Legends to Host Female Minor League Baseball Broadcasters Event

WHITAKER BANK BALLPARK (Lexington, KY) - The Lexington Legends are excited to host a one-of-a-kind event, Female Voices: The Women Broadcasting Minor League Baseball at Whitaker Bank Ballpark on March 7^th at 6pm. This event will feature four women currently broadcasting Minor League Baseball: Emma Tiedemann (Lexington Legends), Kirsten Karbach (Reading Fightin Phils), Jill Gearin (Visalia Rawhide) and Melanie Newman (Salem Red Sox).
"There has never been an event like this before and we are very excited to have these talented women together at our ballpark. In the last five years, the Legends have had two South Atlantic League Female Executives of the Year Award recipients while currently, half of the management positions in our organization are held by females," said Legends President/CEO, Andy Shea. "In addition, we are extremely proud to be one of the very few woman-owned professional sports teams. In a position historically dominated by males, we are thrilled to have Emma Tiedemann, 2019 South Atlantic League Media Relations Director of the Year award winner, representing our team and this glass ceiling breaking group of women."
Tickets are $25 and available by visiting www.lexingtonlegends.com or calling 859-422-7867. Event ticket includes entry to the event, food provided by Bluegrass Catering and one drink ticket. Doors open at 5pm for cocktail hour and the program begins at 6pm in the Kentucky Ale Taproom at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Attendees will be able to meet and chat with the four broadcasters during the cocktail hour and after the event.
Emma Tiedemann is entering her third season as the Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations for the Legends, after becoming the first female broadcaster in South Atlantic League history in 2018. In 2019, Tiedemann was awarded Media Relations Director of the Year by the South Atlantic League following another SAL Championship for the Legends. During the offseason, she is the voice of Morehead State University Women's Basketball on ESPN+ and radio. Prior to moving to Kentucky, she spent 2017 with the St. Paul Saints, an independent professional baseball team, as the Broadcast and Media Relations Assistant. Tiedemann was the first female broadcaster in the West Coast League, as well as, the Great West League. She was the solo broadcaster for the Medford Rogues, a summer collegiate team in Southern Oregon, during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. She spent 2014 in Palmer, Alaska with the Mat-Su Miners, another summer collegiate team. Tiedemann graduated from the University of Missouri in 2015 with a degree in Secondary Education with a minor in history and a multicultural certificate.
Kirsten Karbach is entering her ninth season broadcasting Minor League Baseball, and second as the play-by-play voice of the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils. Karbach joined Reading from the Phillies Advanced-A affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers, where she spent five years as the Threshers Play-by-Play Broadcaster and Media Relations Assistant from 2014-2018, following an internship in 2013. Karbach has broadcasted Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training, the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup, the American Athletic Baseball tournament, and college softball for ESPN3, and also served as a freelance writer for MiLB.com. Karbach began her career in Minor League Baseball as a broadcast intern with the Charlotte Stone Crabs in 2012, and graduated from the University of South Florida with a B.A. in Mass Communications. The Florida native joined the Reading Fightin Phils as the team's Director of Public/Media Relations and Broadcaster in February, 2019.
Jill Gearin grew up in Hermosa Beach, CA and fell in love with softball and baseball at a young age. Her father instilled in her a love for Boston sports teams, especially the Red Sox and Fenway Park. After graduating from Bishop Montgomery High School in 2014, Jill went to Emerson College in Boston, where she earned her degree in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Sports Communications and a focus in Marketing Communications. At Emerson, Jill started all four years on the softball team and was the captain her senior year. In Boston, she worked as the Booth Statistician for the Boston Red Sox Radio Network while also interning for the Pawtucket Red Sox. Jill began her broadcasting career with the Futures Collegiate Baseball League with the Nashua Silver Knights. She is now entering her second year as the voice of the Advanced-A Visalia Rawhide. In her inaugural season, Jill earned a ring when the Rawhide broke a 41-year championship drought.
Melanie Newman led the first all-female booth in professional baseball this season and served as a sideline reporter in the first all-female broadcast in FBS-division football. She is currently the lead broadcaster for the Salem Red Sox, Boston's A+ affiliate. Melanie also reports for the ACC Network, the World Axe Throwing League and American Cornhole on ESPN, Liberty University through ESPN and LFSN, GameDay Radio and Major League Baseball Data Operations. She is a former play-by-play broadcaster for Texas Rangers AA affiliate in Frisco, reporter for the Big South Conference, host for Troy University, host for WKSY-TV, Media Communications Coordinator for the Arizona Fall League, announcer, host and correspondent for the Mobile BayBears (ARI-AA), and reporter for the ASun Conference and Sun Belt Conference. A Troy University graduate, Melanie majored in Broadcast Journalism and earned a double minor in Leadership Studies and Sports Information.  
The Legends, a Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and member of the South Atlantic League, play all home games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, Kentucky. The Legends are three-time SAL champions, going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. For ticket information, call (859) 422-7867 or visit LexingtonLegends.com