Western Nebraska Pioneers

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Front Office, Game Day & Coaches


Your Pioneers Ownership

Chuck Heeman, Pioneers Owner

After working for more than 25 years in professional sports, Chuck Heeman, along with his wife Mayra, founded the Pioneers in August 2017, leading up to our inaugural 2018 Championship season.


Chuck has served as General Manager for four professional baseball teams as well serving as the founding General Manager with two Oregon-based summer collegiate baseball teams, the Klamath Falls Gems and Medford Rogues. Chuck also served four years as Operations Manager with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His sports experience also includes three years with the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds at their Goodyear, Arizona Spring Training complex immediately prior to purchasing the Pioneers franchise.


Chuck, age 64 and getting too old for all this nonsense, is also a disabled veteran of the U. S. Air Force, a 13-year former U.S. Postal Service worker and a graduate of Arizona State University. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Chuck grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is married to Mayra Heeman. The couple has four children and six grandchildren and resides in Gering, Nebraska.


Chuck is proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the Scotts Bluff County Visitors Bureau. To find out what Scotts Bluff County has to offer, please click HERE. Chuck also serves on the Board of Directors of Oregon Trail Days, and will work with OTD to bring events to the ballpark. To find out about the 2024 Oregon Trail Days event, please click HERE.  Chuck is also the Scotts Bluff County representative of the Western Nebraska Tourism Coalition. To find out more about the coalition, click HERE.

Mayra Heeman, Pioneers Owner

Mayra, the retired mother of four and grandmother of six, volunteers her spare time to help the Pioneers in a number of ways. She recruits and works with host families and helps with business operations. Following a heart attack, quintuple bypass and stroke in the fall of 2018, Mayra has cut back on her baseball duties and is restricted by management from doing too much. Fans and friends are encouraged to tell Mayra to slow down!


Due to past... let's say... "incidents"... Mayra is not allowed to sit and watch games in which she is not working (she gets a little intense - some stories there if you'd like to hear). However, Mayra is always ready with a smile and a hug at Pios games and loves to spend time with the fans.


Mayra served for five years as a volunteer with the Klamath Falls Gems and Medford Rogues (both in Oregon) where her husband served as General Manager. Prior to retirement and getting sucked into the baseball world, Mayra worked in the legal field as a litigating paralegal for law firms in California and Arizona.

A native of Mexico, Mayra came to the United States at age nine and grew up in Southern California. Mayra and Chuck Heeman were married in 2008 and moved to Gering in August 2017. The couple resides in Gering, Nebraska, where they purchased a home in April 2021. Mayra was named Grand Marshal of the 2021 Cinco de Mayo parade in Scottsbluff and also serves on the Board of Directors for Empowering Families. To find out about the organization, click HERE.


Coaching Staff

Shane Sharkey, Head Coach

Shane Sharkey started his college coaching career at the age of 23. In 2016-17 he served as the assistant coach at his alma mater, Nebraska-Kearney, for one season. Then named assistant baseball coach at his junior college alma mater, Dallas College-Brookhaven in 2018 & was there until 2022. 


Sharkey has been a part of the success of Brookhaven baseball for years. He served as an assistant coach on the 2021 team that was ranked No. 4 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III rankings, and won the Dallas Athletic Conference. He coached on the 2019 team that reached the NJCAA DIII World Series. 


As a player, Sharkey was a member of the 2013 team that reached the NJCAA DIII World Series. He earned All-American honors that season at second base. He finished his college career at Kearney & then made his way to California to play professional independent baseball in the Pecos league. He was named an All-Star his rookie season & helped his team win the league championship.


Personal life - He is recently married to his wife Becca, with daughter Caroline joining the team on Dec. 2, 2023. Caroline immediately joined the Pioneers as Director of Juicy Burps and Diaper Filling.


Shane loves golfing & spending quality time with his family & friends. Of course, as the new Director of Diaper Emptying, Shane takes on additional duties.


Zach Smith, Assistant Coach

        My name is Zach Smith, I am currently the head varsity baseball coach at Lee Williams High School in Kingman, Arizona. I have lived in Kingman for five years where I also serve as an administrator at Manzanita Elementary School. I was a member of the 2012 Gering PVC Legion Class B State Champions and have been coaching high school baseball since 2014, where I started out coaching junior/senior Legion baseball for Gering. I coached Legion baseball until 2019 when I moved to Kingman and continued my baseball and football coaching careers. I have been coaching high school football since I started teaching in 2017. I graduated from Chadron State College after playing four years of college football; I also attended Western Nebraska Community College in the fall of 2012 where I played baseball for Coach Jones for a semester before transferring to Chadron State.

