A former University of South Florida softball player has become the second woman to be hired as the manager of a minor-league baseball team.
Ronnie Gajownik was named manager of the Hillsboro Hops, a High Class-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, located in Oregon, according to a team release.
Last year, Gajownik was on the coaching staff and was first-base coach for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Diamondbacks' Double-A affiliate.
Gajownik returns to the Hops, where she was the team's video coordinator in 2021.
“I'm very grateful to Josh Barfield and the Diamondbacks for giving me the opportunity to begin my managerial career with the Hillsboro Hops,” Gajownik said in the release. “I'm ecstatic to return to Hillsboro in this elevated role."
Prior to joining the Diamondbacks in a player development role, she was an assistant at Liberty University and the University of Massachusetts.
Gajownik graduated from USF in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary social science and was a two-year starter on the softball team.
She was also a member of the USA Women's baseball team, winning a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Gajownik joins Rachel Balkovec, who last year was named manager of the Tampa Tarpons, a Low-A affiliate of the New York Yankees in the Florida State League.
