Vancouver umpire honored for work in Junior League Baseball World Series in Michigan

Riveridge — Joe Loftgren, industries manager for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, earned the Chuck McAllister Umpire Award for his work in the Junior League Baseball World Series, held Aug. 12-19 in Taylor, Mich. The award is named for the Junior League’s first director of umpires, who died in 1999. Loftgren has umpired for 16 years. Umpires are allowed to work the international tournament once, so this was his first time umpiring in the Junior League Baseball World Series. He was the second base umpire in the championship game on ESPN, which was won by the 13- and 14-year-olds from Chinese Taipei. He has also worked the Big League Softball World Series and has traveled to Novara, Italy, the last six years to work as an umpire in the Senior League Baseball Europe-Africa Regionals. Loftgren grew up in Italy, and started playing baseball in Naples. His mother still lives there.