BANGOR, Maine —
Zach Grant may be just 13, but he was an umpire-in-waiting for nearly a decade.
“Since he was 4,” said his mother, Beth.
There’s been no waiting this year for the Bangor youngster, who will be an eighth-grader at the William S. Cohen School this fall.
Grant has worked more than 20 Little League games, most recently including five home-plate assignments at the District 3 all-star tournament for ages 9-10.
“I like the plate,” he said, “because you’re in the action every single pitch.”
Working all-star games is fairly uncommon for 13-year-old umpires, but returning to the Little League ranks as a volunteer umpire after aging out of the 11-12 division and moving on to Junior League is encouraged by the Bangor East Little League.
Not only does their presence complement the adult umpires who work Little League games, it also helps ensure a sufficient pool of umpires to fill out the various age-group schedules.
“It can be difficult at times, but we’ve actually done a pretty good job over the years of getting guys who have graduated, the 13-year-olds who have aged out, to come back for the next year or two to umpire,” said Bangor East president Dale Duff.
“One example of that would be [national-level distance runner] Riley Masters. He came back and umpired for a bunch of years and was a great umpire. [University of Maine hockey goalie] Chris Howat was another one who came back for several years and was excellent. Cavan Haggerty, who’s on the Bangor golf team, still does some games, so we’ve had good luck with it.”
Seven 2014 Bangor East alumni — Grant, Isaac Sleight, Kevin Fish, Connor Ashfield, Ezra Hamer-Nagle, Cody Lally and Tommy Hosmer — have made time around their Junior League schedules this summer to umpire Little League games.
“In years past I might be calling around at 4 o’clock to see if anyone was available to work a game, but this year I could schedule Zach and another junior for a 5 o’clock game and four of the kids would be there,” said Tom Grant, Zach’s father and the Bangor East umpire-in-chief.
“They all wanted to do it every night so we’d have to rotate. Even Zach and some of the other kids didn’t get as many games as they wanted, but it’s actually been a huge benefit for us to have that many kids interested. Last year we probably had 12 to 15 games not covered so we’d have to go out and ask a dad or a coach from another team to do it.”
Bangor East has acquired an assortment of umpiring equipment in an effort to facilitate the younger umpires being able to work games. In addition, Tom Grant said first-round playoff pairings within the league are drawn out of a hat rather than based on regular-season records, allowing the new umpires to gain experience during a less pressure-packed early spring schedule.
“You see those kids umpiring the games and you know they were playing here last year, but now they all say that they see the game a little differently,” said Duff. “And you see the maturity in Zach and some of the other guys we have here, because when they put on their blues and grays, they don’t talk to the players. They just do their job.”
Sometimes that transition from Little League player to umpire is tricky, especially when the ball-and-strike calls or rules interpretations involves a former teammate or a pal from school.
“I was on one of the teams last year, Rotary,” said Zach Grant, “but you have to put away the teams and the kids from your mind. It’s a little difficult because I’m only a year older than they are and I’m friends with some of them.”
Zach Grant was introduced to umpiring earlier than most of his peers, often traveling to games with his father even before he began playing Little League.
“I watched his high school games over the years and kind of liked it,” he said. “It looked like something good to do.”
In addition to talking with his dad about game situations that arose when they went to games together, Zach also has spent free time reading the rule book in anticipation of getting his first chance to umpire this year.
“Zach’s followed his dad around and mimics almost everything his dad does as an umpire,” said Duff. “He has watched games not just through a baseball player’s eyes, but he’s watched them through an umpire’s eyes, and I’m sure there have been game trips when they’ve talked a lot about rules and game situations over the years.”
Zach and his father have worked together during the recent postseason, adding to their shared enjoyment of umpiring.
“I thought he has done a great job this year,” said Tom Grant. “I wasn’t sure he was ready for 9-10 all-stars, but one of our high school umpires who does a lot of the training for high schools came over and watched him one day and said he was at least ready for 9-10s so we took him over and they put him on the plate.”
Zach Grant also has begun to apply what his father calls “earmuffs” when it comes to ignoring criticism of a call.
“We just did a game [this week] that was between two undefeated teams,” said Zach, “and once something doesn’t go someone’s way, even if it’s not your fault they’re going to question almost every call on you.”
Zach hopes eventually to become a high school and college umpire and also is interested in officiating another sport he plays, ice hockey.
But for now he’s still competing in both sports, and when it comes to baseball he believes his experience as an umpire helps him as a player.
“You kind of know the situation almost every time,” he said. “You don’t get lost in the game like some kids are.”
