About Us

Matthew Tallarini

Founder, Chief Correspondent

Matthew (Matt) Tallarini is the Founder and Chief Correspondent for the World Baseball Network. Matt played semi-professional baseball with the Pelham Mets in Pelham, New York for four years, including the 2018 Semi Pro World Series. During the pandemic, Matt began engaging with international baseball, as a way to keep connected to the sport. Matt created the World Baseball Network and its signature website, WorldBaseball.com as a way to promote and inform similar likeminded fans about the players, teams and leagues innovating the sport of baseball and feeding into Major League Baseball (MLB). As a result of Matt’s efforts, World Baseball Network is now the benchmark standard for international baseball coverage, including MLB, MiLB, NCAA, Korea, Japan, Caribbean, Baseball United, WBC, WBSC and more.

In a short time, Matt has interviewed a who’s who of global baseball legends and coaches. These include: Former Yankee closer Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera; Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman; former Yankee Luis Sojo veteran of four Yankee World series teams; Mickey Callaway former MLB manager; Paul Mainieri LSU National Championship coach; Eric Holtz manager Team Israel of the 2020 Olympics; Ian Kinsler former MLB player and now Israel national team player; Harold Ramirez of the Tampa Bay Rays formerly with the Indians and Cubs; Joey Meneses of the Washington Nationals; and Mike Cameron current USA Baseball advisor former-MLB outfielder. 

Matt Tallarini is 2015 graduate of Mitchell College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and a 2022 graduate of Iona University with a Masters in Finance.  Since its inception, Matt has been the Chief Correspondent for World Baseball Network. Matt has interviewed and interacted with many international players and coaches including former Yankee closer Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman, former Yankee Luis Sojo veteran of four Yankee World series teams, Mickey Callaway former MLB manager, Paul Mainieri LSU National Championship coach, Eric Holtz manager Team Israel of the 2020 Olympics, Ian Kinsler former MLB player and now Israel national team player, Harold Ramirez of the Tampa Bay Rays formerly with the Indians and Cubs, Joey Meneses of the Washington Nationals, Mike Cameron current USA Baseball advisor former-MLB outfielder. Matthew is 2015 graduate of Mitchell College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and a 2022 graduate of Iona University with a Masters in Finance.

Paul Calento

Publisher and General Manager

Paul Calento is the publisher of World Baseball Network, heading up all business activities.

Paul Calento is a proven media leader with a passion for expanding the footprint of baseball across the globe. Paul has built and grown a myriad of media and advertising technology businesses, in executive management, marketing and sales roles. Paul is a notable online brand builder, focused on enhancing lines of business and advertising engagement, across video, mobile, social media, podcasting and predictive analytics. Paul, along with the entire team at the World Baseball Network, aims to expand the sport through the diversification and unique presentation, across all borders.

Paul has created and sold advertising businesses, including video ads startup, TriVu Media to Adknowledge. He has led online advertising companies, including Trion, a programmatic advertising leader. Calento was also an early advocated of artificial intelligence for improved advertising excellence, launching AI Prime in 2017. At Ad Parlor, Calento led a team that ran paid social media for notable clients including Starbucks and Rogers Telecommunications. He created countless new products at InfoWorld and IDG, including face to face events, new supplements and online portals and video products. At CMP Media, he was the youngest publisher in their history. Paul brings with him a passion for new products and ability to launc them at scale.

Paul Calento has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Boston University School of Business.

Josh Gelhaus

Chief Financial Officer

Josh Gelhaus is a lifelong accounting executive. He has extensive experience in financial management, presentation, and accounting. Josh earned his BA degree in Economic Management from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2000 where he was also a member of the baseball team. He started his career with Bank One in their Management Development Program and is currently a small business owner.

Bill Ketcham

Senior Media Advisor

Bill Ketcham is a Senior Media Advisor to World Baseball Network. Ketcham is an expert marketer, having worked with the world’s largest brands, including via sports alignment.

