Wild Things Announce Two Staff Promotions
WASHINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 14) – The Washington Wild Things, who are celebrating 20 years of Frontier League Baseball this year, announced that two employees have been promoted within the organization.
Travis Pettit has been named Assistant General Manager of Facility Operations and Kyle Dawson will assume the role of Assistant General Manager of Baseball Operations.
Pettit, a recent graduate of Penn State University, where he graduated Cum Laude, took a summer job as a concession stand worker in 2016. The rest is history…. he began his Wild Things’ journey when he was promoted to a Concessions Supervisor during the summer of 2018, the year he graduated from Beth-Center High School and started his college career. In 2019 Pettit co-managed the Food and Beverage and Merchandise departments. He continued to assume responsibilities within the organization and showed his business acumen, impressing the senior management team of the Wild Things.
“It’s hard to believe that Travis has been working here since he was a high school student,” said executive director Steven Zavacky. “His work ethic is superb. He worked two jobs while he went to college so he could graduate debt free. How many people can say they did that? Travis has been a great addition to our staff, and we know he’ll be a shining star as we start our second 20 years.”
Dawson is best known as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Washington Wild Things, but his duties go beyond the broadcast booth. His tenure with the Wild Things started in 2015 and has included duties as an official scorer, scoreboard operator, on-field emcee, media relations manager and ticket account executive for the organization. He was honored in 2019 and 2021 by the league when he received the Robert Ford Award, which is awarded annually to the league’s Broadcaster of the Year in a vote by on-field staff, general managers, broadcasters and media members.
Dawson played high school baseball for the Plum High School Mustangs before heading to Waynesburg University where he studied Communications. He served in a multitude of roles at Waynesburg, including serving as the producer and as a broadcaster for the Waynesburg University Sports Network, general manager of WCYJ-FM, the school's student radio station, sports director for WCTV, the school's TV station and assistant sports editor for The Yellow Jacket, the school's newspaper.
“Kyle began his career at Wild Things Park as an intern and has advanced to the role of Assistant General Manager. He loves sports, especially Pittsburgh sports,” said president and general manager Tony Buccilli. “Each year he has assumed additional responsibilities in areas where he may not have been comfortable. He has used those opportunities to learn about the many facets of the business of sports, and he has excelled. He earned this promotion, and we are proud of his successes.”
“The Washington Wild Things organization will celebrate its history throughout the summer of 2022, and those of us who have been here since the team’s inception will savor those memories; but promoting Kyle and Travis into these new roles is exciting because they are the future of the organization,” added Zavacky.
The Wild Things will kick off their 20th Frontier League season May 13 at home against the New York Boulders. The full schedule is available at washingtonwildthings.com. The team will announce its promotional schedule March 14, but look out for some big announcements prior to that.
