Celebrities play baseball for Boys & Girls Club

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - For the North County Times | Saturday, October 30, 2004 11:34 PM PDT ∞

PALA ---- Chip McAllister and his wife, Kim, recently took home $1 million for winning the CBS reality show "The Amazing Race" this spring. On Saturday, Chip took part in a different race ---- the one to first base on a softball diamond. His first-inning solution? Hit a grand slam and trot the bases.

"He played awesome for an old man," said Kim, watching from the stands.

As one of 11 celebrities who showed up to participate in the Boys & Girls Club of Fallbrook's celebrity softball game at the Jim Banks Sports Complex in Pala, McAllister was named most valuable player on a team of actors and athletes for his hitting as well as his defensive at first base.

For the opposing team, made up of community members who each paid at least $1,500 to play in the game, Fallbrook High School's Ashley Skaggs was honored as the most valuable player.

Seventeen-year-old Skaggs, who plays on the high school's varsity softball team, had two double plays in her first three innings at third base, as well a couple of hits. As she rubbed elbows with the celebrities after the game, collecting their autographs on her shirt and a game ball, Skaggs said that she was pleased with her performance: "It was really fun. I thought I was going to get killed."

After jumping to an early 9-1 lead on the back of McAllister's grand slam, the celebrity team fell behind in the sixth inning, when they allowed five runs to the home team. With a final score of 15-11, the celebrities never retook the lead.

Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Abe Oliveras said that the softball game was organized this year as the newest element of the club's annual "Step Up To The Plate" fund-raising effort. This year's campaign, which will continue through Dec. 31, began Oct. 19 with a champion's breakfast at Pala Mesa Resort.

Oliveras said Saturday that the Boys & Girls Club has thus far succeeded in raising $82,000 out of the $115,000 that was set as a goal for this year's campaign.

With an annual budget of $866,000, the club serves over 2,100 members at a main campus on East Ivy Street and two satellite campuses in Pala and Bonsall.

"We also provide services to about 3,000 other youth in the community, like Pop Warner football and Potter Junior High, which uses our pool during the summer," said Oliveras.

"'Step Up To the Plate' is one of our signature fund-raisers," he continued. "The other one is our annual auction, and we also have a car raffle. This year, we're looking at either a classic car ---- maybe a '57 Chevy ---- or a Harley-Davidson."

More than half of the club's annual budget is supplied every year by its well-publicized fund-raisers.

As one of the more high-profile elements of the "Step Up To The Plate" campaign, Saturday's inaugural softball game attracted the attention of event producer David Mirisch, who organized and managed the celebrity team.

"I used to put on maybe five to seven softball games a year, but this is our first game in three years," said Mirisch, explaining that his team on Saturday consisted of celebrities who had played softball for him before.

"We did pretty good," he continued. "Kermit Alexander was pitching a great game, but he just got tired. That's when they got all those runs."

Alexander, who was a two-sport All-American at UCLA, played in the National Football League for 14 years and was named All-Pro three times.

Among the other stars that Mirisch called upon to play were former "American Gladiator" athlete Michael Horton and actors from "Baywatch" (Jose Solano), "The Young and The Restless" (Anthony Pena), "Passions" (Donn Swaby), "Back to the Future" (Marc McClure) and "The Mountain" (Bobby Hosea).

Bruce Sievers, who has been nominated to be the next poet laureate of the United States, also played for the celebrity team, as well as Lori Anastasiou, a professional softball player and the first girl ever to play in Little League when she was a child.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.