Hosts have a ball

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - Six years after the completion of the Costa Mesa

American Little League baseball complex, the District 62 Tournament of

Champions was finally in local territory.

And, due to the success of this year’s get-together, there is already

talk of hosting the event in 2002.

“Everything went very smooth as far as the big picture goes,” CMALL

President Pat McGuire said. “Our complex has really gotten nice over the

years and the district has been asking us to host the TOC for a while.

Last year, I requested to run it for this year and it all came together.”

With three fields to run and 24 teams competing throughout the 10-day

event, it took a ton of help to keep the operation running smoothly.

“We had a core of 10 volunteers practically working around the clock

and their work was very much appreciated,” McGuire said. “If we do this

next year, we’d like to get some more volunteer work from the rest of the

teams in our league and I think with more advanced notice, we’ll be able

to do that.”

Of the diligent workers, McGuire was quick to thank Scott Wilson and

Angie Rodriguez. Wilson was in charge of fixing up the fields during the

tournament, while Rodriguez was the food and drink provider.

“They did most of the work,” McGuire said. “All I did was walk around,

make sure everything ran smoothly and work the barbecue.”

An extra twist provided by the CMALL was Julie Peterson performing The

Star Spangled Banner to kick off each day of the tournament.

“She did a great job and everyone loved the live rendition. But next

year, I’ll have to find an extra singer or two to help her out,” McGuire

said. “She got a little raspy at the end of the weekend.”

Nice people and incredible weather also played into the success of the

tournament. “Year-in and year-out, our league always does a great job of

representing the area,” McGuire said. “Plus, people really like that

ocean breeze. It really makes the majors field a home-run paradise.”

Is a District 62 All-Star Tournament in CMALL’s future? “We’d love to

do it, but during that time in July, it’s hard to pull it off,” McGuire

said. “That’s when the (football) passing leagues take place, plus the

Orange County Fair is going on during that time.”