11 November 2025
From Cairns to Williamsport: Daniel del Nido’s Little League Dream
feature story by Connie Rowe
Time stood still for Daniel del Nido.
The 18,000 strong crowd faded into white noise.
He had been umpiring baseball for the best part of 20 years, yet never faced scrutiny like this before.
Forty seconds felt like a lifetime as he held his breath for the verdict of his first challenged call.
“Call stands,” echoed across the stadium as del Nido let out a sigh of relief and a little smile.
It was a surreal feeling.
The stadiums were packed out with upwards of 20,000 spectators. In them, some of the best baseball the world has seen. The athletes aged out at 12 years old.
It was the Little League World Series and del Nido was there to call the shots.
“These kids were doing things with baseballs that I had never seen before,” del Nido admits.
From 80 mile an hour fastballs to curves that broke further than he’d ever seen, del Nido was in awe of the sheer talent exhibited by the players.
They weren’t selected to play though.
Each team was made up of Little Leaguers playing alongside their teammates from back home. They had started a journey together at the start of the season, beating everyone in their region to progress.
The umpiring crew didn’t get there by chance either.
Every umpire had been through rigorous testing and scrutiny prior to their selection. del Nido was there to represent the entirety of Asia-Pacific. He too had been selected over some 500 comrades in black.
With ESPN cameras following their every move and major sponsors galore, it made everyone feel like they were a part of the major league. Umpires too.
“I couldn’t believe it when they wanted to make us all custom uniforms,” he said.
For years he’d been funding his own and knew a good pair of pants aren’t exactly cheap.
Del Nido had been a part of numerous national and state tournaments but this was a spectacle unlike anything he had ever witnessed before. It only added to the pressure to perform.
“I knew that any call I made had the potential to be replayed over and over again,” he said.
Despite feeling a few fractions off the mark, del Nido went on to call his first no hitter. Not that he realised.
“I was so locked in throughout the game, it wasn’t until my crew chief told me,” del Nido said.
The intensity of umpiring at this level meant he was riding one pitch at a time. Everything else became a blur.
To prepare for such an event was just as much of an exercise.
Dan del Nido hails from Cairns, a town in the far north of Queensland, Australia, more known for its rainforests and coral reefs than for its baseball.
But when del Nido received the call that he’d been selected, the baseball community rallied around him.
“Our local team, the Cairns Cubs, ran situational trainings,” he said. “They would hit the ball randomly. No one knew where it was going. This meant that I could work on my reactions and mechanics.”
Except for one fundamental issue. They played on a full sized diamond. Little League is played out on 60ft base paths.
So, every time he stepped out a rotation, visualisation took over as he mentally corrected how far he would have to go.
Distance wasn’t the only difference.
At the World Series, umpiring crews were made up of four. In Cairns, you’d be fortunate to work with one other qualified umpire.
But again, the local community were quick to step up with fellow umpires putting their hands up to run extra games to give him bigger crews to work with.
Despite his rigorous commitment to training, del Nido still had doubts.
The league of World Series umpires is an exclusive club. The likes of Mark Gilmour who had been before him were invaluable.
“I could ring him with any question, no matter how trivial,” del Nido said gratefully.
No matter how much they tried to describe the experience to him, nothing could truly prepare him until he experienced it himself.
The Little League World Series is a purely volunteer run exercise. Given the grandeur of the event, it’s no wonder that gratitude flows thick.
Above: A pin that del Nido made for an exchange with other umpires.
In fact, for del Nido, it was almost as though he’d been elevated to celebrity status. From the moment he landed in the US, he could barely walk 10m without being stopped for a chat.
“People really appreciate you,” he said. “They recognise that if you’ve been chosen as a World Series umpire, then you have given up many years of your own time and money towards training opportunities and gear.”
From being fast tracked through security at the airport to free bus rides, everyone wanted to show him and his crew their support.
There was a form of currency at the event, however. Pins.
“Everyone had their own unique pin,” del Nido said.
His was among the rarest.
Players, officials and volunteers alike would collect, trade and barter to extend their collection of pins.
To umpire at the Little League World Series was a goal ten years in the making for del Nido.
A Queensland Baseball Umpires Association accreditation course in Cairns opened a door to an experience he had never fathomed.
While it is one that he would eagerly repeat over and over, del Nido is humbled to now be there to help make someone else’s dream come true.
“Being appointed for the World Series is an incredibly competitive opportunity,” he said. “After applying, you have to be endorsed by your region, then your state, then your country before finally being appointed by Little League as the single representative for Asia-Pacific.”
“I have had such incredible mentors,” he said. “I hope to be that for someone else, to help them have the same experience.”
For del Nido, umpiring is more than a pastime. It has opened so many doors. But whether he is umpiring internationally or at his home ground in Cairns, every time he steps on the diamond he does so with the utmost professionalism.
His mantra – every call means something to someone.
