PALMDALE WILL HOST SOFTBALL '98 WESTERN REGIONAL SERIES.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

Teen-age softball players from all over the Western United States will come to Palmdale next August to compete in the last stepping stone for the 1998 Little League World Series.

The Antelope Valley Big League Little League organization won its bid to host the Big League Little League Western Regional Championships for girls ages 16 to 18 fast-pitch softball, scheduled for Aug. 9 to 14 at the Palmdale Little League field at Domenic Massari Park.

``Since we've done really well - we won the Little League world series in 1996, and we've played in the western regional three times - we thought, `Why don't we have it here in A.V., so we don't have to travel so far?' '' said Rich Anderson, the organization's publicity manager. ``Our goal is not just to get the western regional for this year, but to be the permanent site.''

Now comes the hard part: putting together the volunteers, raising the money and making the arrangements needed to host 75 teen-age girls, plus assorted parents and coaches, for five days.

One of the tasks is finding homes where the girls can stay. The organizers also aim to put on a pretournament banquet and, if they can raise enough money, to treat the visitors to activities like a JetHawks game or a trip to Magic Mountain.

The regional championships will feature five teams, the best from a Little League region that stretches from Alaska to New Mexico. The team that wins in Palmdale will travel the next week to the World Series in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Because they are the hosts, the Antelope Valley Big League Little League All-Star team automatically gets a berth in the Palmdale regionals.

They've got there on their own enough.

In 1995, the first year for the program, the local team went to the regionals in Phoenix. They won the World Series in 1996. Last summer they competed at the regionals in Pinole, near Oakland, but didn't win. The winning team that went on to the World Series came from Hawaii.

Anyone interested in helping with the championships should contact Rick Hilblom, tournament director, at [phone].