Windsor Junction’s Ada and Jane Tuttle add their name to rare list of sisters umpiring same game together
WAVERLEY: As the first pitch was thrown — a strike — in a Mosquito baseball game between two LWF Baseball teams, history was made.
The July 22 game, played between the LWF Raiders and LWF Braves at the Doug Clarke Memorial Sports Field behind the Waverley Legion, marked the first time in the LWF Baseball Association—and what is thought to be just the second time across the province in Baseball N.S. play—that two sisters were the ones umpiring the game.
Ada and Jane Tuttle are no strangers to the ball fields, with Ada a seasoned veteran of umpiring at just 15-years-old and Jane in her second year after having played the sport. They had never had been scheduled to work the same game—that is until July 22.
The Laker caught up to the two before they hit the field and called the big game for some comments on the game ahead.
“It’s still just another regular game,” said Ada, who also made history with Kenzie Whitford a few years earlier when they became the first girls in LWF Baseball to umpire a game in Grand Lake. She thought the same about that game when interviewed at the time.
“It’s exciting,” added Jane. “It’s my first game at this level (mosquito) as a base umpire.”
Jane and Ada both hope that other young girls see them out on the field and get curious about what they’re doing. With a current shortage of umpires, now is the perfect time to sign-up.
“We’re hoping to encourage more girls to go into umpiring,” said Ada.
Jane became involved in umpiring because Ada was doing it and was enjoying doing it.
“I wanted to try something new and still be involved in the baseball community,” said Jane.
She admitted to being nervous going into this game with Ada because of getting calls wrong.
“But it happens, we all make mistakes and miss calls,” Jane said confidently. “It’s a game. It’s not the end of the world.”
Any advice for younger sister Jane as she prepared for this game?
“Watch the force plays and that puddle at second base for some reason, keep an eye on that,” said Ada.
If there’s one thing the two would both like to see is sisters on the field doing more games as umpires.
“Hopefully it doesn’t stay unusual,” said Ada.