitch now serves as the head of Operations Department , after previously working as the assistant groundskeeper for 5 seasons. Mitch oversees the operations 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]

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]

Brady Hochhalter joins the RockHounds and OVG Hospitality as GM- Food & Beverage for the 2025 season. Brady spent the past 7 seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks single A team, the Visalia Rawhide, in Visalia, CA. He was an Assistant General Manager and had oversight of ballpark operations and food & beverage.

Brady played college baseball and graduated from Bethesda Christian University in Anaheim, CA where he earned a Bachelors in Sports Management. While living in Anaheim, he worked for Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.

Brady was raised in Gilbert, AZ, and is married to his high school sweetheart, Jolene. In his spare time, he likes to camp, travel, and discover new ways his beloved AZ sports teams are going to break his heart.

Email: [email protected]

Al Melville, who is entering his 8^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]