It’s a family affair

Steve Virgen

Susie Gastineau stood behind a pitching machine and inserted balls to

her young players.

One by one, the players on the Diamond Girls 8-and-under team

smacked the ball.

“Keep your eye on the ball, sweetie,” Gastineau told her players.

Quin Simmons responded with a hit that went 52 yards to lead her

team, a squad that raised $450 for the Pacific Coast Girls Softball

League’s Hit-A-Thon.

This was just one of several scenes at the league’s Family Fun Day

Saturday at Bonita Creek Park.

Gastineau’s team raised the most money of all squads in the

league. Jane Owen, who coordinated the Saturday event, in its third

year, said the Family Fun Day is the biggest fundraiser of the year

and helps promotes softball in the area.

“It’s great for the girls,” Gastineau said of softball. “The girls

get involved and take it all the way through their high school years.

The girls are coming out and doing a marvelous job. I think it’s

great with the community. The community is supporting and announcing

it.”

Gastineau is in her second year with the league. Her daughter,

Delanie, is on her team. Later in the day the coach sat in the dunk

tank booth and got wet, all in the name of fundraising for the league

and Family Fun Day.

The event usually takes place after three weeks of the season have

passed. League president Todd Engel it allows the coaches and players

to get situated and also for good weather to be present. A sunny day

and clear skies served as the background for an event that included

several carnival booths and barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs.

“This is the day that all the teams mesh,” Engel said. “All the

families meet. All the kids get together. This is the day to be

kids.”

The league has plenty to celebrate. Within the past two years,

participation has increased, as about 100 more girls have joined,

said Joe Stefano, vice president of the league. Stefano was also

dunked in the water tank during the day.