The Southern Illinois Miners have announced that radio voice and media relations director Mike Ventola will be joining the Reading Fightin Phils of the Philadelphia Phillies organization as their new radio broadcaster. Ventola had been with the Miners the past two seasons.
“I am extremely excited about my new opportunity in further pursuit of chasing my dream,” said Ventola. “My life-long dream is to become a major-league broadcaster and getting this opportunity with Reading will help me continue my quest to achieve that goal.”
The Reading Fightin Phils participate in the Eastern League and are one of the oldest minor league teams in the country. Ventola will be on the call for 142 games.
“I am extremely excited for Mike,” said Vice-President Tim Arseneau. “While I am sad to see him go, this is a great opportunity and a big step in his career. The entire Miners organization wishes him the best.”
“I am so really happy for Mike and the incredible opportunity he has ahead of him in Reading,” said Miners manager Mike Pinto. “They are known for being a top affiliated organization and this provides Mike continued growth in his career. He had worked very hard for this and I am confident he has so much more ahead of him. Personally though, I will really miss him being with us. Mike has been great to work and we have become friends in the last two seasons. I truly wish him great things ahead.”
Ventola was on the call for nearly 200 Miners games the past two seasons and witnessed multiple Miners players have their contracts purchased by major league organizations. In 2012, Ventola was on the call for the Miners’ first-ever Frontier League Championship and Mike Pinto’s achievement of 400 wins. In addition to his broadcasting duties, Ventola worked with the local media in constantly keeping them aware of the day-to-day activities surrounding the Southern Illinois Miners via press releases and interaction at RentOnePark.
“I would like to thank the Simmons Family, Vice-President Tim Arseneau and former Vice-President Erik Haag for giving me the chance to be a daily representative of the Miners,” added Ventola. “When being hired two seasons ago, the Miners took a chance on me and I am eternally grateful to them for allowing me to work for them. I have a lot of great memories that I will be taking with me.”
“In addition, I personally thank Mike Pinto, his staff and players for allowing me to be a part of the team,” Ventola said. “One of my biggest goals before I got started in Southern Illinois was to earn the trust of everyone in the clubhouse. Mike is the biggest reason why I accomplished that goal. He welcomed me from the very beginning and it allowed me to have a good working relationship with everyone in the clubhouse. There won’t be a better manager I will ever work with. As great as he is to work with, he’s a better friend. I’m proud to take that friendship with me beyond Southern Illinois.”
“The Southern Illinois Miners wouldn’t be able to operate without the best fans in the Frontier League,” Ventola said. “In my years working in minor league baseball, I have never had such great interaction with fans like the one’s here in Southern Illinois. They are passionate and are as welcoming as anyone else I have ever met in my life. I thank them for welcoming me into their homes, cars or wherever else they might have been when they listened to a game. I knew they were always right there with me.”
