The Cape Cod Baseball League is where some of the top NCAA baseball players spend their summers showcasing their skills in front of professional scouts. But, it’s not only the players who gain valuable experiences. The Falmouth Commodores offer the opportunity for those who have aspirations of working in the sports industry one day to build their resume with hands-on work.

The Commodores offer internships in Baseball Operations, Marketing & Communications, Broadcasting & Media, and Gameday Operations, attracting college students from across the country.

For the broadcast team, behind the microphones are Timmy Weiss, Farrell Hudson, and Andrew Hillsman. They bring the Commodores games to fans this season through live broadcasts.

All three forged their own paths in the sports industry in college. Farrell Hudson comes from Ithaca College, Andrew Hillsman from Indiana University, and Timmy Weiss from Syracuse University.

For Farrell Hudson, the realization that broadcasting was something he wanted to do came later in his life. It was from a conversation with his mom where broadcasting was brought up. “My mom talked to me one day and she said, you've played sports and you have to consider all realities. You have to find something else that you want to do… you write good essays, you're a good public speaker, you read well, you have all the traits and characteristics that would fit a soft science like that,”

That brought Hudson to the Bruce Beck broadcasting camp, which was just outside New York City for the summers in high school. After touring Ithaca College and their communications and business schools, he shadowed classes there. That made him realize that he “would love taking journalism classes here. I would love, you know, maybe learning more about the television and radio industry.”

In fall of 2023, Hudson started writing and doing radio for Ithaca’s student-run newspaper, the Ithacan. “I wasn't even sure, though, that I wanted to do broadcasting even after my freshman year of college. I was like, it's cool. Do I want to? It's just funny. It just kept on going and then I really just kind of hit a peek at the end of my sophomore year where I said I think this is something that I could definitely flourish in.”

Andrew Hillsman’s journey to broadcasting began at transition to high school night. “The radio club at my high school had something showing prospective high school students around there, and asked me do you want to come on the radio for about five minutes? I was like, sure. Because I knew it was already like an elective I wanted to try, and it was fun. And, then I loved it. Genuinely, it just clicked with me. So fast forward to sophomore year, I finally started doing a few live games.” It wasn’t until two years later that Hillsman realized this was something that he wanted to pursue as a career. “I want to make this a career if possible. So I really started putting focus into it.”

Weiss’s path started from his love of sports. “I have always loved sports and I wanted to do something where I could kind of show my personality and talk a lot. I didn't know originally that I wanted to do sports broadcasting until I looked at Syracuse,” After getting admitted and arriving on campus, he said, “it really just piqued my interest because it was super fun to do. From that point on, I have been very interested in it ever since.”

While the fans hear the finished product of the broadcast, there is a lot of preparation that comes before these interns step into the broadcast booth for the game. “We get here three hours before (home) games every day. For road games, we get there two hours early.” Hillsman reveals.

But the preparations can also start before they even arrive at the field. Weiss utilizes Microsoft OneNote for his preparation. “I did a lot of prep on every single one of the guys that we had. As we pick up players throughout the season, I do more background prep on them as well. But every single game, I update our stats trends by looking at the Cape League website or by looking at the Falmouth Commodores website.”

The three broadcasters each bring something different to the table, as Hudson puts it. “We're a conglomerate of three different personalities. We're entirely separate from one another.”

Hillsman describes working together as “Tremendous. It's really been a total joy. They make my job a lot easier. They're really good co-broadcasters. They've taught me plenty of things.”

They also work with a broadcasting crew, including a director, producers, videographers, and a beat reporter.

“Our producers, Skyler and Landon, and director, Emily, are super important for helping us out. We couldn't do it without them. They help a lot behind every TV broadcast we do. We wouldn't look nearly as good without them because of the graphics they put out and everything.” says Weiss.

The trio rotates responsibilities. For every game, two of them are on air, with one doing color commentary and the other tasked with doing play-by-play.

The other, who is not on air, has the role of sideline reporter for that game.

The job of sideline reporter comes with interviewing coaches or Commodores players. When asked for their favorite interviews they’ve done thus far, each had a different answer.

Hudson’s favorite interview has been Jarrod Saltalamacchia. “It’s always cool when you talk to a 12-year veteran, a major league baseball player playing for seven different teams, winning the World Series with the Red Sox. It was cool to pick his brain. The former manager here and the director of player development down at Miami.”

Hillsman pondered his answer, revealing that he was convinced he was bad luck. For the first month of the season, the team lost when he was a sideline reporter. “It was kind of the same old, same old,” But things would turn around, and Hillsman finally got to interview a player. “I got to interview Braden Bergman after he pitched really well against Bourne on July 11th. That was also special because my dad and my brother were here and they got to watch me work.”

Weiss’s favorite interview was with Logan Pikur. “I asked him what the coach said to him after the game, or during the game in the ninth. He said to me, honestly, I don't even know.”

The three have had the opportunity to call many games for the Commodores, and some stand out as their favorites.

Hudson had a few, but his favorite by far was the “Dallas Brooks walk-off was cool. It was fun getting on the board with my first home run call.”

Both Weiss and Hillsman’s favorite calls involved Ben Slanker. Hillsman had a cool story behind his favorite. “Ben Slanker's first home run is one that comes to mind. That was, I think, the first or second week of the season. I came up with the moniker of Slank Tank, and I didn't have to wait too long to use it. I actually only got to use it once. He crushed a ball to right field. That was fun, 'cause I was pretty happy with that call. Ben said he liked it too, so that was funny. His family thought it was really cool.”

Weiss’s came from the high scoring game against Cotuit. “the Ben Slanker home run. That game was nuts. The fact that he hit it out to tie it at 10. They were down five runs going into that inning.”

The experience gained from this internship has been invaluable for each of them. “The Cape is as close as you can get to minor league baseball to professional sports, in the fact that you're playing 40 games in eight weeks. You're going to work every day, nine-inning baseball games. It's a whirlwind, but it's an incredible whirlwind. It is the best type. and that's what it is in sports media. You don't get days off; you work nights, but if you love it, then that's a sacrifice worth making.” shares Hillsman.

“Here, I've gone on the air every single day, essentially. Having that amount of quality reps, both radio and TV, has shaped me into a better broadcaster. I know I could take it into the future when I go into play-by-play.” Weiss adds.

Hudson reveals that the pace of Cape League baseball has given him a great environment to develop his broadcasting skills in.

Weiss, Hudson, and Hillsman have turned their summer on Cape Cod into a stepping-stone for their future careers.