NOTEBOOK / ROB FERNAS : American Legion Baseball Squad Hits the Road for Tournaments

The El Segundo American Legion baseball team has embarked on a two-week road trip to South Dakota and Montana.

The team began play Wednesday in the Rapid City Tournament in South Dakota, and will compete in the Miles City Tournament in Montana starting July 6. El Segundo High players make up most of the squad, which includes two South Bay all-stars from Redondo, pitcher Scott Albin and shortstop Morgan Enberg. Other standouts include pitchers David Reed and Dan Croxall, first baseman Mike Poor and infielders Marco Estrada and Kirk Mayer.

El Segundo improved to 9-3-1 Monday with a 7-2 victory over Newbury Oaks, the 1992 American Legion World Series champion. El Segundo leads the Bay-Pacific League with a 7-0-1 record and has been dominant in recent games, beating South Torrance, 21-0, and San Pedro, 8-2, last weekend.

Notes

Mira Costa High graduates composed three-fourths of Sunday’s championship match of the pro beach volleyball tour event in Baltimore. Former Mustangs Eric Fonoimoana and Scott Ayakatubby defeated Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh in the final, 15-10, to win the $15,000 first prize. Dodd, who also attended Mira Costa, and Whitmarsh split $8,550. It was the first tournament victory for Fonoimoana and the fourth for Ayakatubby, who will team with Kent Steffes in the 35th annual Manhattan Beach Open this weekend. Steffes’ regular partner, Karch Kiraly, will sit out the tournament because of a bruised kidney. Kiraly has won the last four Manhattan Opens, three with Steffes. . . .

Morningside High, the Southern Section Division III champion, won the boys’ track title at the L.A. Watts Summer Games last weekend. The Monarchs placed first in five of 13 events, led by Ray Butler, who won the 200 meters and the long jump. Other Monarch winners were William Taylor in the 100, Eric Poland in the triple jump and the 400-meter relay team. Morningside’s Tina Moore won the girls’ long jump. In other sports, Banning beat Peninsula, 3-0, in the boys’ soccer final, Peninsula lost to Arcadia, 3-0, in the girls’ soccer final, Carson’s Adrian Manalang won the boys’ tennis singles title, and Carson won the girls’ tennis team title. Westchester reached the boys’ basketball semifinals, losing to eventual champion Dominguez, 41-35. . . .

Former Redondo High standout Ted Silva, a sophomore pitcher for Cal State Fullerton, has been named to the USA baseball team. . . .

Yoon K. Chiang, a 14-year-old freshman at Peninsula High, has been selected to the U.S. National Taekwondo team. Chiang, a former U.S. junior team member, will compete in the Olympic Festival in St. Louis from Monday to July 10, the World Cup Games in the Cayman Islands on July 20-24 and the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina next March. She is a student at the Palos Verdes Taekwondo Center, headed by Grand Master Kwon Sung Choi. . . .

The 33rd annual Chevron/Manhattan Beach Grand Prix bicycle race will be held July 10. The event features some of the world’s fastest cycling teams competing in United States. Cycling Federation-sanctioned pro-am events are included. Area residents of all ages and abilities will compete in community races. Racing starts at 7 a.m., culminating in the Senior 1-2/Pro main event starting at 1 p.m. at Live Oak Park. Scheduled competitors include last year’s winner, David Mann, and 1992 champion Scott McKinley.