Front Office

No stranger to the Burlington Royals, Keur spent the 2011-2016 seasons with the Burlington Royals before heading down to Daytona Beach, Florida to serve as the Team President for the Daytona Tortugas. In March 2020, Keur acquired Burlington Baseball Inc. from long-time owner and legend of baseball, Miles Wolff. Wolff provided Keur with his first full-time job back in 2011 when Keur became the Assistant General Manager.

In October 2013, Keur was named the General Manager of the Burlington Royals and at the time became the youngest GM in all of baseball. Keur was named the Appalachian League Executive of the Year for each of the subsequent three seasons (2014, 2015 and 2016) while at the helm. The Burlington Royals were recognized by the Appalachian League as the Promotional Award of Excellence in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, Keur was the recipient of the Matt Minker Award from the Kansas City Royals as their Top Minor League Employee. During Keur's three years at the helm, the team achieved record highs in revenue, attendance and community involvement and promotional activity.

Following Keur's first season with the Daytona Tortugas, he was awarded Minor League Baseball's top two national honors. Keur was named both Baseball America and Ballpark Digest's 2017 Minor League Baseball Executive of the Year.

A graduate from Elon University, Keur was recently recognized in the Elon Top 10 Graduates in the Last 10 Years. Ryan is married to his wife Brittany, and have a lovable ballpark dog, Barley. During his free time, Ryan enjoys anything involving competition and enjoys watching college basketball and college football.

Melanie is entering her second year with the Sock Puppets, alongside Thomas and Anderson, after she came on board in May 2021. She plays an integral part in creating the sockingly different game day experience for fans coming to take in a Sock Puppets game at Burlington Athletic Stadium. On top of that, Melanie helps oversee the new and improved Membership program and game-day staff.

Orton, a Caswell County native, brings a dresser full of knowledge and experience to the Burlington front office. A graduate of NC State, she has served in a variety of roles including serving with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, coaching basketball, teaching, pharmaceutical sales and management at Chick-Fil-A for over a decade. Most recently, she retired from Cone Health. She really has done it all, and has excelled every step of the way. Fun fact: Her first job was actually for Hanover Mills after they recruited her for their softball team.

Melanie is married to her husband Steve (32 years) and has two sons; Jared (president of the Savannah Bananas) and Grant (US Army). If she ever were to get free time, you’d most likely see her playing golf, reading and simply spending time with her friends and family.

A normal picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture by Devon Carson (or better known as DCPhotography336) is worth a million. Devon joined on as team photographer for their inaugural season that only furthers his involvement in the local sports community. Carson has been a staple in the Burlington and Alamance community shooting local events from high schools to Elon and UNC athletic events.

To say it’s a pleasure to have him capturing all of the memories we created in the Sock Puppets first year and WILL create for years to come is an extreme understatement!

Sam is a member of the first-ever Burlington/ Elon Sales Academy, and will continue with the Sock Puppets for the 2021 season as an intern. Sam is originally from Carver, MA where there are more cranberry bogs than people. After wanting to leave the New England weather she moved to North Carolina in 2018 to attend Elon University. She is a current junior at Elon University studying sports management with minors in accounting and business administration.

While at Elon she has been a member of the varsity cheerleading team and has worked for Elon’s admissions team over the past two years. This past summer, she completed an internship with Maximum Cheer and Dance LLC as an event planner and coordinator Intern. Sam recently studied in New Zealand, where she did A LOT of hiking and jumped out of some planes. She is excited to SOCK the world this upcoming season and bring a brand new perspective into the world of baseball!

Andrew is a native of Rhode Island and fan of all Boston sports teams. Currently a senior at Elon University, Andrew is working to complete his degree in sport management with a minor in business administration.

He’s looking forward to utilizing the skills he has developed along with his experience as a member of Elon’s baseball team to help provide the best experience possible for all Sock Puppet fans.

Matthew Silverman is a brand new member for the Sales Academy, but he is no stranger to the ballpark! His employment at Burlington baseball began with an internship for the previously named Burlington Royals. He worked as an intern for two years during his freshman and sophomore years attending Elon University. Recently during the Covid pandemic, Matthew came to truly understand the importance of sports in society and through his wonderful mentors, Anderson Rathburn, Thomas Vickers and Ryan Keur, he learned that no job is too small in running minor league sports and the employees need to work as a team in order for the program to be successful.

Matt was born and raised in Westchester, New York. He is on target to graduate in the year 2022 and plans on pursuing a career in sports management and marketing. In his free time, Matt enjoys playing basketball and football with his friends and watching movies.

Nick is an intern with the Burlington Sock Puppets. He is currently a first-year student at Elon University majoring in sport management with a minor in business administration and statistics. Nick grew up in Weston, MA, and now resides with his family on Cape Cod.

He played baseball throughout school and was honored to be named captain of his varsity high school team. Nick continues to play at college through Elon’s club baseball. He enjoys watching all professional and college sports, and during his free time, you can usually find him on a baseball field or basketball court. Nick is excited to begin his journey in baseball management by being part of the new era of Burlington baseball and helping to create a special experience for all spectators.