Meet the three high school baseball umpires who are currently in college
It is the ultimate "trading places."
Bryan Frascogna has a different view on the baseball diamond this year than he did last year.
A year ago, Frascogna was wearing his catcher's gear and playing for the Patchogue-Medford varsity baseball team in Suffolk’s competitive League I. Now, in the spring season of 2025, the 19-year-old college freshman is wearing blue and calling balls and strikes.
It is a stunning turnaround.
“There is some familiarity, and I acknowledge guys at the field, but it ends there,” Frascogna said. “It’s not uncomfortable because it is work and all business at that point.”
It is the state of officials in all high school sports in 2025. There is a shortage of officials on Long Island. And using younger, less experienced guys is necessary.
The recruitment of umpires such as Frascogna who know the game and have the passion to work in it is the answer.
“I’ve always been drawn to officiating and being an official,” Frascogna said. “I always used to copy a guy, Charlie Norden, behind the Pat-Med dish, when I was a real young kid. I wasn’t going to play baseball in college. But I wanted to still be in the game and thought this was the perfect step for me to go.”
Frascogna is part of an influx of young officials to the Long Island Baseball Umpires Organization in Suffolk.
“We had a more than necessary infusion of umpires at the varsity level this year and they did a fantastic job,” said Tom Combs, the executive director of Section XI, which governs all Suffolk school sports. “We are in crisis with the shortage of officials in all sports. Recruitment is the key to keeping our student-athletes on the field and playing at all levels from middle school through the varsity.”
The shortage of officials does not leave a promising outlook. A very real perspective leads one to the realization that without officials, there would be no sports. The shortage of officials has hit hard at the middle school level, where most contests during the past two years have been reduced to scrimmages with coaches and at times parents volunteering to officiate.
“We’re always recruiting,” said Billy Ambrosini, the co-owner of the Long Island Baseball Umpires Organization (LIBUO). “Right now, we have a class of college kids who are coming home that have just finished their baseball seasons and we’ll expedite them through classes before starting field mechanics and rules to get them ready for next year.”
Ambrosini said the shortage has dictated moving guys through the ranks and up to the varsity quicker than usual.
“With the shortage of umpiring right now, we need the bodies,” he said. “We need passionate guys that love the game and know the game. We’ll teach the positioning, the rules they may not know, all of it. And yes, in the past you would never see young guys that just left high school working varsity games the following year. It is a concern because they’re young and still attached to their high schools. That’s just something we had to get over.”
These three look the part
Frascogna, Aidan Russo and Kevin Rorke worked their first year of varsity ball and made quite an impression on coaches throughout the county from a confidence standpoint to a competence level.
“Bryan and Kevin did a great job in the games we had them umpire,” Hauppauge baseball coach Josh Gutes said. “They hustled and communicated well with the coaches, players and each other. It was obvious they paid great attention to detail and cared about the nuances of being a successful umpire. Hopefully they stick around for a long time because we need guys like them to keep playing.”
Frascogna, who ran for Patchogue’s Board of Education in 2024 and played high school volleyball, is not short on confidence. He currently is attending St. Joseph’s University of Patchogue and studying chemistry and adolescent education.
“The good officials are the guys that love being around baseball,” Frascogna said. “You definitely have to have a sense of what the game is doing, where it’s going, and how you can be on top of what’s going to happen next.”
But has he encountered the wrath of coaches and parents at games that could have shattered his enthusiasm? Has he walked up to a field, and fans see a youthful face, and it’s already an issue?
“People believe that because you see a young face, you don’t know the game, but it’s really not the truth,” he said. “We have a few young guys, and I think that sometimes we might know the game better than some guys that have been around. You can’t know everything. You’re always learning.
“You must sell every call you make. If you’re not out there believing in what call you made, coaches don’t believe you, players don’t believe you, and that’s when it starts to go crazy.”
Frascogna had a relatively smooth spring with no ejections and a satisfying experience.
