Sam Fontecchio, of Ironwood, holds the trophy named in his honor which is awarded to the winner of the Little League District 11 minor division each year. Fontecchio was in South Range last week umpiring the Portage Lake Little district tournament. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

While Sam Fontecchio’s Little League career came to an end in the 1960s, his love for youth baseball has hardly subsided.

The Ironwood native went from playing the game to coaching it and then to umpiring it. His passion for officiating eventually put him in front of 50,000 fans in 2011 at the Little League World Series as a home plate umpire in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Fontecchio, known around the region as an elder statesman in the world of (Little League) umpiring, was in South Range last week to officiate the district tournament hosted by Portage Lake Little League.

“In 1988, I got roped into coaching Little League, and part of the deal was that as a coach you had to umpire games as well,” he said. “So, one game in the field turned into five games, and I discovered I really enjoyed it. It was fun.”

This summertime tradition went on for several years as Fontecchio spent his days working for the City of Ironwood and his nights calling safes and outs at the local ball field. However, the ante was upped in 1997 as Ironwood hosted Michigan’s Little League state tournament and there were a whole new set of eyes on the men in blue.

“There were a couple of guys from Marquette who came to ump, and they liked what they saw in me,” Fontecchio explained. “They told me that if I wanted to go further in umpiring and beyond just local stuff, that I should check out (Little League) umpiring school in Indianapolis. It gives you a chance to see and be seen in the world of baseball umping.”

In April of 2002, he attended the umpiring school and put in his application to ump the 2003 regional Midwest Little League tournament in Indianapolis. There are eight Little League regions that send one winner to the organization’s World Series.

“Low and behold, I was selected,” he said with a smile. “The atmosphere was great. Indianapolis did it up right, and once you’ve done a regional you can put in your application to do a World Series.

Fontecchio remembers when he found out he was headed to Williamsport like it was yesterday.

“It was Christmas season 2010, and the letter came in the mail,” he explained. “My ticket was punched for Williamsport in August 2011. Interestingly, I was able to go with a fellow umping buddy. So all the stars lined up for me that year.”

The Little League World Series is a two-week tournament in August featuring eight teams from the United States and eight international squads. There are only 16 umps selected – eight from the United States and eight abroad. Fontecchio described the event as baseball heaven complete with parades, trading pins and lots of euphoria.

He added that there are six umps on the field and each ump gets to man that position twice. He will always remember his Thursday-night assignment of that 2011 Series. He claims it as his 15 minutes of fame. The game featured the Keystone Little League team taking on a team from California.

“Keystone was like 30 miles from Williamsport so they brought 30,000 people to the game,” explained Fontecchio. “I had the plate for that game, and from what I was told, that night was the most watched game in the history of Little League. It was like 50,000 people in the stands and another several million on TV. It was quite an experience. I still get goosebumps.”

He was also on the field umpiring for an international game. He said it was quite an experience, as no one spoke English.

“The whole thing was two weeks that I will not forget,” he said. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience, literally. Once you’ve done Williamsport, you’re checked off the list as there are 100 other guys waiting for their chance.”

When asked how he could get excited about putting on the equipment on a bitter cold day for a Little League game in May in the Upper Peninsula after having touched baseball heaven, Fontecchio didn’t skip a beat.

“I love the kids, and I love baseball,” he said with a big smile.