Packed house expected for christening of Big Sky Park
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

While Opening Day has always been a major event for the young ladies of Simi Valley Girls Softball, tomorrow's ceremonies hold a special significance.

That's because for the first time in years, the first pitch of the spring season won't be tossed from the fields at Apollo High School, but instead from the friendly confines of the park district's new $2.8million softball complex at Big Sky Park.

"To me, this is the biggest event in the entire history of all the softball leagues in Simi," said SVGS co-vice president Gina Gooding, who played her first softball in Simi in 1972 as a member of what was then the Little Miss Softball League.

"(Girls softball) has never had our own facility, especially one that is brand new and state-of-the-art."

A crowd of more than a thousand, including 450 ballplayers, their parents, city council members, park district members and others, is expected to be on-hand when Opening Day for SVGS kicks off at 8:45 a.m. The Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District will hold a separate ribboncutting ceremony for the park at 8 a.m.

The annual parade of teams will be followed by a collection of guest speakers, including Phil McPherson, president of the Amanda McPherson Foundation, which raised $300,000 towards the new facility.

McPherson, who will be coaching his daughter Krista's 14andunder team when the day's games get underway at 4 p.m., admitted the occasion would be somewhat bittersweet. McPherson lost his daughter, Amanda, a former member of SVGS, to heart failure related to a rare genetic birth defect in 2003 at the age of 8.

"The bittersweet part for us, is that we know if Amanda was still with us we'd still be having opening day at Apollo High School," he said, "and I just can't imagine that."

The picturesque facility, which sits atop Lost Canyons Drive overlooking the valley, includes four softball diamonds and all the necessary amenities.