NOTEBOOK : Liberty Softball Team Regains World Series Title

The Liberty League softball all-stars began the 1990s the same way they began the ‘80s--by winning a World Series title.

Liberty defeated Tallmadge, Ohio, 2-0, on Friday in the Major Division--for10-12-year-olds--of the Little League World Series at Kalamazoo, Mich., to claim its first championship in a decade.

Liberty, coached by Tom Parker, got an outstanding performance from Lindsay Parker, who threw a one-hitter with six strikeouts.

Liberty scored what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning when Jamie DeTanna singled in MacKenzie Mallory, who had walked, took second on a fly ball and moved to third on a botched appeal play by Tallmadge.

Liberty added its final run in the sixth when Debbie Abeles doubled and came home on a double by Parker. Liberty went 14-0 through the playoffs and World Series.

Falling short: The Centennial League all-stars’ bid for a championship in the Senior Division (ages 13 to 15) softball World Series at Kalamazoo ended with a 7-1 loss to Georgetown, Mich., in a losers’ bracket game. Centennial finished the playoffs with a 15-3 record.

Winning streak: Tom Kendall of La Canada continued his winning ways in the Sports Club Car of America Trans-Am series, winning the tour stop in Ontario, Canada, last weekend.

Kendall, 23, won his third consecutive race, taking the checkered flag at Trois-Rivieres.

Kendall, driving a Cheverolet Berreta, averaged 72 m. p. h. over the 80-mile, 50-lap race course to finish in 1 hour 6 minutes, 47.9 seconds. Kendall defeated Irv Hoerr of Peoria, Ill., by 3.6 seconds to maintain his position atop the Trans-Am standings.

Where they are now: Former St. Francis High baseball standout Gregg Zaun is steadily rising through the statistical leaders in the Appalachian Rookie League.

Zaun, a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles’ affiliate at Bluefield, W.V., is batting .316--eighth in the league--with one home run and 16 runs batted in in 50 games.

Mike Muhlethaler, an infielder who played at Crescenta Valley and Cal, is batting .252 with three homers and 25 runs batted in for the Southern Oregon Athletics, Oakland’s affiliate in the Class-A Northwest League.

Hello, hell week: Southern Section schools in the Glendale area began football workouts this week in preparation for season openers that are only a few weeks away.

Glendale, Hoover, Crescenta Valley, La Canada and St. Francis begin their seasons Sept. 7.

Glendale, coming off a 4-6 season, opens at Alhambra. Hoover, 1-9 in 1989, plays host to Burbank.

Crescenta Valley (6-4), which qualified for the playoffs last season, meets La Canada (7-6) at La Canada.

St. Francis (1-9), which drops from the Division I Del Rey League to the Division VII San Fernando Valley League, plays host to Burroughs.