WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Sheriff’s Team, Celebrities Play for Charity

With adoring fans whooping it up in the bleachers, a team of movie and television personalities battled a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department crew Saturday at the first annual Rotary Club of Westlake Village Sunrise Celebrity Softball Game.

The Sheriff’s Department team--a talented, all-male group--jumped out to a quick lead against the acting bunch, which included Kristy McNichol of “Family” fame, Bryan Dattilo and Thyme Lewis of “Days of Our Lives,” and Kane Hodder, who played the sadistic Jason character in “Friday the 13th” sequels.

Just as the celebrities were subjected to what appeared to be an insurmountable whipping, the sheriff’s squad decided it was time for a little role-reversal. Team Sheriff suddenly started looking like the Keystone Kops.

Convincingly.

Routine ground balls--once snatched up like a vacuum cleaner--now dribbled through their legs. Once powerful throwing arms turned to mush. Fearsome bats turned to rubber.

Not surprisingly, the celebrities mounted a comeback. By the seventh-inning stretch the score was 19-14, with the celebrities on top and threatening an upset. A gruesome upset, at that.

“I don’t like to lose,” said a tall and muscular Hodder, a Westlake Village resident whose “Friday the 13th” sequels include “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.” “I pull heads off when I lose!”

In the end, heads remained cool--and attached. The score: 20-20. A tie.

For the Rotary Club, however, the game was a winner.

The benefit festivities, held at the Cal Lutheran University baseball field in Thousand Oaks, attracted nearly 400 spectators, organizers said.

Co-chairwoman Laura Paine said the Rotary Club hoped to raise between $5,000 and $10,000 from the $5 general admission, $25 V.I.P. seats, concessions, $5 autographed softballs and celebrity photographs. The proceeds will go to area children charities, D.A.R.E. and Interface Children Family Services.

“We wanted something that we could build on and make an annual event, and this is something that draws crowds,” Paine said. “It gets the community out and involved. It’s more fun that way.”