NORTH PORT, Fla. ― In 2013, a young Wiley Ballard first sat in the press box at Turner Field – not as a media member, but as the cashier. If the working press wanted dinner, they paid Ballard.
From there, he climbed. His rise included many stops.
And recently, he learned that Bally Sports South and Southeast had chosen him as one of its field reporters for Braves games this season.
“I’ve wanted to be a baseball broadcaster since I was probably about 12 or 13 years old, so it was really emotional,” Ballard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the phone. “It was that, and then after that, I was just kind of like, ‘All right, let’s go.’”
Ballard is one of three field reporters for Braves broadcasts this season. The others are Hanna Yates and Ashley ShahAhmadi.
Schedules are subject to change, but Yates is expected to work 65 games this season. ShahAhmadi has around 35 games, and Ballard is expected to work 20 to 30 games.
Here is more about each of the new field reporters for Bally Sports South/Southeast, which is scheduled to broadcast 151 Braves games in 2024.
Yates combines passion for baseball and storytelling
The first thing to know about Yates: She grew up in St. Louis. She knows how much baseball can mean to a community and its people.
“Growing up in St. Louis, baseball was a way of life – for Cardinals baseball, obviously, in St. Louis, but for me, it was a love of the game overall,” she told the AJC. “I’ve just carried that on.”
Yates currently is Bally Sports’ reporter and host for Carolina Hurricanes coverage. But before that, she covered the St. Louis Cardinals and other sports for a local TV station in St. Louis.
“I feel like for me personally, what I enjoy most just about journalism and the position that I have is the ability to do storytelling,” Yates said. “And I love the X’s and O’s of the games, and I could talk about that all day – whether that be baseball or hockey or whatever sport it might be – but I feel like something I’m very passionate about is finding a way to humanize some of the stories and the athletes, and just being that middle man to really share those stories about these players, about this team that are so special, that can kind of spark some emotion.”
The Cardinals are one of baseball’s iconic teams. So are the Braves.
And it just so happens that the 30-year-old Yates – who graduated from the University of Missouri – now gets to cover what might be the sport’s best team.
“It’s such a special team,” Yates said. “To step into this situation at the time that I am, with the team that will be out there, it’s just a really unique opportunity.”
To earn this, she first had to leave home to begin covering the Hurricanes. She always had lived in St. Louis. Her family is there.
Still, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, for her next opportunity.
“It was interesting because it was kind of a bittersweet opportunity in that, yes, I had to walk away from my family and leave home in that regard,” Yates said. “But also, (St. Louis) is the only place I had ever been. And I felt like for me personally and professionally, getting the chance to step out and actually grow and develop, it’s been the best past year and a half of my life – just having the chance to grow in different ways that I never expected.”
Yates is contractually obligated to cover the Hurricanes through the first round of the playoffs. She expects to work her first Braves game in the middle of May.
Ballard’s journey reaches its highest point
In the Turner Field press box, Ballard interacted with almost everyone. He talked to Chip Caray, the Braves’ play-by-play broadcaster at the time. He went back and forth with MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, who has covered the team for over two decades.
“I was basically sitting in a room where all these people had these jobs I dreamt of having,” Ballard said.
He soaked in everything they said. Some people helped put him in touch with another person. Others gave him insight about the industry.
The 30-year-old Ballard – an Atlanta native whose dream is to do play-by-play for a MLB team – is the voice of Georgia Tech baseball. He first appeared on Bally Sports South/Southeast in April.
But his journey from press-box attendant to field reporter is incredible.
Before he even took a class at Tech, Ballard had his first shift as a sports-information student worker. Through that, he heard the Braves needed some help over the summer, so he was a press-box attendant for three years. The position ended when the team moved to Truist Park, but Ballard caught on as a game-day intern with the Braves’ public-relations staff.
Now, he’ll be reporting on the Braves for their broadcast partner.
“To be honest with you, it kind of makes me think of the amount of people who have kind of helped me along the way,” Ballard said. “I know that sounds like an obnoxious cliché thing.”
It is not – because Ballard means it. His humility is present when he speaks about his latest opportunity.
Ballard grew up a Braves fan, so this is cool for him and his family, but he’s open to any future broadcasting opportunity with any team. Since he was a teenager, he’s scored games at home. Baseball is part of his soul.
Last season, he did segments on advanced statistics for Bally Sports South/Southeast.
Now, he’ll get to tell stories.
“I like to say I’m literate in advanced stats. I’m not sure I’m an expert, by any means,” Ballard said. “My hope is that I can showcase more of the storytelling aspect of it. As much as baseball is a math and a numbers game, it’s also a human-being game, it’s also one that, I think, to be honest with you, the reason we watch it is for the emotional experience.”
ShahAhmadi can’t wait to ‘connect fans to the players’
In high school, ShahAhmadi and her friends would buy cheap tickets in the nosebleed seats at Turner Field. Those nights at the ballgame are some of her best memories.
“And so to be able to report for my hometown team is incredible,” she said.
ShahAhmadi currently is Bally Sports’ reporter and host for the Charlotte Hornets. Basketball is her sport, but she’s excited to be around baseball this season. (Her husband played in the minor leagues.)
She’s excited to bring stories into fans’ homes. It’s why she loves her job.
“I think one of my favorite parts, just for basketball, is the fact of: To fans in general, these players are like heroes. They’re superhuman. They’re just everything to fans,” she said. “So for me, I love getting to humanize them and tell these players that (say), hey, no they’re not a regular guy, but (tell stories about) their everyday things – how they take (batting practice) or how they warm up or how they approach games or what they do.
“Just being able to connect the fans to the players, and vice versa, and get to know their story, especially if it’s newer guys or younger guys, or even some of the vets. Just being able to find out different things that maybe haven’t been told or (were) told in a different way.”
ShahAhmadi, 31, always has looked up to Doris Burke, the ESPN NBA analyst, and Maria Taylor, a host and sideline reporter who now works for NBC. She’s gotten to meet both.
ShahAhmadi, a University of Georgia graduate like Taylor, grew up in Marietta. In previous years with Bally Sports, ShahAhmadi would fill in as a host for the pregame and postgame shows.
“So for this year, to be a reporter first off, is definitely a dream,” she said. “I mean, the Atlanta Braves are just such a prominent organization, and they’re a winning organization, and to be a part of that, in that role, is new for me and exciting.”
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