'Picked it up quickly'
Russo, 18, a former catcher from William Floyd High School, is a freshman studying business management at Farmingdale State. He was an absolute workhorse this spring, working 32 varsity games.
Like Frascogna, he was one year removed from competition, and working important varsity playoff games.
“It’s a lot thrown at you at once, but I picked it up quickly and just stuck with it,” Russo said. “I started when I was 16, so since then, at that point in my life, that money is great.”
Section XI varsity baseball officials make $139 per game.
“It doesn’t matter who I work with, I always want to do the plate, because that’s where you have the most power,” Russo said. “It’s like being a catcher where you see the entire field and take charge.”
Ambrosini said it’s guys like Russo that succeed in the business.
“Some guys won’t get turned off because they’re so into the game and they’re giving back to the game,” Ambrosini said. “That’s Russo. That’s what we need. We need guys to give back to the game.''
Russo, like Frascogna, said developing a relationship with the catcher is imperative in having a solid game performance.
“One of the most important things to do is have a good relationship back there,” Russo said of the catcher-umpire relationship. “You want to get to know their name, be respectful to them and thank them for keeping you safe.”
Enthusiasm for the job
For Rorke, 19, who pitched for West Babylon High School in 2023 and currently attends Hofstra University, umpiring has been exciting. He’s another umpire rising into the varsity ranks and doing a fine job.
“Every day I walk onto the field, I want something new to happen,” he said. “I want to see how I handle it or how someone else handles it. I’ll keep that in my tool bag and know exactly how to work it the next time.”
Rorke said he started playing baseball at 5 years old and fell in love with the game.
“You have a pulse on the game,” he said. “You’re two steps ahead of everything before it happens. You can anticipate it and slow yourself down and wait for it to happen. Experience is the key. Being in tune with the game is paramount in umpiring.”
Rorke had an ejection in his very first varsity game, and it didn’t come in a volatile situation in which a confrontation led to the dismissal. It came after a home run.
“My first-ever varsity regular-season school game, a kid hits a home run and a teammate comes out of the dugout with this giant red sombrero and puts it on the kid’s head,” Rorke said. “Props are not allowed in celebration. I caught the tail end of it, so I’m like I must do something here. I called the offensive head coach over and said I need the name of whoever brought that red hat out, and I need him gone. I said, ‘If you don’t pick someone, it’s you.’ ”
Rorke laughed at the recollection and said it was his job to enforce the rules.
“He was applying the rules,” Ambrosini said. “That could not have been easy for him in his first game. We try to give them confidence as we’re training them. It’s all positive, nothing negative. Give them that authority and that confidence in the beginning that they can apply the rules with confidence and no inhibitions. It resonates with a lot of the young kids because they gain that confidence, and it doesn’t just take you to the baseball field, it takes you off the baseball field to other things you do.”
Ambrosini and co-owner Rich Lionetti have poured themselves into the development of younger umpires through the Town of Brookhaven with the assistance of Sal Mignano, the director of baseball operations.
“Our relationship with Sal and the town is excellent,” Lionetti said. “And our young umpires are coming along quickly. We have a pipeline of kids that start at 14, 15 years old that are making a difference. We are in a crisis with a lack of officials. Some are getting older, some stop because of sideline abuse. We’re developing outstanding young officials for the future.”
Ambrosini and Lionetti run eight weeks of umpiring classes at the end of January.
“Rich is absolutely phenomenal at teaching in the classroom because he’s entertaining and engaging,” Ambrosini said.
Frascogna said he started with LIBUO and trained in the classroom and then on the field with two instructors critiquing his every move.
“I definitely feel pressure on the field, especially in the playoffs when the crowds are huge and all eyes are on you for every call,” he said. “But I was prepared for it. I felt it from the fans and the players coming out. You get butterflies just like when you played.”
Cold Spring Harbor coach Jay Hegi may have summed up an official’s responsibility the best: “You want an official who knows the rules, loves the game and gives it their best effort. Hustle, move around and communicate.”
Sounds as if Frascogna, Rorke and Russo have it down pat.