Little League® Baseball and Softball has announced the selection of more than 90 volunteer umpires for the seven Little League World Series tournaments in 2018. The events begin on July 28 with the Senior League Baseball World Series in Easley, S.C, and concludes with the Little League Baseball® World Series championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., on Aug. 26.
Volunteer umpires are one of the most important aspects in the success of Little League programs around the world and in the Little League International Tournament. As a way to continually develop these volunteer umpires throughout the year, Little League International offers a variety of digital training and educational resources available on LittleLeagueU.org, a bi-monthly Fair Ball Newsletter, access to the Little League Umpire Registry, and formal training through Umpire Clinics and Schools around the nation.
The selection process to become a World Series umpire is lengthy and rigorous. The process for selection to work a World Series begins with a recommendation from the District Administrator, within their district, to umpire in a Regional Tournament. Little League’s nine regional offices then consider all nominated umpires before selecting those who most closely meet the selection criteria.
The umpires volunteering at each Regional Tournament are then evaluated and can receive one of two recommendations: Recommend working another Regional Tournament or Recommend a World Series assignment. Once an umpire has earned a World Series recommendation, the umpire must indicate that they wish to be considered further. Individuals who meet those qualifications are then screened annually by Little League International and Regional staffs for selection to umpire in a Little League World Series tournament.
Appointment as a member of the umpiring crew for a World Series is the highest honor that Little League can bestow on a volunteer umpire. An individual can be selected for a World Series assignment once every four years, but being chosen to work the Little League Baseball World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the third consecutive year, Little League International will support all volunteer umpires at the seven World Series events with a $400 travel stipend to help offset the costs for the men and women to attend their respective World Series events.
The list of volunteer umpires at each of the seven Little League World Series tournaments is as follows:
2018 Little League Baseball World Series (South Williamsport, Pa.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Colin Campbell – Albuquerque, N.M. – Southwest
- Michael Debelak – Torrance, Calif. – West
- Jorge DeJesus Martinez-Quintero – Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia – Latin America
- Ryan Gibson – Brownstown, Mich. – Central
- Danny Gill – Lake Wales, Fla. – Southeast
- Tim Hughes – Wurtsboro, N.Y. – East
- Wayne Kurtz – Coaldale, Alberta– Canada
- Troy Lare – Hermon, Maine – East
- Edward Moran, Jr. – Camden, Del. – East
- Gary Panozzo – San Antonio, Texas – Southwest
- Jeff Pruitt – East Bethel, Minn. – Central
- Shawn Simpson – Simi Valley, Calif. – West
- John Sivley – Bowling Green, Ky. – Central
- Mark Smith – Springfield, Va. – Southeast
- Tomoyuki Tada – Saitama, Japan – Asia-Pacific
- Kyle Wier – Beaumont, Texas – Southwest
2018 Little League Softball® World Series (Portland, Ore.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Victor Andino-Texidor – Carolina, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Ernie Bertothy – Cheshire, Conn. – East
- Johnnie Chavez – Bosque Farms, N.M. – Southwest
- Ted Eby – Victoria, B.C. – Canada
- Gary Kappeler – Royston, Ga. – Southeast
- Jayne Lee – Cottonwood, Ariz. – West
- Freddy Martinez – Brownsville, Texas – Southwest
