AquaSox under new ownership
The AquaSox were previously owned by the Carfagna family, which currently has ownership of the Lake County Captains, the Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and the Lancaster JetHawks, the Class A Advanced affiliate of the Houston Astros. The Everett-based team recently signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Mariners to extend their Player Development Contract through the 2010 season.
7th Inning Stretch, LLC is a baseball ownership group based out of Stockton, Calif. and is headed by Tom Volpe, who is the Founder and Managing Partner of Volpe Investments, LLC and is also Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Group. Volpe founded 7th Inning Stretch in 1999 and in 2006 added former Fresno Grizzlies CEO Pat Filippone as President of 7th Inning Stretch, LLC and General Manager of the Stockton Ports. Later in 2006, 7th Inning Stretch, LLC purchased the Delmarva Shorebirds, the South Atlantic League's Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
In his first move, Filippone hired Tom Backemeyer to take over as the AquaSox Executive Vice President. Backemeyer, who worked under Filippone with the Fresno Grizzlies and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, has 8 years of Minor League Baseball experience. In addition to his time with Fresno and Rancho Cucamonga, Backemeyer has also worked with the Nashville Sounds. Most recently, Backemeyer held the position of Vice President of Tickets with the Fresno Grizzlies during the 2008 season.
"We are excited to add yet another successful team like Everett to our group of franchises and look forward to working with and being involved in another great baseball community," said Volpe.
Filippone stated, "We are extremely fortunate to be adding the AquaSox to the 7th Inning Stretch family, and look forward to achieving our organizational goals while serving the community of Everett in a first-class manner."