               I have been married for two years to my amazing and beautiful wife Breanna, and we welcomed our first-born Garrison Duane Smith on January 23rd to join our crazy silver lab Molly in our family. In our spare time, my wife and I love to golf and spend time with our friends and family. Breanna is a high school volleyball coach and middle school track coach. I was born and raised in the great town of Gering, Nebraska and love the community. We are very excited to be able to be back in Gering for the long term and hopefully continue to make an impact in young kids lives in the classroom, field, court, or track. 

Chris Gabis, Assistant Coach

Chris Gabis is excited to be back with the Western Nebraska Pioneers. Chris has been a fan of baseball as long as he can remember. Following in his late father's footsteps, Chris is a diehard Reds fan (he even has a great story about the 1990 World Series, if you ask him). He grew up idolizing players like Barry Larkin, Ken Griffey Jr, and Joey Votto. Chris played and eventually coached with the Sidney Legion Baseball Team. He joined the Pio's staff in 2021 to help with batting practice late in the season. He's been with the team in a more formal role ever since, even winning a championship with the team in '22!

 

Chris is married to his beautiful wife, Chera, and they're expecting the birth of their first child at the end of March. They couldn't be more excited! Chris is a Firefighter/EMT with the Scottsbluff Fire Department where he's worked for seven years. He serves as the HazMat Coordinator and is the President of the Scottsbluff Professional Firefighters Local 1454. He also recently started a new venture as a sales rep for Dinges Fire Company. Chris and Chera enjoy traveling, spending time with their pets, and seeing their family. 


The Pios allow Chris to be seen here in Reds gear because we don't want our house to burn down.

John "JJ" O'Connor, Assistant Coach

Hello Pioneer family,


My name is John (JJ) O'Connor and here is a little bit about me. 

Australian born and bred. I have 2 beautiful kids ages 10 and 9 and we live in Melbourne, Australia. I grew up playing baseball since age 6 where i absolutely fell in love the game and its been a big part of my life ever since. 


Over the years I played my junior baseball at Waverley baseball club and in 2010 i went and played at a JUCO in Oklahoma. Since being back "down under" I have played in and coached multiple teams that won Australian national championships. 


I've been coaching teams from junior level to Men's open age for the last 10 years on and off. In 2018 I was an assistant coach at the Bakersfield Train Robbers along with Pioneers new head coach Shane Sharkey, which has now led to being able to coach with Shane and assist him with the 2024 Pioneers. 


There's a lot more to me and my story, so If there's anything you want to know/ask please come up, say hi and have a chat. I am very excited to meet you all and join the Pioneer family. 


During the season JJ will also serve as our translator when the WBS Australian Colts visit June 21-22.

Front Office and Game Day Support

Connie Ernest, Assistant General Manager

A native of Bridgeport, Nebraska, Connie Ernest joined the staff of the Pioneers in April 2021.


Connie is mother of two children, stepmother of six and grandmother to 11. She began her career with Cabela’s in Sidney, working her way up from telemarketing to marketing manager in 29-year career. Moving to the area in 2014, she began a five-year career as Marketing Director at the Scottsbluff Star-Herald Newspaper.

Now semi-retired, Connie is ecstatic to bring her years of experience to the Western Nebraska Pioneers where she began as Group Coordinator and was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2022. Connie will be the Pioneers’ “go-to” contact for party decks, company and birthday parties, and all things groups! She is married to Dennis Ernest and resides in Gering. Connie has earned numerous "Employee of the Month" awards during her time with the Pios.

Patrick Madden, Sales and Operations Manager

Patrick is excited to have an opportunity to be a part of his hometown community. He brings enthusiasm, confidence, smiles and laughs to the Western Nebraska Pioneers. His goal is to grow the community through a sport he loves. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, - Wayne Gretzky – Michael Scott”. - Patrick

 

Patrick spends most of his time at home with his dog Ashe. They love to watch movies or play video games. When out and about, he loves all things sports. You may spot Patrick and some of his friends playing soccer tennis, or pickleball, or searching for his drive at the golf course. He likes to be present in the moment and enjoy the little things!

Bill Sheffield, Public Address Announcer

Bill is entering his fourth year at the Pios Public Address Announcer. Bill just completed his seventh-year teaching at WNCC (29 years teaching overall). Bill also serves as the Public Address Announcer for the Cougars volleyball team, as well as both the men and women’s basketball teams. Bill has been a sports fan his entire life and is a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan. Bill earned his bachelor's degree in Interpersonal Communication from Southern Utah State College, and his Master's degree in Communication Studies from Eastern New Mexico University. He previously coached speech and debate teams throughout the United States, including the University of Illinois, Northeast Louisiana University, CSU-Northridge, Lewis-Clark State College, Casper College, and Barton Community College.


Bill lives in Scottsbluff with his wife Mary, who is the Alumni Relations and Stewardship Director for the WNCC Foundation. They are parents to four adult children and are expecting their first grandchild this September.

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