Chamber vs. chamber - Wildomar and Lake Elsinore teams to play ball!

The softball gloves will be on and the crowd cheering at the first community softball game sparking a friendly rivalry between the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce and the Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce (LEVCC) on Saturday, October 7, at 4 p.m. at Welch Park in Wildomar. The gauntlet was dropped when the Wildomar chamber challenged their northern neighbor to the match and Lake Elsinore accepted, described Wildomar Chamber Director and Coldwell Bank Realty broker Haley Farnam, who is helping to organize the event. It’ll help raise money for the self-supporting Wildomar Chamber with concession sales, a silent auction and raffle, a 50/50 raffle and sponsorships.

But the real draw and entertainment will be out on the field.

Although they have the professional minor league baseball team the Lake Elsinore Storm in their hometown, the LEVCC says they don’t need to borrow any of the players. They say they have an arsenal of talent and experienced softball players ready for battle.

LEVCC president/CEO Kim Joseph Cousins describes the team as “experienced.” “We have a slight advantage in having a baseball team in the city,” he said but also says he realizes that any recruitment of the Storm’s professional players wouldn’t be neighborly.

LEVCC coach Matt Norkin played for a minor league professional team but is modest about his abilities, although he continues to play recreational softball.

“They’ve had a late start,” admits Cousins. The LEVCC team hadn’t started practicing yet as of last week but Cousins isn’t worried. Most of the players already play on softball teams, he said. “It’s not a stretch for them,” he says mischievously. “They’re not rusty. They’ve been playing softball for awhile.”

The Wildomar Wildcats, on the other hand, have been practicing two days a week recently. Coach Tim Boyes of Boyes and Sons General Contractors is looking forward to the game. The Wildomar team also has softball experience, he says.

“Let ’em talk,” he said. “They’re a bunch of young bulls and we’re a bunch of old bulls with a little more experience.”

“We’re going to make this fun and still beat them and they’re going to be all serious,” Boyes predicts.

Since Wildomar is the home team, the game will be played according to their rules. One surprise rule is awaiting their neighbors. “Anything over the outer fence is an out,” Boyes revealed. “We will have no homeruns in this game. It’ll be interesting to see how they react to that!”

The game starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 7, at Welch Park, 21347 Como Street (on Gruwell Street off Palomar behind the Wildomar Cemetery). Bring lawn chairs. Hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos and other snacks will be available. Contact the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce at (951) 245-0437 for more information.

(Boyes donated $100 for a contest to name the Wildomar team. The winners of the contest donated the money back to the chamber.)