- Dena Solan – Canaan, Conn. – East
- Rick Strache – Chicago Ridge, Ill. – Central
- Mark Teagle – San Jose, Calif. – West
- Brian Wolfe – Fredericksburg, Va. – Southeast
- Seth Worland – Greenwood, Ind. – Central
2018 Intermediate League (50/70) Baseball World Series (Livermore, Calif.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- David Byars – Plant City, Fla. – Southeast
- Ronald Coleman – Wellsville, N.Y. – East
- Samuel D. Griffith – Mission Viejo, Calif. – West
- Jim Hallonquist – Seguin, Texas – Southwest
- Jeremy Kautza – Waunakee, Wisc. – Central
- Brian Osbourne – Mannington, W.V. – Southeast
- Joe Ouellette – Brewer, Maine – East
- Paul Joseph Schneider – Carmichael, Calif. – West
- Juan Serrano-Alvarez – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Brian Stehr – Medicine Hat, Alberta – Canada
- Andy Stout – Montgomery, Texas – Southwest
- Fred Tempels – Winnweiler, Germany – Europe and Africa
- Jeff Wertz – Goshen, Ind. – Central
2018 Junior League Baseball World Series (Taylor, Mich.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Scott Barden – Coquitlam, B.C. – Canada
- Bruce Butler – Champaign, Ill. – Central
- David M. Carstensen – Poulsbo, Wash. – West
- Daniel Clemente-Cintron – Caguas, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Mike Flowers – Cypress, Texas – Southwest
- Robert Guerrero – Saipan, Mariana Islands – Asia-Pacific
- Anthony Hemmans – Upper Marlboro, Md. – East
- Kevin Henderson – Rockland, Mass. – East
- Steven Kurkowski – Oak Creek, Wisc. – Central
- Andrew Labus – Dunedin, Fla. – Southeast
- Joseph Loftgren – Vancouver, Wash. – West
- Tomas Spilauer – Cěské Budějovice, Czech Republic – Europe and Africa
- Jim Vincent – Alexandria, Va. – Southeast
- Richard Wagoner – Peyton, Colo. – Southwest
2018 Junior League Softball World Series (Kirkland, Wash.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Ian Clarke – Calgary, Alberta – Canada
- Stephen Fensch – Cherry Hill, N.J. – East
- Thomas Ferguson, Sr. – Fairfield, Calif. – West
- Wes Garner – Lubbock, Texas – Southwest
- Darsy Martinus – Willemstad, Curaçao – Latin America
- David McCracken – Glade Spring, Va. – Southeast
- Adriaan Jan Mens – Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands – Europe and Africa
- Stephen Roth – Yorktown, Va. – Southeast
- Peter Sheward – Havre de Grace, Md. – East
- Mark Sikkenga – Kalamazoo, Mich. – Central
- Ronald Thompson – Rio Rancho, N.M. – Southwest
- Gregory Wren – Lynnwood, Wash. – West
- Michael W. Wright – Franklin, Wisc. – Central
2018 Senior League Baseball World Series (Easley, S.C.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Renaldo Cockrum – Bristol, R.I. – East
- David Furst – Wimauma, Fla. – Southeast
- Jared Grissinger – Palmyra, Pa. – East
- Bruce Harjehausen – Dublin, Calif. – West
- Brad Hull – Des Moines, Iowa – Central
- Jaime Ledesma – La Pryor, Texas – Southwest
- Lawrence McNeely – Burns, Tenn. – Southeast
- Cody Nelson – Coaldale, Alberta – Canada
- Dale Rader – Elkhart, Ind. – Central
- Roberto Rivera-Rosado – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Mark Scott – Houston, Texas – Southwest
- Charles Williamson – Novato, Calif. – West
2018 Senior League Softball World Series (Lower Sussex, Del.)
(by name – place of residence – region)
- Ray Campbell – Estero, Fla. – Southeast
- David L. Chavez – Thousand Oaks, Calif. – West
- Joseph Clark – Stuart, Fla. – Southeast
- George Davis – Horsham, Pa. – East
- Bill Fuller – Hewitt, Texas – Southwest
- James Haibon, Sr. – Phillipston, Mass. – East
- Paul Evan Keefer – Boardman, Ore. – West
- Sidney Lebacks – Curaçao – Latin America
- Chris McKellips – Malvern, Ark. – Southwest
- Rick Moore – Fowler, Ind. – Central
- Gary L. Murnahan – Ironton, Ohio – Central
- Jasmine Regneir – LaSalle, Ontario – Canada