Jared Orton
President
Jared began working with Fans First Entertainment with Savannah’s sister team in Gastonia, NC. while he completed his degree in Sport Management at Belmont Abbey College. While with the Grizzlies, attendance grew to new heights for the franchise as Jared began to tap into new niches of fans in the marketplace. After the 2013 season in Gastonia, Jared became the Assistant General Manager of his hometown Burlington Royals.
Because of a relentless focus on entertainment and ticket sales, the Royals were fortunate to see tremendous growth in attendance and revenue during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Jared is now taking those experiences, along with the experiences of Fans First Entertainment, to develop a value-packed, non-stop, entertainment experience for Savannah fans. Jared currently lives in Savannah with his wife, Kelsey. Click here to meet Jared!
Berry Aldridge
Vice President
Hometown:
Swainsboro, GA
Swainsboro, GA
College:
Armstrong State University
Armstrong State University
Favorite Quote: "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains." - Ebbie Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh
Interesting Fact: Was chased out of the woods by a mama black bear with cubs.
Berry joined the Banana family full time after interning with the team during the 2016 season. He is now going into his 6th season with the team and has taken on the role of Vice President. He is originally from Swainsboro, GA, where his father coached baseball and his mother taught English Literature. He attended Armstrong here in Savannah, GA on a baseball scholarship and earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. Berry’s favorite thing about the Bananas is getting to meet and build relationships with so many awesome and interesting people in this community. Click here to meet Berry!
Patrick Briody
Director of Group Tickets
Hometown:
Bluffton, SC
Bluffton, SC
College:
Coastal Carolina University
Coastal Carolina University
Hobbies: Golfing, reading, and dressing up as a banana.
Favorite Song: Free Bird- Lynyrd Skynyrd
After spending the 2016 inaugural season as an intern with the Savannah Bananas, Patrick accepted the opportunity to be a full-time employee as the Banana’s Group Sales Coordinator. He looks forward to selling out games at Historic Grayson Stadium and giving local groups in the community the experience of a lifetime. Click here to meet Patrick!
Devon Ashton
Group Experience Coordinator
Hometown:
Hudson, OH
Hudson, OH
College:
University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
Favorite Promotion: Sing in the Blank
Favorite Food: Chicken Fingers
After interning with the Bananas during the summer of 2017, Devon is excited to be back with the Bananas full time! Following her graduation from the University of South Carolina, Devon worked as an event coordinator in beautiful Hilton Head Island, SC. Her passion for helping create amazing experiences for people will spearhead her efforts to take care of Bananas fans at games this season! Click here to meet Devon!
Carson Bowen
Member Experience Coordinator
Hometown:
Apex, NC
Apex, NC
College:
UNC Wilmington
UNC Wilmington
Favorite Sweet: Ice Cream Sandwiches
Favorite Movie: Dumb and Dumber
After 7 years in the industry, Carson is excited to be part of the Bananas front office team and dial in on Member Experiences! A proud graduate of UNC-Wilmington, Carson wants to camp in every state in America before he is 30. He will bring his wealth of useless music knowledge and curious spirit to Savannah, where he will strive to become the town’s leading expert on local eateries, Bananas tickets, and coffee shops.
Prior to joining the Bananas, Carson helped revitalize his previous team in Wilmington, NC by reinventing the game day experience for fans and doubling attendance from when he first joined the organization as a play-by-play commentator until he finished up his days with the organization as General Manager.
Lizzy Mackerty
Director of Merchandise
Hometown:
Hamilton, OH
Hamilton, OH
College:
Ohio University
Ohio University
Favorite Promotion: Dancing in the dark
Favorite BallPark Food: Chicken Sandwiches
Lizzy moved to Savannah in the summer of 2015. She loves the southern charm and all the excitement Savannah has to offer. Lizzy enjoys helping children & families make the best memories possible at Grayson Stadium by coordinating host families, child & adult birthday parties, and both Savannah Bananas baseball camps. She also runs our Merchandise Department! You can always find her in the Banana Stand during games. She looks forward to another successful season full of amazing fans and great baseball! Click here to meet Lizzy!
Katy Dix
Employee Experience Coordinator
Hometown:
Newtown, PA
Newtown, PA
College:
James Madison University
James Madison University
Guilty Pleasure Pandora Station - Justin Bieber's Christmas Album
Favorite Spot in Grayson - Top Deck
Katy was born and raised an Eagles fan right outside Philadelphia, PA. She spent her time after college traveling all over the country doing a variety of marketing and front office jobs before joining the Bananas in the summer of 2019. Katy’s excited to take her passion for working with people to the Bananas as she provides the best possible “start to finish” experience for our interns and staff. Want to be a part of the Bananas family? She’s your go-to! Click here to meet Katy!
Marie Gentry
Fans First Director
Hometown:
Greensboro, NC
Greensboro, NC
College:
Gardner-Webb University
Gardner-Webb University
Favorite Promotion: Guess-Your-Spouse
Favorite Quote: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." -Colossians 3:23
Marie moved to Savannah in 2015 to help Fans First Entertainment launch the new team and has been blessed to see the Banana Pandemonium unfold since day one. She’s proud to call Savannah home now and looks forward to seeing how the Bananas can continue to bring this great community together. Click here to meet Marie!
