Green to officiate 4A championship

An area official will be making calls Saturday in the state championship game.

Winchester’s Jeff Green, a regular at Jay County High School games, makes his third appearance as an Indiana high school state baseball finals official at 8 p.m. Saturday at Victory Field in Indianapolis when Penn (26-8) meets Center Grove (29-3) in the Class 4A championship game. He is assigned to make calls as the umpire at first base.

Now in his fifth decade of officiating high school sports, Green has previously been an umpire at the state baseball finals in 2014 and 2015. He has also been an official at the state football championship game between Evansville Mater Dei and Bremen in 1992 and the Class A girls basketball state finals game between Pioneer and Loogootee in 2019.

The 1979 graduate of Winchester Community High School, Green credits another well-known Winchester former official, Paul Beatty, for sparking his interest. Beatty, who worked in five state football championship games, approached him in the mid-1980s to join his football crew and he soon discovered he enjoyed the trade while making a little extra income.

“Paul is really the one who got me started,” Green said. “In the beginning, you do it to maybe make a little extra money, but then you kind of get hooked and you want to learn and get better.

“It’s a passion for Jeff — he loves it,” Beatty said. “I don’t think there’s very many guys who have worked the state finals in three different sports. I would have to think not very many.”

Green said his long tenure as an official has been rewarding in many ways, but it has not always been easy.

“I just enjoy the kids and the competition, and I enjoy working with the other guys on my crew,” explained Green of his lasting career. “It’s really been a great experience, even though it’s not always easy. There is lots of traveling – my wife Pam has always been very supportive – and I’ve had surgery on my knees and hips, so I don’t know how much longer I can do it. It’s getting pretty close.”

A side benefit, Green adds, is being able to work in many impressive venues. He’s been one of the people to keep things under control in places such as Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, the Hoosier Dome, the Fort Wayne Coliseum, Victory Field and, perhaps his favorite, the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University.

“It makes it very special when you get to work in places like those,” Green said. “That’s been another big bonus.”

Generally speaking, officials who work at the state finals receive a two-year assignment, so it’s possible Green will return to the championship game next year.

Officials must earn their way via a grading system that is based on several factors — experience, attending clinics, number of games worked, an official’s test, and also largely on ratings provided by school athletic directors and coaches.

On Saturday, where Green will once again put on his uniform on Indiana high school baseball’s biggest stage, he says he will have the same objective as always.

“I want to be able to walk off the field and feel like nobody even noticed I was there,” Green said. “I’m hoping I don’t miss any calls.”