Surf City steps up to plate

Mike Sciacca

The Surf City Invitational baseball tournament this weekend at Edison

High will have a little something for everybody.

“There’s a national team to a collegiate team to a team full of

Little League dads playing in this tournament,” said Martin Stuka,

the coach of the host team, Club California, and the tournament

organizer. “You’ll see players range in age from 16 to 52.”

In addition to the host team, the Irish National Team, a Bruin

Baseball Alumni Team out of UCLA and MVP Baseball -- an Oxnard-based

team -- will vie for the tournament title.

The tournament gets underway Saturday and concludes on Sunday. All

games will be played at the Edison varsity baseball field.

“We’re grateful to Edison and Coach [Matt] Mosiello for allowing

us to hold the tournament there,” said Stuka, a Huntington Beach

resident. “It’s going to be a great tournament.”

Club California is composed of players from Huntington Beach and

Newport Beach. The 15-player roster includes Huntington Beach

residents Dave Block, Tom Galietti, Chuck Maguire, Lewis Milligan,

Brett Shannon and Chris Wakefield.

Five of those players coach at Seaview Little League, said Stuka,

who is the umpire-in-chief for the league.

Dan Keller of Huntington Beach is a member of the Bruin Baseball

Alumni team, which is coached by former UCLA coach Gary Adams.

Club California enters the Surf City tournament having won a

recent tournament in Paris. There, the squad beat Australia twice and

the French National Team once during tournament play.

The Irish National Team, Stuka said, is sponsored by Peter

O’Malley, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.