BASEBALL STARS TEE OFF FOR CHARITY : FUNDS WILL GO TO COC, SCV SPECIAL OLYMPICS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

The boys of summer hit the links Monday for 18 holes at the Valencia Country Club, where 190 golfers - several of them major league baseball players - teed off for charity on a warm autumn morning.

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Todd Zeile and his wife, Olympic gold medal gymnast Julianne McNamara Zeile, hosted the sixth annual Scholarship Celebrity Classic. Proceeds benefit the College of the Canyons Foundation and Special Olympics of Southern California.

Professional athletes were grouped with corporate entrants, including Anheuser Busch, ITT Aerospace Controls, Ralphs supermarket, Blue Cross of California, Six Flags California, Wilson Sporting Goods, Coca Cola Bottling Co., Kaiser Permanente, Hughes Aircraft Co. and Aquafine.

``We're hoping to net the same amount as last year, which was $40,000,'' said Cathie Pitts, a fund-raising director for the COC Foundation. ``We had more corporate sponsors this year than we've ever had, so the tournament is definitely gaining in popularity.''

Participants paid entry fees ranging from $300 per person to $5,000 for corporate teams to try their hand on the par-72 course.

``We sold out a month in advance,'' Pitts said.

Other ballplayers on hand were Orioles catcher Mark Parent and pitcher Jesse Orosco; first baseman Gregg Jefferies, Zeile's former teammate from the Philadelphia Phillies; infielders Casey Candaele and Torey Lovullo from the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics, respectively; and pitchers Mark Gubicza and Roger Salkeld of Anaheim's California Angels and the Cincinnati Reds, respectively.

``It's going to be a long day,'' Jefferies joked after completing the first hole with his group.

To assure that all the golfers completed the course about the same time, tournament organizers had a ``shotgun start'' in which each group began play on a different hole, proceeding in order to the other 17 until they finished.

Prizes included golf clubs for the top scorers and either a new car or $10,000 cash for anybody who sank a hole in one.

Among the items to be auctioned at post-tournament festivities Monday were autographed baseball bats donated by Zeile's Oriole teammates, including Cal Ripken Jr., Brady Anderson, Eddie Murray and Roberto Alomar. Other items earmarked for the highest bidders included sporting event and amusement park tickets, golf equipment and a trip to a Santa Barbara resort.

Kathleen Maloney, the tournament's executive director, said the foundation uses the money raised to augment COC programs. Some funds from last year's tournament were donated to the college's math department, for instance, to buy graphing calculators.

The foundation also awarded scholarships of $2,000 each to four students who had been involved in a partnership program between the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club and College of the Canyons.

The recipients, who are now freshmen at COC, were chosen because they otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford a college education.

``All four of them are the first generation (in their families) to ever go to college,'' Maloney said.

Meanwhile, the other tournament beneficiary is Southern California Special Olympics. Among the events the organization stages for the 12,500 mentally retarded athletes it serves are a power-lifting championship, held Saturday at College of the Canyons.

This year's proceeds are earmarked for the Santa Clarita Valley chapter of Special Olympics, tournament officials said.

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Photo

Photo: Tournament chairman Mike Maloney celebrates Monday with Baltimore Orioles third baseman Todd Zeile after Zeile sank a birdie putt on the fourth hole at the Scholarship Celebrity Classic.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News