This year’s Women’s College World Series was a battle between Michigan and Florida. The series went the full three games and ended with Florida winning the championship.

Aside from the expected celebration and heartbreak from the teams, a piece of Vicksburg played a part in officiating the game.

David Erwin is the first African-American selected as an umpire for the Women’s College World Series. Erwin was born into a baseball family and has been associated with the game all his life. Growing up in a baseball family, with five brothers and four sisters, was competitive.

“Baseball and softball was our activity. We played all the time,” Erwin said.

Erwin returned to Halls Ferry Park Saturday afternoon and remembered all the great times as a kid playing in the park. When he was 8 years old, he played in the Bantam League. There wasn’t a pitcher, instead a machine pitched to ball to the players.

During one game he turned a triple play while playing short center. The bases were loaded and a line drive came to him. While the kids were running he touched second and first bases to come up with the play.

He played baseball for Vicksburg High School and graduated in 1990. In his senior year, VHS beat Warren Central in a close game 3-2. It was the first time Vicksburg beat Warren Central in a long time.

The game was intense, he played at home and the crowd was large.

“Getting a chance to beat a bunch of buddies that we grew up playing against was pretty cool,” Erwin said.

In the same season, Vicksburg beat Greenville High School 3-2. Greenville was ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 5 in the nation.

After graduation, he attended Alcorn State but did not play college baseball. Erwin did continue to play pick-up softball and Sunday baseball.

He transitioned to umpiring when Charlie Miller, a long time umpire in Vicksburg, asked him to help officiate a machine-pitch baseball game his senior of high school. When Miller exposed Erwin to what it’s like being an umpire, Erwin knew he wanted the job. After 17 years he still enjoys officiating.

In 1998, he began umpiring men’s slow-pitch softball. Erwin attended a fast-pitch camp and fell in love with fast-pitch softball. He has umpired on the collegiate level since 2004.

Erwin’s first time umpiring a college game was in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, where the difference between umpiring collegiately and recreationally is the speed of the game, which is faster on the college level.

Erwin, as a player, was aggressive with the umpires and questioned calls. He now experiences the wrath of players getting in his face like he did as a player.

Erwin credits his game management skills to being an aggressive player.

“I know kids are going to play hard, challenge calls at times and even coaches will challenge calls. If they don’t, then they are not working for their kids,” Erwin said. “I know what a coach is doing because I did it. It’s always fun because it reminds me of myself.”

Erwin took what he learned from the SWAC and applied it as he transitioned to Southeastern Conference. He treated every game in the SWAC as if it were an SEC game.

Before being selected for the Women’s College World Series, he worked the National Pro Fastpitch Championship game in 2012.

He became the first African-American to umpire the Women’s College World Series in 2014 and was invited back this year.

Erwin was assigned Games 1 and 3 of the series — the latter was the national championship game — and said it was intense.

“Getting the assignment to be on the field for Game 3, the deciding game, was pretty cool. I had a great time and seen some great softball. I took everything in and enjoyed the moment.”