Sept. 07--LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen thought he threw a ball, but his son, Will, was convinced it was a strike.
"No way. I framed it; it was a strike," Will Lorenzen said.
The elder Lorenzen threw out the "community celebrity" first pitch Saturday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles as part of CSU Channel Islands alumni day.
"The weeks of practice paid off," said Bill Nash, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman, who was on the field with the chief, wearing a Dodgers Hawaiian shirt and carrying a digital camera.
University officials selected Lorenzen for his department's efforts to keep the Camarillo campus and surrounding communities safe during the Springs Fire in 2013, the chief said.
Dr. Richard Rush, along with former students, also joined Lorenzen on the field, wearing blue Tsunami the Dolphin tees. The whole group was introduced to a roaring stadium before Lorenzen threw out the first pitch.
"I thought it was pretty darn cool," Lorenzen said about being asked to participate.
"I'm a big Dodgers fan and baseball fan."
He was calm and collected leading up to the big event, and even though his palms were sweaty just before he walked to the mound, the ball made it into his son's glove.
"He should be more nervous, but he's not," Will Lorenzen said about his father before the pitch was thrown.
The 19-year-old flew out from Boston, where he is a student at Tufts University, for the weekend to catch the ball.
He played for 14 years and was a catcher for his high school's baseball team.
"It was all worth it," he said.
Lorenzen had been practicing every couple of days with colleagues in Camarillo's Freedom Park.
"I'm not throwing anything fancy," he said. But he vowed to throw from the pitcher's mound, not from the "cheater's spot."
"I'm going to give 50 Cent a run for his money," he added, referring to the rapper's infamous first pitch at the New York Mets' Citi Field earlier this year.
Lorenzen, his wife and friends watched the rest of the game from the stands, along with hundreds of CSUCI alumni.
Copyright 2014 - Ventura County Star, Calif.
