Each year, the holiday season becomes just a bit more special for more than 90 dedicated Little League® volunteers who receive their official notifications with their official umpire assignments for the Little League World Series tournaments.
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 LittleLeague.org/Umpires, a bi-monthly Fair Ball Newsletter, access to the Little League Umpire Registry, and formal training through Umpire Clinics and Schools around the nation.
WATCH – The Call: Journey of a LLWS Umpire
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 fourth consecutive year, Little League International will support all volunteer umpires at the seven World Series events with a travel stipend to help offset the costs for the men and women to attend their respective World Series events.
And a special note from @MLB umpire Gerry Davis! pic.twitter.com/gwLiOtW1HG
— Little League (@LittleLeague) January 16, 2019
The list of volunteer umpires at each of the seven Little League World Series tournaments is as follows:
Little League Baseball World Series (South Williamsport, Pa.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Matthew Bingaman – Harrisburg, Pa. – East
- David Cofield – San Antonio, Texas – Southwest
- Jason Corbett – Roanoke, Va. – Southeast
- Kelly Dine – Hudson, Ohio – Central
- Anthony Estrada – Perris, Calif. – West
- Rich Fronheiser – Columbus, Wis. – Central
- Dean Harris – Boylston, Mass. – East
- Marty Henry – Knoxville, Tenn. – Southeast
- Yanjia Huang – Guangzhou City, China – Asia-Pacific
- John Joy – Cape Coral, Fla. – Southeast
- Mathieu Lacombe – Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec – Canada
- Mario Martinez – Albuquerque, N.M. – Southwest
- Jaime Perez – Kihei, Hawaii – West
- Stefan Rohrbeck – March, Germany – Europe and Africa
- Jaime Rosario-Perez – Cayey, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Brian Rounds – Rathdrum, Idaho – West
Little League Softball World Series (Portland, Ore.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Max Cannon, Jr. – Missoula, Mont. – West
- Rene Cruz – Brownsville, Texas – Southwest
- Bobby DeHay – Blanco, Texas – Southwest
- Mike Falzone – Salem, Ore. – West
- Brian Fienemann – Tallahassee, Fla. – Southeast
- James Gibson – Victoria, B.C. – Canada
- Edward Hastings – Rockaway, N.J. – East
- Don Mason – Anderson, Ind. – Central
- Anthony McGhee – Vero Beach, Fla. – Southeast
- Angel Rodriguez – Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Kyle Sewick – North Branford, Conn. – East
- Carl Shinbargar – Lawton, Mich. – Central
- John van Renswoude – Velserbroek, Netherlands – Europe and Africa
Little League Intermediate (50/70) Baseball World Series (Livermore, Calif.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Greg Anderman – Bend, Ore. – West
- Ken Avery – Lafayette, Calif. – West
- Todd Brain – The Woodlands, Texas – Southwest
- Darrell Cherry – Fort Worth, Texas – Southwest
- Douglas Coon – Unionville, Mich. – Central
- Al Erdman – Bellmore, N.Y. – East
- Chris Furnish – Powder Springs, Ga. – Southeast
- Jordan Leslie – Kalamazoo, Mich. – Central
- Raymond Pushkal – Whiting, N.J. – East
- Christopher Reynolds – Titusville, Fla. – Southeast
- Luigi Rios-Martinez – Cagua, Venezuela – Latin America
- Hugo St. Amant – Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec – Canada
- Ronald Visaya – General Santos City, Philippines – Asa-Pacific
- Frank Williamson – San Jose, Calif. – West
Junior League Baseball World Series (Taylor, Mich.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Kevin Alenius – Calgary, Alberta – Canada
- Gary Arnell – Perth, Western Australia – Asia-Pacific
- Bob Jonkman – DeMotte, Ind. – Central
- James Lenas – Seminole, Fla. – Southeast
- Wendell Lopez – Willemstad, Curaçao – Latin America
- George Maghielse – Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. – Central
- Bobby Marshall – Missouri, Texas – Southwest
- Stephen Schwartz – Portland, Maine – East
- Owen Sweeney, Jr. – Toms River, N.J. – East
- Rik van de Keer – Rijswijk, Netherlands – Europe and Africa
- Jim Vincent – Alexandria, Va. – Southeast
- Edward Walters – Redwood City, Calif. – West
- Patrick Williams – San Antonio, Texas – Southwest
- Joe Zorio – Roseville, Calif. – West
Junior League Softball World Series (Kirkland, Wash.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Stan Ball – Naples, Fla. – Southeast
- Anthony Baumann – Fredericksburg, Texas – Southwest
- David Clark, Jr. – Monroe, Mich. – Central
- Kenneth Giordano – Oro Valley, Ariz. – West
- Richenel Godfried – Willemstad, Curaçao – Latin America
- Gary Graupmann – San Marcos, Calif. – West
- J.M. Merkx – Rosmalen, Netherlands – Europe and Africa
- Patrick Montoya – Bernalillo, N.M. – Southwest
- Greg Ramos – Munster, Ind. – Central
- David Walmsley – Victoria, B.C. – Canada
- Jeffrey Ward – Ft. Myers, Fla. – Southeast
- William Webster – Ansonia, Conn. – East
- Ryan Yamagata – Point of Rocks, Md. – East
Senior League Baseball World Series (Easley, S.C.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Francesco Benvenuti – Bellaria, Italy – Europe and Africa
- Marcel Bruce – Calgary, Alberta – Canada
- Lowell Brummett – Mechanicsville, Va. – Southeast
- Andrew Carlson – Redmond, Wash. – West
- Anthony Clasen – Houston, Texas – Southwest
- Terry Gerson – Chandler, Ariz. – West
- Zachary Gump – Carlisle, Pa. – East
- Andrew Kelly – Grand Rapids, Mich. – Central
- Dave LaRocque – Warwick, R.I. – East
- Julio Molina – Ciudad de Panama, Panama – Latin America
- Craig Oltmann – Giddings, Texas – Southwest
- Michael Phinaze – Tallahassee, Fla. – Southeast
- Dave Rose, Jr. – Fishers, Ind. – Central
Senior League Softball World Series (Lower Sussex, Del.)
(by name – place of residence – region represented)
- Robert Anderson – Davenport, Fla. – Southeast
- Lowell Bise – Honaker, Va. – Southeast
- David Cameron – Salinas, Puerto Rico – Latin America
- Dan Cowan – Los Angeles, Calif. – West
- Robert Dabakey – Wyoming, Mich. – Central
- Cory Dolph – Concord, Calif. – West
- George Hinojosa, Jr. – Brownsville, Texas – Southwest
- Anthony Lanzilotti – Bergenfield, N.J. – East
- Geoff Larsen – Calgary, Alberta – Canada
- David Roberson – New Market, Md. – East
- Randall Schulz – Santa Fe, N.M. – Southwest
- Jac van Riel – Moergestel, Netherlands – Europe and Africa
- James Vela – Dyer, Ind. – Central