Front Office
Jeff Garretson
General Manager
Alma Mater: Washington State University
Hometown: Yakima, WA
Experience: 7 Years
Jeff Garretson joined the Pippins front office at the end of the 2015 season. Prior to that, Garretson worked at the Yakima Herald-Republic for 25 years, starting in the Sports Department. He moved to the News Department in the early 1990s, and became News Editor in 2008.
The Garretson name has been synonymous with baseball in Yakima for decades. Bob Garretson Sr., Jeff’s grandfather, played first base for the original Yakima Pippins professional team in 1937, as well as being one of the core members of Yakima Youth Baseball organization in the 1960s and 1970s, including as a coach.
Bob Garretson Jr., Jeff’s father, coached the Yakima Beetles from 1974-1988 and also coached at Yakima Valley College as an assistant coach and head coach. His Beetles teams won the American Legion National Championship in 1975 and 1979, and he took two other Beetles teams to the national tournament in 1976 and 1988.
Since joining the Pippins, Jeff Garretson’s main roles include integrating the Pippins into the greater Yakima Valley community through sponsorships, ticket sales, and improving customer service at Yakima County Stadium. Always a top priority is improving the experiential value the Pippins provide on game nights, and working to create a family-friendly, safe gathering place at “The Orchard.”
Garretson attended Eisenhower High School and Yakima Valley College, in addition to Washington State University. He represents Pacific Baseball Ventures, which owns the Yakima Valley Pippins and the Walla Walla Sweets, on the West Coast League board of directors, and also is a board member of the Parker Youth and Sports Foundation in Yakima.
Casey Hillyard
Assistant General Manager
Alma Mater: Central Washington University
Experience: Third Year
Casey Hillyard returns for his third year with the Pippins in 2024 after graduating in 2021 from Central Washington University, where he majored in sports management. He served as the vice president of the Sport Management Association at CWU and was a marketing and promotions intern there for more than two years.
In summer 2021, Hillyard worked an internship with the Walla Walla Sweets, the sibling team of the Pippins, where he worked in ticketing, food and beverage, and stadium operations.
In the fall of 2023, Hillyard was promoted to the Pippins’ assistant general manager. He oversees group ticketing sales and service with the Pippins, while also assisting in fan experience and stadium operations. He also coordinates food and beverage operations at Yakima County Stadium, as well as hiring game-day staff and overseeing Pippins interns.
Jacob Schrantz
Broadcaster & Media Relations
University: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Hometown: Orchard Park, NY
Experience: First Year
Schrantz is a sports media and broadcasting double major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He began his broadcasting career in college and has become one of the top sportscasters among his peers. The Orchard Park, New York, native was listed as a third team All-American college sportscaster by Sportscasters Talent Agency of America in the summer of 2023. He joined some of his fellow college honorees as a top-20 college broadcaster according to STAA.
Schrantz has a large resume of work on the air, including play-by-play on the radio for a variety of college athletics, including baseball, softball, football, basketball, volleyball and hockey. He recently was on the call for the world record-breaking volleyball match between Nebraska and Omaha inside Memorial Stadium in front of over 92,000 fans. Schrantz has used this college experience to earn a broadcasting role with the American Cornhole League last summer. He traveled the country for the national events announcing games on YouTube and the ACL DigitalNetwork.
