Seacoast umpires Boyd Stevens, Jeff Ross selected for Little League World Series events

PORTSMOUTH — Two Seacoast Little League umpires, Boyd Stevens and Jeff Ross, will have the opportunity to showcase their respective talents later this summer.

Stevens, a longtime Portsmouth Little League umpire, will take his skills to Livermore, California this month for the Little League Intermediate World Series. Ross, the umpire-in-chief with Rye Little League, will head to the Junior League Baseball World Series in Taylor, Michigan in August.

Stevens heads back to his home state of California

Stevens volunteers as a Portsmouth Little League umpire, and received a letter last January to say he was selected to be an umpire at this year's Little League Intermediate World Series. This tournament, for kids between 11 and 13 years old, will take place from July 30 to Aug. 6.

"I was pretty excited, it's a pretty big thing," said Stevens, who was born about seven hours south of Livermore. "It's kind of a pinnacle to get selected to do something like that."

Kathie Lynch, who served as the Portsmouth Little League president for 25 years, is now the New Hampshire District 2 commissioner. She said Stevens' selection is a well-deserved honor.

"He's a long-time volunteer in Portsmouth Little League, and has gone to a number of clinics and classes to enhance his umpiring skills," Lynch said. "He's a great guy."

Stevens said it's "kind of neat" to go back to his home state, and serve as an umpire at this level of competition.

"There's still some family out there, and I think some of them are going to try and come to catch some games," he said. "I don't know how much free time we're going to have. It's a lot of games at the beginning of the tournament, probably as many as two games a day that I'll be umpiring ... it's pretty busy."

Stevens has been a Portsmouth Little League umpire for 18 years, and is looking forward to seeing teams from all over the world.

"There's teams coming in from Australia, Japan, the Caribbean, and Europe," Stevens said. "It will be a really unique experience to see kids from all over the world, and soak it all in."

Stevens started out in Portsmouth Little League as a coach and manager for his son's team. Stevens started volunteering as an umpire after his son stopped playing.

"Obviously the thing that stands out about (Stevens), other than his ability as an umpire is his commitment to Little League," Ross said. "He's been a volunteer coach and umpire for Portsmouth Little League for a long time. For him to have done this as long as he has, and to do it so well on top that, I really can't think of a guy in District 2 or New Hampshire for that matter who's not more deserving to go out to California and umpire on an even larger stage."

Ross 'honored' to attend Junior League World Series

Ross has been volunteering as an umpire for six years, and was selected to be one of the 13 umpires in the Junior League World Series. This tournament features teams of 13- and 14-year-old players from all around the world.

"I'm extremely honored, I know the competition to be selected is steep," said Ross, who also serves as the umpire-in-chief for New Hampshire District 2. "The opportunity to umpire in the Junior World Series wouldn't be possible without the help of other people."

"(Ross) is just a great volunteer," Lynch said. "He works diligently and he's available for any issues that come up. He helped to coordinate an umpire clinic for increasing the umpire ranks in New Hampshire this year. I just can't say enough positive things about either one of them. They're both great, great volunteers and really, really good men."

How umpires are selected

There was a process that both Stevens and Ross went through to be able to get an invitation to either of these tournaments.

Both had to be selected to work a New Hampshire district Little League championship game, and then a state championship game. Then, they had to apply to be an umpire at a New England regional game.

Umpires are evaluated after every game at the regionals, and then receive a written evaluation at the end of tournament. Stevens said he received positive feedback after the 2021 regional.

All applications must come with a recommendation by the umpire's state district administrator, which was Lynch. From there, both Stevens and Ross needed a recommendation from a regional official in Bristol, and officials in Williamsport then make the final selections.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth, Rye Little League umps selected for World Series tourneys