Irvine Showers Accolades, Gifts on Champ All-Star, Bobby Sox Teams

Irvine celebrated the national championships of its Northwood Little League All-Star and the North Irvine Bobby Sox teams Saturday by showering the 11- and 12-year-old players with accolades, proclamations, gift certificates, amusement park passes, personalized baseball jackets--and $10,000 to build new baseball fields.

Maurice L. McAlister, the president of Downey Savings & Loan Assn.--and grandfather of Northwood first baseman David Lambert--announced the $10,000 donation by his company during the awards ceremony at Northwood Shopping Plaza. When they heard his words, the 500 people gathered in the parking lot gasped and then broke out in prolonged applause.

“Life’s never going to be the same again,” Northwood starting pitcher Aron Garcia said later. “It feels really great to have a crowd like this.”

The two-hour celebration began at 11:30 a.m. with drivers honking horns as the two teams rode through Irvine’s Northwood area on a flatbed truck.

View for Son

“Make sure you wave to Mindy ((Bobby Soxer Mindy Shore),” Faris Thani instructed his son, Sharif, as the father hoisted the 2-year-old onto his shoulders when the truck pulled into the shopping center.

“Mindy is a friend of my daughter, and she spent the night with us last night,” explained Thani, a 40-year-old business consultant. “These kids have made all of us, and the city, proud.”

Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, State Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) and other officials greeted the players and their coaches as they made their way to the stage. The Irvine High School Band played fight songs. Cheer and song leaders performed.

Many in the audience wore some of the 5,000 free victory T-shirts area merchants had printed for the celebration.

Several speakers noted that it was unprecedented for Irvine boys and girls teams to have won national championships in the same month.

The first national crown was garnered by the 15-member North Irvine Bobby Sox team on Aug. 14 when, for the second year in a row, it won the national softball championships for 11- and 12-year-old girls in Buena Park.

Clinched Title

Two weeks later, the Northwood All-Stars clinched the national title before finally being defeated by Taiwan in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Initially, the Bobby Soxers’ championship did not receive as much attention as the Little Leaguers’, and several Bobby Sox supporters Saturday said they were pleased that the girls were receiving equal billing now.

“The girls did not get much recognition at first, so it’s good to see that people finally realize that the girls are as good as the boys,” said Marine Lt. Col. John Fenton, whose 12-year-old daughter, Melissa, is a member of the North Irvine team.

Many youths who had played Little League in Irvine this summer showed up to cheer their compatriots.

Kurt Ebbing, 11, sporting his Irvine Mets Little League uniform and sipping a soda, said: “I don’t know any of (the Northwood players), but I’m really happy for them because they did a great job.”

Brian Naumann, 12, who played for the Irvine Cardinals, said: “I knew that (Northwood) was good, but I didn’t think they were that good. But what can I say? They kept beating all those other teams.”

Managers Agree

Managers for two Irvine Little League Teams, Patrick McFadden and Raul Celaya, shared views on what Northwood’s championship would mean to the Little League program in the city.

“I think it’s going to be a stronger program with better players next year,” said McFadden, a 30-year-old construction company executive. “We’ll probably draw some boys from the (Irvine Boys Assn.) because they now see that they have a chance of playing in a national championship, which IBA doesn’t have.”

Northwood right fielder Steve Mendoza’s parents, Steve Sr. and Brigitte, happily sported huge campaign-style buttons bearing their son’s picture. “We’re very proud of our son,” said the father, 49, a manager of a hardware store.

“And it’s great for the community to come out and celebrate with us. I don’t think Irvine’s ever got this excited about anything, he added.”