Minor league baseball intern is learning to make magic from behind the scenes

This is the third in a series of stories about Bellisario College students completing summer internships.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State junior Ashleigh Webb knows how important it is to diversify her work experience, but she never expected to add "herding baby goats” to her resume.

This summer Webb is interning with the Hartford Yard Goats, a AA minor league baseball team near her hometown of Glastonbury, Connecticut. Each week she is learning about different aspects of running a baseball team. And so far, it’s a hit.

“I am getting a taste of it all,” she said. “It might be events one week, and then off-site marketing the next, then merchandise and promotions. Every week I get to experience something different.”

It’s a perfect situation for Webb, who likes opportunities. Coming out of high school, she was interested in communications, but didn’t know which area. She was pleased to learn that the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications offered five majors. With some help from alumni friends and family, she chose Penn State. Today, she is majoring in advertising/public relations.

Webb said that many Yard Goats fans attend games for the experience — maybe more than the baseball. She plays a big role in making sure the action runs smoothly between innings. This means organizing in-game promotions and fun productions that are staples of minor league baseball games.

“One of my favorite things is the baby goat race,” Webb said. “Little kids dress up like baby goats and run around the bases. We have to herd them, because they will just run in a straight line. It’s so cute. I love it.”

The Yard Goats name is a nod to Hartford’s railroad history: A “yard goat” is a slang term for "an engine that switches a train to get it ready for another locomotive to take over,” according to milb.com. The team, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, is just six years old.

Webb has an impressive background in sports. She lettered in field hockey while in high school. She interns with Penn State Athletics, and she is also a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism and a member of the Association of Women in Sports Media.

“Ashleigh does many things well,” said John Hanna, assistant director of strategic communications at Penn State Athletics. “She is a very positive person and always willing to learn new tasks.”

Taking on new challenges is part of Webb’s mission to learn skills that are useful in different jobs and careers. Much like a shortstop, she wants to do a little bit of everything in her field of work.

“PR [public relations] is all transferable skills,” she said. “That’s really important to me going forward because there are too many things I want to do. I know I’ll need to pick one at some point…and I want to be ready.”

Webb says that everything she does is a “steppingstone to something bigger.” For example, her time with the Yard Goats is allowing her to see what happens inside a stadium that fans don’t see. She’s getting a view of what’s under the hood, and that’s the kind of professional role she’d like to explore.

“You get to see the other side of things,” she said. “It’s like different businesses are happening at the same time, and they are all working for the same franchise.”

She added, “I want to experience as many sections as I can, because I can use it to my advantage in a job interview.”

Webb is fascinated by what happens behind the scenes. That is where a lot of her interests, which range from publicist for a celebrity to White House press secretary, meet.

“The big decisions for brands and people, who decides them?” she said. “Why do they do it? Who gets them out of predicaments? It’s like that person is the face, but you are essentially their brain. I find it very interesting.”

Webb acknowledges that messaging, quick thinking and smart decision-making is critical in the era of 24-hour news and social media. Developing a far-ranging and diverse skillset is important to thrive in such an unpredictable field.

Hanna said he is confident that Webb will graduate with the skillset to thrive in her chosen career path. He credits her positivity and willingness to learn as key attributes to her success.

“Ashleigh takes a lot of pride in her work, and it shows,” he said. “She isn’t afraid about putting herself in uncomfortable positions in order to continue to learn and grow.”

Future plans for Webb include a semester abroad in Florence, Italy while completing her degree and three minors – digital media trends and analytics, sports studies and global and international studies.

She will also continue to build her network and polish her transferable skills, so she is ready for the next challenge. Which for Webb, might be as simple as making sure all the yard goats cross home plate.