Bill is the President of W. Ketcham & Company, a media and consumer products research/insights consulting practice, with particular expertise in digital place-based video media. He has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the Adspace Digital Mall Network

Consumer packaged goods (CPG), including snack foods and drinks, are staple advertising categories for baseball. Ketcham headed up global brand development as Vice President for PepsiCo’s international snack foods division (Frito Lay), across 43 countries worldwide. He also developed the global brand platform for Lay’s Potato Chips. He also cut his teeth working on PepsiCo’s flagship brand, Pepsi. Bill started is career as a Product Manager at General Foods Corporation, where he worked on bew product development (beverages), as well as established beverage brands

Bill is also an innovator in sports media, having participated in the launch and growth of ESPN, the largest sports broadcaster in the world. As Senior Vice President of Network Marketing, Bill headed up consumer, advertising trade and cable operator trade marketing, market research, sales support and home video general management.

Lorenzo Montegiorgi

Programmatic Business Development Manager

Lorenzo is the Programmatic Business Development Manager at World Baseball Network.

Lorenzo brings extensive experience in ad tech and a deep passion for sports values through his past career as a tennis professional and successful NCAA International Student Athlete. Lorenzo's journey in the advertising industry began in 2017 at Opendorse, a pioneering platform facilitating NIL deals for athletes, fans, and brands. He then transitioned to account management and sales roles across three advertising technology companies. Lorenzo enriches our sales teams by activating and tailoring programmatic and managed service opportunities within the World Baseball Network in alignment with our customers' KPI goals.

Lorenzo holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Business Leadership earned in 2018, graduating with a 4.0 GPA, and has been recognized with multiple academic and NCAA athletic awards.

Dominick Porco

Senior Media Advisor

Dominick Porco is a Senior Media Advisor to World Baseball Network. Porco is a a seasoned media executive with deep analog and digital advertising experience. He is a past President of News America Marketing, the largest in-store advertising company in North America and a division of News Corp Ltd. Under Dominick’s leadership, News America Marketing grew from a $500 million per year domestic coupon distribution company into a $1 billion per year global marketing services company.

Dominick has multi-platform, omni-channel experience that benefits World Baseball Network’s multi-platform growth trajectory. Dominick founded and served as Chairman & CEO of Adspace Networks, now LightBox, the largest digital place-based network in the US. He was co-founder and Executive Chairman of The Beyond Store out-of-home advertising business. He ran print publication portfolio as CEO of Prestige Publications. Experiential marketing and advertising are areas where Dominick excels and provides leadership to World Baseball Network.

Dominick is a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Sophie Ruhl

Copy Editor

Sophie A. Ruhl joined the World Baseball Network as a Copy Editor in 2024.

She is currently a Dean’s List honor student at Union College pursuing a double major in English and Women’s Studies with a minor in Law & Humanities. Sophie is the President of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society and is a tutor at Union’s writing center. She is also a member of the Order of Lapis and Order of Omega (Eta Tau Chapter), both of which recognize academic excellence. Sophie was selected as a member, and serves as a Chair, of the Union College Honor Council. She also participates as an Admissions Intern, at the invitation of the faculty. In this role, she interviews prospective students and conducts information sessions for students and their families considering Union College. Sophie was a member of the Women’s Field Hockey team, and served as its Captain during the 2023-24 season. In her free time, she served as a mentor and coach for middle and high school students in the Albany area. One of Sophie’s most interesting experiences is when she was selected to interview and moderate a discussion with American Soccer Olympian Kristine Lilly for the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

In the summer of 2023, Sophie served as an intern for Westchester County Executive, George Latimer. She also worked as a marketing team intern for Pzena Investment Management in the summer of 2022. Sophie anticipates receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Union College in June of 2024.

Leif Skodnick

Features Editor

Leif Skodnick is the features editor for World Baseball Network.

