In 1945 Harry Sears took over AAGPBL umpire Gadget Ward’s duties as umpire-in-chief and member of the Board of Directors of the South Bend Junior Baseball Association.  Ward resigned his Junior Baseball Association duties to commit more time to umpiring AAGPBL games..

In 1946 and 1948, Sears served as an alternate umpire for the South Bend Blue Sox games.