Briefs: Pavlik, Walsh Jennings take Manhattan
Former Laguna Beach High volleyball standout Whitney Pavlik (Laguna Hills) and partner Kerri Walsh Jennings (Manhattan Beach) won the women’s title Sunday at the 53rd annual Manhattan Beach Open.
It was the third-straight triumph for Pavlik at Manhattan Beach, who had won the women’s title the previous two years with player partner Jenny Kroop.
The pair, which was coming off an equal fifth-place finish at the Salt Lake City Open Aug. 18, pocketed $20,000 and 750 points for Sunday’s win.
The Salt Lake City Open and Manhattan Beach Open events were the first two of seven total stops on the 2013 Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. The tour will conclude with the Huntington Beach Open Oct. 19-20 at the Huntington Beach Pier.
Pavlik and Walsh-Jennings, the No. 2 seeds, won the women’s final by sweeping the No. 3-seeded team of Brooke Sweat (Hermosa Beach) /Jennifer Fopma (Costa Mesa), 22-20, 21-17. Pavlik/Walsh-Jennings had lost a match earlier in the day to Sweat/Fopma during Round 4 in Winner’s Bracket play.
Walsh Jennings won the women’s title at the Manhattan Beach Open for the sixth time.
Her husband, Casey Jennings (Manhattan Beach), and his partner, Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa), won the men’s title Sunday. It was the first Manhattan Beach title for Casey Jennings.
The next AVP Tour stop is Saturday and Sunday at Cincinnati, Ohio.
— From staff reports
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Local players second at youth baseball tournament
The Baseball Performance Academy DeMarini Elite 12-and-under travel baseball team, which includes Cutter Clawson and Kolton Freeman of Laguna Beach, finished in second-place in its division at the National Youth Baseball Championships in Memphis, Tenn.
The event, the top 12U tournament in the country and in its sixth year, started Aug. 22 and concluded Monday.
In Monday’s title game, BPA DeMarini Elite was defeated, 12-2, by SY Titans of Santa Ynez in a mercy rule game. Cecil Fielder, a two-time home run champion in the Major Leagues, served as ambassador to the title game.
Monday’s final was televised by CBS Sports Network and streamed on MLB.com.
BPA DeMarini had advanced to the title game by eliminating the two-time defending champion Houston Banditos Black in Saturday’s quarterfinals, and Diamond MVP of California in a Sunday semifinal.
Freeman and Clawson, both playing in the outfield, each had a hit in the 12-4 win over Diamond MVP. Freeman had two hits and scored a run and Clawson had a hit, RBI and run scored, in a 10-3 win over Houston Banditos Black.
BPA DeMarini Elite, out of San Juan Capistrano, gained a berth to the tournament after competing and finishing in third place last month at the Traveball National Championships in West Covina.
Clawson and Freeman, both of whom will enter the seventh grade this year at Thurston Middle School in Laguna Beach, competed in tournament play at Dreams Park at Cooperstown, N.Y., before heading to Memphis for the NYBC tournament.
— From staff reports