‘Hoos spending summer as Tom Sox interns – CBS19 News
‘Hoos spending summer as Tom Sox interns CBS19 News
Ben Trent is stepping outside of his comfort zone this summer.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) — Ben Trent is stepping outside of his comfort zone this summer.
“Getting on a mic in front of a couple hundred people is definitely a challenge,” the 6-5, 305-pound offensive lineman from the Virginia football team admitted.
Trent is a rising junior with the Wahoos. While in town this summer for off-season workouts, he’s one of eight UVA student-athletes interning for the Charlottesville Tom Sox.
Trent is one of the Valley League team’s promotions interns. His most visible role is the various between-inning games he hosts at home games.
“It doesn’t feel like work. It feels like just a good time,” Trent said. “Watching some baseball half the time, getting to know the community. Talking to some kids during the game.”
Fellow offensive lineman Tyler Fannin is one of the Tom Sox media interns. So are two distance runners from the UVA track team, Doria Martingayle and Libby Davidson.
“I’m doing exactly what I want to go into. This is where I see myself in the future,” Davidson said. “I love social media, working with the camera, doing interviews. All that sort of stuff is just super up my alley.”
“I have a feature every week called the Hot Seat, where I have a different player, and I just ask them about 10 really random questions,” explained Martingayle. “And it’s kind of funny-awkward, because I don’t really know them too well.”
“I mean, if I wasn’t doing this I would probably just be watching Netflix. This is a lot more fun than that,” Fannin said. “They said this is all about sports, and I was like, this is exactly what I want to do when I grow up. So I might as well take this opportunity now.”
The Wahoos all agree that they’re trying to capitalize on the experiences they’re getting with the Sox this summer — both the good ones and the challenges.
“It’s been really cool doing radio. I’ve never done radio,” said Martingayle. “I’ve never done any baseball coverage too before, so it’s definitely learning a lot.”
“My first teleprompter situation happened last week, and it took us probably four or five tries just to get through the whole thing one time,” Fannin said. “I didn’t realize how hard that was going to be.”
“We had one game that was about four hours. That was a grind. A hot Sunday, just never felt like it would end,” said Trent. “But I can’t imagine real life being easy, so I’m glad I at least get a dose of it while I’m still in college.”