LOCAL NOTES : Knighthawks Take Title in ASA Softball

The Southern California Knighthawks, based in Santa Ana and featuring eight players from Orange County, defeated the Orange County Batbusters, 3-2, Sunday to win the 16-and-under division of the ASA Junior Olympic national championships in Greenwood, Ind.

The Knighthawks beat the Batbusters, 5-0, earlier in the day handing the Batbusters their first loss of the tournament. The Batbusters beat the Huntington Beach Outlaws, 5-3, in the losers’ bracket final.

In the title game, the Knight-hawks scored each of their runs on passed balls. In seven tournament victories without a loss, Knight-hawk pitchers--starter Jamie Muha (Moreno Valley), Heather541614445Sprague (San Diego)--allowed only six runs, three earned.

At the 14-and-under national championships in Midland, Tex., the Batbusters defeated the San Diego Lightning, 8-0, for the title. Lisa Pitt of Kennedy High pitched the shutout, Crystal Bustos went four for four with three RBIs. The Batbusters were 7-0 in the tournament.

Sandy Zubrin finished second in the girls’ 16-18 10-meter platform diving at the U.S. Junior Olympic Diving Championships in Austin, Tex., helping the Mission Viejo Nadadores to the team title.

Although the Nadadores didn’t have anyone take first place in the competition, they scored 167 points, 51 ahead of second-place Team Orlando.

Other notable Nadadores performers were:

--Joy Burkholder and Darcy Stuart, who finished fourth and sixth in the girls’ 16-18 platform.

--Tyce Routson, Jeff Nichols and Jason Hubbart, who finished fourth, sixth and 12th in the boys’ 16-18 platform.

Summer Brown, Kenesha Jesperson, Cassie Day and Amy Sloan, who finished fifth, sixth, ninth and 10th in the girls’ 14-15 platform.

Milan Milanovich of Switzerland won his fifth consecutive stage in the Runner’s World Trans America footrace, but David Warady of Huntington Beach continues to increase his overall lead.

Milanovich finished the 52.3-mile stage from Lewisburg to South Vienna, Ohio, in 8 hours 33 minutes 2 seconds.

Warady finished seventh in 9:41:04, more than 25 minutes ahead of Tom Rogozinski who is in second place overall. Rogozinski of Pittsburgh, who is running with a stress fracture in his foot, now trails Warady by 16:45:07.

With 51 of 64 stages completed, the runners have traveled 2,325.95 miles.