Rick Havercroft

Rick Havercroft began his long and distinguished umpiring career in 1964 at the North Saginaw Township Little League. He played baseball and football at Douglas MacArthur High School, where he attained All-Conference honors in both sports. After graduating in 1970 he became a registered Michigan High School Athletic Association baseball umpire and softball soon followed. In 1978, men’s fastpitch softball was added to his body of work. In the mid-1980’s, he was retained as the original Umpire Coordinator for the Thumb Fastpitch Travel Softball League. Havercroft’s mandate from league officials was to recruit, train and retain fastpitch umpires while providing a scheduling process for all sites hosting Thumb League games. In the following 15 years he helped develop a staff of umpires that rank among the best in the nation while also developing his own umpire skills. From 2006-15 Havercroft served as Softball Umpire Coordinator for the Mid-American Conference. Softball tournaments of note that he has worked include two MHSAA softball state finals, one MHSAA football state final, two NCAA Division II National Championships, 13 USA Softball National Championships, 13 ISC National Championships, 6 NAIA National Championships, 30-plus Michigan USA Softball State Tournaments, and the 1996 Men’s Fastpitch World Championship. Havercroft has umpired conference championships in the Mid-American, GLIAC, MIAA and WHAC conferences. He has worked softball games in 27 different states and also in Canada and New Zealand. Personal accolades include induction into the Michigan USA Softball Hall of Fame in 2002, Frankenmuth Softball Hall of Fame in 2017, ISC certification in Men’s Modified Pitch in 1990 and ISC certification in Men’s Fastpitch also in 1990. The Saginaw Township native continues to umpire high school, college and USA softball games with a focus now on recruitment and training new officials.