Special to IFN
For the seventh straight year, Babe Ruth International has selected Wayne Harwell to be in charge of the umpiring crews at the 9-year-old and 11-year-old World Series in Florence, Ala., and the 8-year-old player pitch World Series in Cherry Hill, N.J.
“Babe Ruth honors me in so many ways, but to continue to ask me to put together an umpiring crew to these World Series is very special to me,” he said.
Harwell will leave for Alabama on July 31 and return home on August 10 before flying to New Jersey on August 15.
Harwell has chosen 15 other umpires from across to United States to join him to Alabama. There will be approximately 24 9-year-old and 11-year-old teams in Alabama with approximately 16 games a day being played. For the New Jersey event, he selected three other umpires to handle eight games a day during pool play before teams are placed in bracket play to finish out the World Series.
“Most of these umpires have been with me in previous World Series. Two have been with me for every World Series that I have been umpire in charge,” Harwell said. “It is a good group of umpires, who love the game of baseball and enjoy being around the young men playing this great game.”
The former Statesville High School head baseball coach, Harwell is highly qualified for the role. His 1991 team was the first Iredell County baseball team to win a state championship as they knocked off Washington High. In 1994, Harwell’s girls tennis team won the dual state championship, making Harwell the only Iredell County head coach to win a state championship in two different sports. He has also been inducted into the Iredell County Sports Hall of Fame and the Southeast Babe Ruth Hall of Fame.
This is Harwell’s 46th year umpiring baseball. He continues to head the local Babe Ruth League, which has grown to one of the top five leagues in the state as far as player participation under his leadership.
“I have been around the game of baseball a long time. Community sports is still the backbone for kids to learn the game. What I see today that is different from my days is that players are not being coached the basic fundamentals of the game,” added Harwell.
Harwell particularly enjoys all-star baseball.
“This time of year is always exciting. As teams advance through district, state, and regional tournaments, the best of the best rise to the top to make it to the World Series,” he said. “This is definitely the best baseball in the country. Whoever comes out on top, they know that in 2025 they were the only team in the county in that age group to be crowned champion. Twelve players will go home with a ring that no other will have. It is not like travel ball, where on any weekend six teams go home with the same ring. If you win a World Series, you are the only one. There is nothing like it.”
During the past three Major League Baseball drafts, Harwell has seen players drafted that played in a Babe Ruth World Series that he has been part of.
“Babe Ruth International is a great organization that has their focus on the kids and the game of baseball,” he said. “I was fortunate to play Babe Ruth baseball years ago, and to be able to continue with Babe Ruth on the local, state, and national level is very special.”