It has been quite a summer of umpiring for Vito Ruggiero.
In June, the 53-year-old from Dunmore worked the PIAA Class 3A baseball championship game at Penn State University between Neumann-Goretti and Avonworth along with fellow District 2 umpires Tim Schoen, Mark Jakes and Joe Tarity.
Last week, Ruggiero was in Taylor, Michigan, working the Junior League Baseball World Series.
“Talking to other umpires from around the country, they said next to Williamsport, that’s the experience you would hope for,” Ruggiero said. “It lived up to its reputation. It was absolutely fantastic. First night I got there, we were on the field for a (Detroit) Tigers game and met the umpires and was honored during that game. Then there were teams from Taiwan, Spain, Mexico, Canada. It was just a really, truly, unique humbling experience.”
His journey to the series began in 2022 after working the Little League East Region finals in Bristol, Connecticut. Ruggiero was chosen for an ID camp, which is used to find potential umpires for the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
After attending the camp in April 2023 and getting evaluated, Ruggiero was selected in February as one of the 13 umpires to work the Junior League World Series, which is for ages 13-15. This year, the six United States region teams at the series were from Michigan; Elmhurst, Illinois (Central); DuBois (East); Tampa, Florida (Southeast); New Braunfels, Texas (Southwest); and Honolulu, Hawaii (West). The six International Teams were from Chinese Taipei (Asia-Pacific); Sydney, New South Wales (Australia); North Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada); Europe-Africa (Barcelona, Spain); Rivas, Nicaragua (Latin America); and Matamoras, Tamaulipas (Mexico).
Ruggiero umpired five games — two behind the plate — as well as first base for the United States championship game between Michigan and Southeast, which Michigan won, 9-7. It then lost in the final to Asia-Pacific, 5-0.
“I’ve been around baseball my whole life. Played in high school, played in college, coached,” Ruggiero said. “Everybody is drawn to the Little League World Series in Williamsport. You wonder about the communication gap. It was a unique experience to see a coach call timeout, go out to talk on the mound and there’s a translator there with you. And the community of Taylor, Michigan, has really bought into this. They really make it a memorable experience.”
A 1989 graduate of Bishop Hannan, where he was a Times-Tribune All-Region selection at catcher as a senior, Ruggiero also played at Keystone College, Lackawanna College and Misericordia. He also coached at Penn State-Scranton and Dunmore High School. He started umpiring about 20 years ago as a way to stay involved in the game.
Although he works games at the high school and collegiate levels, Ruggiero always volunteers his time to do the Little League tournaments locally and regionally.
“It’s where the heart of baseball is,” Ruggiero said. “These kids play the game because they really love it.”
For the Junior League World Series, Little League Baseball puts the umpires up in a hotel, has a hospitality suite for meals and gives a small stipend for travel expenses. Everything else is on their own, all volunteer.
Still, Ruggiero is already looking forward to next year.
In November, he plans to apply again in the Little League Umpire Registry. There typically is a 3-5-year waiting list for the World Series in Williamsport. There also is the Senior League World Series in South Carolina and the Intermediate (50/70) World Series in California.
But he wouldn’t mind going back to Michigan.
“Everybody wants to get a different experience,” Ruggiero said. “But the experience I had in Taylor, Michigan, really set the bar high.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-16 23:44:00
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