Perhaps the most underappreciated group of people within our sport are our umpires and at our VIV Basebal Victoria Awards Night we payed tribute our best in Ian Gavin who won the Robert Blackmore Shield as our 2017 Umpire of the Year.
Ian’s 10+ years as an official has seen him in charge of countless games across multiple divisions and tournaments around Victoria. In addition to his work with our Victorian Summer Baseball League, Ian’s 2017 included a plate appearance at the Division 1 All-Star Game and selection to the umpires panel for the 2017 Australian Junior National Championships in Sydney.
After an impressive showing in Sydney, Ian was awarded the plate for the Bronze Medal game at the 2017 Australian Junior National Championships. After a strong year at all levels of the game, Ian’s year culminated with his selection to plate umpire during the Division 1 Grand Final Series between Essendon and Melbourne.
Baseball Victoria’s 2017 Award night was a chance for the entire baseball community to say thank you to our umpires. So for all the thankless jobs he's done over the course of 10+ years in blue and for an outstanding 2017, we say thank you and congratulations, to our Umpire of the Year, Ian Gavin.