Kara Heater
Marketing Director
Hometown:
Savannah, GA
Savannah, GA
College:
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University
Favorite Movie: Holes
Favorite Restaurant: Cancun on Wilmington Island
Kara joined the Bananas family after interning during the 2018 season. She is a Savannah, GA native and is pumped to be back in her home city. Her favorite things about marketing include being able to create fun content and engage with the fans on social media. In her down time, she enjoys listening to some tunes and relaxing at the beach.
Johnathan Walters
Stadium Operations Coordinator
Hometown:
Wilmington, DE
Wilmington, DE
Favorite Drink: Arnold Palmer
Favorite Type of Food: Sushi
Johnathan has lived in four different states in his life, but has lived in Savannah for over a decade now. He graduated from a local high school, Benedictine Military School, in 2016. He started working for the Savannah Bananas in 2017 as one of the first ever parking penguins. He worked the following two seasons as a bartender at Top Deck and in Stadium Club. He was offered a seasonal full-time position for the 2020 season which then led him to a year round full-time position as the Stadium Operations Coordinator. He is thrilled to continue on this journey with the Bananas and to continue putting smiles on the faces of our fans!
Matt Powell
Finance Director
Hometown:
Soperton, GA
Soperton, GA
College:
University of Georgia
University of Georgia
Favorite Movie: The Final Season
Favorite Meal: Hot sauce with a little chicken.
Matt accepted the opportunity to join the Bananas family as a seasonal Ticket Experience Coordinator during the 2018 season and recently accepted the position full-time. Matt spent his time at the University of Georgia yelling and cheering on the Bulldogs. Now in Savannah, he looks forward to bringing his passion for entrepreneurship and love for sports to ensure the greatest fan experience at Historic Grayson Stadium. Click here to meet Matt!
Nick Freeman
Video Production Coordinator
Hometown:
Douglas, GA
Douglas, GA
College:
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University
Favorite Movie: Emperor's New Groove
Favorite Sweet Treat: Oreos
After being brought on as an intern prior to the 2020 season, Nick was happy to accept a full time position on the Bananas team. He enjoys being able to capture the awesome Fans First moments that happen within Grayson Stadium and thinks a big perk to the job is the people he gets to work with. When he’s not filming or taking pictures at the stadium, he likes going for runs and playing with his doggo, Indi.
Biko Skalla
Broadcast Entertainer
Biko joined the Bananas as the Broadcast Entertainer for the 2020 season and before the summer was over had accepted a part-time job to produce Bananas content throughout the offseason and return for the 2021 campaign. Hailing from Saugerties, New York, Biko came to Savannah after a couple years at MLB/NHL Network where he was a Broadcast Associate and then an Associate Producer. A Syracuse University graduate, Biko bleeds orange and prides himself a scholar of New York Yankees history. When he’s not broadcasting baseball, you can often find him on his dad and stepmom’s farm in Saugerties playing with the dogs or sharing baseball cards with the goats.
Ben Sheffield
Director of Film & Production
Hometown:
Eastman, GA
Eastman, GA
College:
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University
Favorite Superhero: Batman
Favorite Thing Ever: Ranch Dressing
After interning with the Bananas during the 2016 season, Ben accepted the offer to become a full time employee and create videos for the Bananas year round. He is hungry to produce more professional, viral content that will get everyone talking about the Bananas! Outside of filming and editing, Ben loves to write, record, and perform original music.
Emily Cole
Owner
Favorite Things: Guys in yellow tuxes, running, books on positivity, mac and cheese, family time, craft beers and traveling.
Prior to her work with Fans First Entertainment which began in 2011, Emily spent time with Ripken Baseball and the Augusta GreenJackes as well as the Vermont Lake Monsters and the Binghamton Mets. Emily graduated from SUNY Oneonta in upstate NY where she studied Communications with concentrations in Marketing and Public Relations.
Emily works with the full time staff, interns, and hundreds of game day staff workers to focus on the culture and atmosphere of each event held at their ballparks.
After the birth of their son, Maverick, Emily has stepped back a little from every day operations to raise Mav and oversee their Airbnb rental on Tybee, but can still be found at the stadium often. Click here to meet Emily!
Jesse Cole is the founder of Fans First Entertainment and owner of the Savannah Bananas.
His teams have welcomed more than one million fans to their ballparks and have been featured on MSNBC, CNN, ESPN and in Entrepreneur Magazine.
The Bananas have been awarded Organization of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business of the Year and won the CPL Championship in their first year. Fans First Entertainment has been featured on the INC 5000 lists as one of the fastest growing companies in America.
The Savannah Bananas currently have sold out every game since their first season and have a waiting list in the thousands for tickets.
Jesse released his first book “Find Your Yellow Tux – How to Be Successful by Standing Out” in January of 2018 with a World Book Tour…at Epcot.
Cole has been featured on over 500 podcasts and is an in-demand keynote speaker all over the country sharing the Fans First Experience on how to stand out, be different and create raving fans of both customers and employees.
Cole is the Host of the Business Done Differently Podcast and has interviewed over 100 of some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, authors and speakers. Click here to meet Jesse!
Fun Fact: Cole owns seven yellow tuxedos and proposed to his wife Emily in the yellow tux in front of a sold out crowd. She said Yes! The two later married at their stadium. In 2018, they welcomed their first baby banana, Maverick.