Volpe presents Warrick family with group sportsmanship award
Umpire Joe Volpe began presenting a pair of sportsmanship awards in 2021, choosing one player in the Fayette County Baseball League and one in the Fayette American Legion Baseball League.
“I just always thought good sportsmanship shouldn’t go unnoticed and when my colleague Paul Lancaster died in 2021, I decided to create this award in his honor,” said Volpe, a Masontown native who was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.
This year for the Fayette County Baseball League award, Volpe did something a bit different.
Rather than give the award to an individual, Volpe presented it to an entire Mill Run family.
The honor went to John “Bull” Warrick, his wife April and sons Cade and Luke.
“I never did that before,” Volpe said. “But it just came across my mind and I thought, instead of just one guy, what family would be better than them?
“One of my first County League games was up there with Paul. That whole Warrick family, along with the Orndorffs, Millers, Shearers, you’re talking about great people up there at Mill Run.
“I’ve always liked Bull. He’s a really good, classy guy, kind of shy, and his kids are just like him so I wanted to make it a family affair. They were happy.”
Volpe presented the award before Mill Run’s home game with Charleroi on July 14.
“Ray (Orndorff), their manager, is the only one I told ahead of time and he said, ‘Joe, that’s great,’ and he thanked me,” Volpe said.
“I had both teams line up on the first and third base lines and I went out there and explained why I did it. If anybody was deserving of such a group honor, I thought they were.
Paul was a family man, too. He had three boys and he always liked it up there at Mill Run.”
Volpe said he got positive feedback on giving out a family award.
“Mill Run has had a team so long and they have such respect around the league,” Volpe said. “Guys like (Carmichaels manager) Dickie Krause and (Hopwood Village Plaza manager) Buddy Marra told me that was awesome. Pickhandle (Mercosky), an all-time County League great, was there that night. It couldn’t have gone any better.
“One thing about the Warricks, and the whole team really, is you know they’re going to play the game hard and play it right and you also know you’ll never hear anything from those people, they never cause any trouble.
“No matter if they’re winning or losing, you’ll rarely hear any cussing or complaining from Mill Run. They’re a class act no matter what the outcome of the game.”
The award was the creation of Volpe, who is in his 37th year of umpiring.
“Paul Lancaster died in 2021 and he was my mentor,” Volpe said. “So I just took it upon myself to do this for him. This is the sixth year, legion and county league.
“I know Paul would be happy.”