Skodnick has been in sports media since 2004, and has served as sports editor at The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y. and the Albany, N.Y. Times Union. Leif is a prolific sports journalist, across several mediums. Previous to Leif's role as features editor, the veteran sports editor managed World Baseball Network's content as editor in chief. Leif’s deep sports experience includes live radio updates and assistance to post-game program at New Orleans Saints home games for NFL Gameday on ESPN Radio. Updated Game Day programming with live updates of in-game breaking news. Skodnick wrote and voiced NBA, NFL, and college football game previews for radio, filed postgame stories, recorded and edited sound clips from postgame press conferences and media availability. Prior to World Baseball Network, Leif provided print and online content covering college sports and Major League Baseball for outlets such as The Journal News/lohud.com, The Fort Myers News-Press, ESPN Radio, Yahoo! Sports Radio, Sirius/XM, Fox Sports Radio, Metro Networks, and Associated Press Radio. Leif has also covered horse racing for print publications, including 2014 Wood Memorial Stakes and 2014 Belmont Stakes.

Leif Skodnick is a a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. He lives in Westchester County, N.Y. with his wife and two children.

Trevon Spaulding

Social Media Manager

Trevon Spaulding is a Social Media Manager at World Baseball Network. Trevon has worked in the Sports industry since 2019 when he founded his sports information company (Betlink sports) which provided sports betting information and updates to his subscribers via various social media , and messaging platforms. During this time Trevon compiled sports data from different sources and made his own models that would give him a perceived edge on what wagers could be more profitable than others. He served as the main moderator for Betlink sports messaging groups and channels. During this time Trevon learned how to navigate different software applications, and honed his editing and social media skills that would be crucial to scaling the presence of his online business. Trevon brings years of knowledge and experience to an ever changing social media landscape.

Trevon brings his years of social media experience, the ability to adapt to the constantly changing social media landscape , and a strong desire to succeed to World Baseball Network.

Louis Tallarini

Chairman

Louis Tallarini is the Chairman of the World Baseball Network. In addition to his role guiding financing, business goals and partnerships, Louis is the President of Real Property Investors, Inc., a national real estate asset management and investment company. He is a former accountant at CPA firm Harris Kerr Foster and has extensive experience in real estate investment and media ventures. He has served on many boards including Country Bank and Valuexpress. 

Louis is a prolific business person and philanthropist. He is a co-founder and chairman of the Italian Language Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation where he raises funds and coordinated contributions from national organizations and the Republic of Italy. The collaboration led to the 2011 reinstatement of the Advanced Placement program in Italian Language and Culture in American schools, which had been suspended in 2009. The Italian Government made Tallarini a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, which recognizes Italian expatriates and foreigners who have made outstanding contributions to the reconstruction of Italy after World War II, in recognition of his efforts.

Louis has served as President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, sponsor of the annual Columbus Day Parade in New York City, from 2006-09 and as Chairman of the Board from 2010-14. Tallarini has also served as the General Chairman of the Columbus Weekend Celebration.

Louis served in the United States Army’s 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He graduated from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting.

Chris R. Vaccaro

Senior Editorial Advisor

Chris Vaccaro is a senior editorial advisor for World Baseball Network.

Chris Vaccaro provides recommendations and analysis of World Baseball Network's editorial strategy, production operations and journalistic standards. The Emmy Award and Murrow Award-winning media executive from Long Island, NY adds additional depth and experience to World Baseball Network's editorial roster.

Chris has worked as an editor at the New York Daily News, AOL, and as Editor-in-Chief of The Topps Company. He was Vice President of Digital at Altice USA News, overseeing platforms and social media for News 12 Networks, Cheddar News, and i24 News. His work has been published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, ESPN, The Athletic, and more. He is also the Director of Graduate Journalism and a sports journalism professor at Hofstra University, his alma mater. Chris R. Vaccaro is the author of eight books and has produced eight documentaries, including a three-part series about Team Italy’s journey to the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He was inducted into the Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame in 2021.