An arresting ball game

SANTA ANA — No fights broke out on Saturday afternoon during the softball game at Carl Thornton Park. The managers never charged out of the dugout to bellow at the umpire. No pitcher aimed for a batter’s head.

Still, if any trouble had reared its head, there was plenty of law enforcement present.

Saturday’s event marked the first softball match between the Costa Mesa Police Department and the South Coast Plaza Security.

In the end, the police out-slugged the security guards 28-17, but no one cared much about the final score — the purpose of the event was to raise money for the Festival of Children Foundation.

“We decided we wanted to do something that could be coed, that everyone could play,” said Jeff McCarver, a South Coast Plaza security guard who helped to conceive the fundraiser.

During the 2 1/2 -hour match, a small crowd gathered around the diamond while organizers barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers and sold raffle tickets. The majority of funds came from donors in the community, however, with Sports Chalet, Ruby’s Diner and other businesses contributing.

Sandy Segerstrom-Daniels, the founder of the Festival of Children Foundation and a managing partner of South Coast Plaza, said the event brought in more than $2,000.

The foundation, started in 2002, is a nonprofit group that offers resources to more than 100 children’s charities.

Segerstrom-Daniels said she had considered a softball tournament in the past and was amazed when McCarver and Security Sgt. Lindsay Harrison called her with the same idea.

“Everybody does golf tournaments, but I thought, ‘We’ve got to try softball sometime,’ ” said Segerstrom-Daniels, who played in the game, singling and scoring a run.

She attributed the Police Department’s victory to its tough training regimen.

“They’re paid to stay in shape, so they’ve got the advantage on us,” she explained.

While the sides faced off, McCarver’s sister, Brandy, sat in the bleachers and kept score. The runs piled up quickly, but she stopped recording fielding errors early in the game at the players’ request.

“They said they didn’t want none of that,” McCarver said.

Perhaps it was too relaxed an event to require a scorecard, anyway.

At one point, after an infielder caught a sharp line drive, the South Coast Plaza batter snapped on her way to the dugout, “I was robbed! Someone call the police.”