He’s been a familiar sight around Fremont County since graduating from Lander Valley High School in 2008. You might spot Jared Mowrey in his Fremont County deputy sheriff’s uniform trailing his bloodhound Cam as he works with the live-scent people search dog.
But the odds are much higher that you’ll spot Jared in a blue shirt and black pants, behind a chest protector, with a black protective mask over his face and his cap turned backward.
Jared Mowrey is a baseball umpire, and a good one.
Jared has been selected to umpire the Babe Ruth World Series in Branson, Missouri beginning early next month.
Jared met his wife Lindsey while they were both students at Laramie County Community College where Jared was a soccer player.
He was an outstanding athlete at Lander Valley High School, and a guard on the Tigers’ 2008 state championship team under head coach Tony Selph.
The couple has three children; Douglas is 16, his younger brother Graysen is 13, and their daughter Parker is nine.
While Jared played soccer and basketball throughout high school, he only played baseball a couple of years.
“I played until I was 16, then work-wise it just didn’t work out,” Jared said. “I played adult, Old Timers for a while and then in Lander when they used to have games in August.”
Jared got his start behind the plate and working the bases with a Lander legend, Bruce Armentrout.
“Bruce got me into officiating,” Jared said. “I started umpiring baseball when I was 13, doing Little League with Bruce. I did some old timers’ games with Bruce too.”
He worked with baseball officiating for a long time but stepped away for a while when his family was growing.
Jared began working with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office in 2011.
“In 2015, I got back into it when they started the Babe Ruth program in Lander,” Jared said. “I did the 18U state tournament and all the divisions in Gillette the same weekend.”
He was surprised to be named the Assistant UIC (Umpire in Charge).
It takes a special person to officiate any sport with the growing hostility towards game officials from parents and often enraged fans, but Jared still enjoys working with kids.
“We’re still part of the game, it’s a game that none of us want to give up,” Jared said.
He had his first post-season regional tournament in 2024 when Lander hosted the Pacific Northwest Regional.
There are steps to becoming a national tournament official.
“In order to be selected for the World Series, you have to have a regional tournament,” Jared said.
He’ll be joined by another Wyoming umpire, Ted Walker from Gillette, in Branson.
“We arrive in Branson on August 3. Baseball starts August 5,” Jared said. “The last games are on the 15th. I won’t get home until the 16th of August.”
Working as an umpire at a World Series tournament is the apex of an official’s career, but Jared isn’t even 40 yet and has many more seasons ahead.
If you get a chance, tune in to the broadcasts from Branson and you might just get a glimpse of one of our own working the game.