Cardinals Reach Connie Mack Series

Anibal Delacruz and Mark Ukleja each drove in two runs to lead the Orange County Cardinals to a 9-4 victory over Lafayette (Calif.) Monday to win the Connie Mack Pacific Regional in Cherry Creek, Colo.

The Cardinals advanced to the World Series, which begins Friday in Farmington, N.M. The Cardinals’ first game will be Saturday.

Delacruz and Ukleja, both from La Quinta High School, each had two hits and scored once. Seth Etherton pitched six innings, allowing only two unearned runs.

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Kellee Booth of Coto de Caza shot 76 and trailed the leaders by six after the first round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in Hot Springs, Va.

Jill McGill of Denver and Caterina Quintarelli of Italy each shot one-under-par 70 to take the lead on the 5,998-yard Homestead’s Cascades Course. Akemi Nakata of Dana Point shot 75 and Amy Bubon of Westminster shot 79.

After today’s second-round, the field will be cut to 64 for match play. The 36-hole final is scheduled for Saturday.

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Tiger Woods qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship by shooting six-under 138 for two rounds at Western Hills Country Club in Chino Hills.

Woods, 18, of Cypress shot 65-73, the low qualifying score. Kevin Claborn of Brea (143), Scott Gibson of Huntington Beach (144) and Kevin Lea of Tustin (145) also qualified at Western Hills. Jin Park of Fullerton (147) is an alternate.

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Faye DeVera of Villa Park defeated Michelle Degen of Brooklyn, N.Y., 6-1, 6-1, in the second round of the U.S. Tennis Assn. Girls’ 16 national championships in San Diego.

DeVera will play fifth-seeded Julie Ditty of Ashland, Ky., today in the third round. Michelle Bray of Laguna Beach defeated Caroline Thompson of Atlanta, 6-0, 6-3, in a first-round consolation match.

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Taylor Dent of Newport Beach, son of former Australian Open champion Phil Dent, was eliminated in a second-round singles match of the U.S. Tennis Assn. Boys’ 14 National Championships in San Antonio, Tex. Lesley Joseph of Rock Hill, S.C., defeated Dent, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

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Bullfrogs tickets went on sale Monday for the Roller Hockey International playoffs. Anaheim will play host to a first-round game Aug. 17 or Aug. 19.

Tickets also are available for potential Bullfrog playoff games with the following tentative dates: Pacific Division finals, Aug. 24 or Aug. 27; Western Conference finals, Aug. 29 or Aug. 30; RHI championship series, Aug. 31 or Sept 2.

Each playoff round consists of a home-and-home two-game series with the higher-seeded team playing host to the second game.

If each team wins one game, a 12-minute mini-game will immediately follow the second game to decide the series winner. If the score is tied after the mini-game, a shootout will determine the series winner.

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The Corona del Mar 13-and-under water polo team defeated SoCal B, 9-4, in the National Junior Olympic tournament at Long Beach Wilson High Monday. Corona del Mar will play its next game Wednesday.

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Jonathan Petke, formerly of Capistrano Valley High, won the batting title of the Cape Cod Baseball League, which finished last week. Petke, an outfielder with California, hit .379 with three home runs, 24 runs batted in and 26 runs scored during the 41-game season for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.