The official umpires for the 2021 Little League® Baseball and Softball World Series Tournaments have been announced as part of a celebration of National Little League Week. These dedicated volunteers will take the field as part of the 2021 Little League Softball® World Series (August 11-18) and Little League Baseball® World Series (August 19-29).
“Providing a safe and memorable Little League experience is the main priority for all our umpires at every level of play within our program, and even more important during the World Series each summer,” said Tom Rawlings, Little League Director of Umpire Development. “We are thankful to all the volunteers who have agreed to serve as umpires at this year’s Little League Baseball and Softball World Series and are grateful to the flexibility of those volunteers who will take the field in 2022.”
Those umpires who were originally selected to work the events in 2020 were offered the opportunity to either accept their selection to serve in 2021 or defer to participate in the events in 2022. After the decision was made by each of the previously selected umpires, Little League International worked to identify additional umpires to take the field in 2021, many of which have worked a World Series event in the past, to complete the full umpire assignment crew for 2021. Below are the 12 umpires for each event, along with their hometown, region, and any previous World Series events worked:
Little League Softball World Series
Greenville, N.C. (August 11-18, 2021)
- David Byars (Bradenton, Fla. – Southeast Region – 2011 LLSWS)
- Mike Comeau (Manchester, Conn. – East Region – 2013 LLSWS)
- Rene Cruz (Brownsville, Texas – Southwest Region – 2019 LLSWS)
- Jim Gill (Mount Airy, Md. – East Region – 2017 SLSWS)
- Charles Jojola (Isleta, N.M. – Southwest Region – 2016 LLSWS)
- Jayne Lee (Cottonwood, Ariz. – West Region – 2018 LLSWS)
- Mitchell Lemponen (Ashtabula, Ohio – Central Region – First WS)
- Mark Lucas (Oviedo, Fla. – Southeast Region – 2017 LLSWS)
- Don Mason (Anderson, Ind. – Central Region – 2019 LLSWS)
- Mark Teagle (San Jose, Calif. – West Region – 2018 LLSWS)
- Dale Wheeler (Saint Cloud, Fla. – Southeast Region – 2016 JLSWS)
- Brian Wolfe (Fredericksburg, Va. – Southeast Region – 2018 LLSWS)
Little League Baseball World Series
Williamsport, Pa. (August 19-29, 2021)
- Darrin Besescheck (Shelton, Conn. – East Region – 2012 LLBWS)
- Colin Campbell (Albuquerque, N.M. – Southwest Region – 2018 LLBWS)
- Dave Cofield (San Antonio, Texas – Southwest Region – 2019 LLBWS)
- Mike Debelak (Torrance, Calif. – West Region – 2018 LLBWS)
- Ricci Hall (Spencer, Mass. – East Region – 2017 LLBWS)
- Brian Henry (Toccoa, Ga. – Southeast Region – 2016 LLBWS)
- Bryan Horne (Blountville, Tenn. – Southeast Region – 2017 LLBWS)
- Patrick Griffin (Galesburg, Mich. – Central Region – 2010 LLBWS)
- Sean Guilday (Kunkletown, Pa. – East Region – 2016 LLBWS)
- Jason Kelley (Deerfield, Wis. – Central Region – 2016 LLBWS)
- Brian Rounds (Rathdrum, Idaho – West Region – 2019 LLBWS)
- Chris Rutz (Oceanside, Calif. – West Region – 2017 LLBWS)
All of the umpires at the Little League Baseball and Softball Region and World Series events will be provided with Gerry Davis Sports uniforms as part of a new, three-year agreement with Gerry Davis Sports as the Official Umpire Uniform Provider of the Little League World Series.
For more information on the Little League Baseball and Softball World Series, visit LittleLeague.org/WorldSeries.
About the Little League Baseball® and Little League Softball® World Series
The Little League Baseball and Little League Softball World Series and Region Tournaments feature tournament teams from local leagues for players league age 10 to 12. Region tournaments are held throughout July and August at Little League International’s Region Complexes in Whitestown, Indiana; Bristol, Connecticut; Warner Robins, Georgia; Waco, Texas; and San Bernardino, California. The Little League Softball World Series, to be held from August 11-18, for the first time in Greenville, North Carolina, with the field comprised of the top two finishers from the Central Region, East Region, Southeast Region, Southwest Region, and West Region. The Little League Baseball World Series will be played from August 19-29 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with two teams from the Great Lakes Region, Mid-Atlantic Region, Midwest Region, New England Region, Northwest Region, Southeast Region, Southwest Region, and West Region.
Additional information, including a full set of Frequently Asked Questions, schedule information, and important updates throughout the coming months can be found at LittleLeague.org/WorldSeries.