LaMontia joins MSBL team
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| Steve LaMontia, 61, of Estes Park, Colo. has joined the MSBL team. He'll report on news and write features from around the MSBL Nation and help cover major tournaments. |
MSBLNational.com Staff Reports
Steve LaMontia (pronounced La-mon-tee-uh), an MSBL player since 1993 has been hired as a reporter for at the MSBL's new on-line magazine MSBLNational.com.
LaMontia, 61, of Estes Park, Colo., will regularly visit league Web sites and directly contact managers and others throughout the country in search of MSBL-related stories and news. He will also help cover some of the MSBL's major adult baseball tournaments, will assist in planning and executing enterprise and trend stories among other duties.
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LaMontia will work closely with Jeff McGaw who took over as editor of HardBall, the MSBL magazine, in April, 2007, and who is part of the team overseeing the move to the new on-line format.
"Steve is a creative, motivated guy who knows baseball and who knows the MSBL. This is a great addition to the MSBL team,” McGaw said.
LaMontia joined the MSBL in 1993 after being introduced to the league by a friend in Fort Collins, Colo. The former University of Nebraska player homered in his first MSBL game and was hooked. |
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| LaMontia began playing in the MSBL World Series in |
MSBLNational.com editor Jeff McGaw |
Arizona in the late 1990's and won championship rings in 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010. A rotator cuff injury, from which he is still recovering, sidelined the otherwise fit LaMontia.
For the past more than one decade leading up to 2009 LaMontia worked as a church business manager, but switched careers when the church went to an all-volunteer staff. He worked in newspaper and radio after that where he was involved with sales, marketing and feature reporting and writing. Through all the years, baseball has been a passion. "Baseball has been my life forever, just like everyone reading this. To be involved with MSBL on a full time basis and be able talk baseball all day long is a dream come true."
In January the MSBL launched its new Web site and, at the same time, officially retired HardBall – the glossy, color, picture-filled magazine that had been arriving in MSBL mail boxes since Dan Piro created the publication in 1991. Though some expressed disappointment that HardBall was no longer being produced, there was overwhelming support for the on-line format and its ability to provide more stories on more leagues and players and in a more timely way.
Plans for the on-line publication began unfolding in the spring of 2011 when MSBL President and founder Steve Sigler signed a deal with Easton Pennsylvania-based Essent Corporation, a business solutions and custom software design company, to create the new Web portal.
When the portal project is complete, MSBL members will be better informed, better equipped to run leagues, and will enjoy access to content never dreamed about in the age of HardBall, according to Sigler. The on-line publication (http://www.msblnational.com/) anchors the new portal and is the most visible sign of modernization.
"The mission is to build a comprehensive portal for the MSBL community,” said Essent Corporation President Eric Alessi. "A traditional information Web site is the first layer,” he said. "That extends into creating information management tools that allow leagues to more efficiently manage their leagues,” Alessi added.
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Editor's Note:
We're always looking for good stories. If you think you have a good idea for a feature story or other news item, let us know. We'd love to hear from you.
MSBLNational.com Staff:
Jeff McGaw, Editor: msblmcgaw@comcast.net, 717 608-0817
Steve LaMontia, reporter: msbllamontia@aol.com, 970-577-0200 |
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