Green Sparks Syracuse Victory Over Charlotte With Two RBIs

Shawn Green, who is leading the International League in hitting, went three for four with a home run Friday night to help the host Syracuse Chiefs defeat the Charlotte Knights, 4-2.

Green, a 21-year-old outfielder from Tustin High School, hit his 11th homer, and drove in two runs and scored twice. He raised his average to .359. He played briefly with the Toronto Blue Jays this season.

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The Tustin-based SoCal water polo program qualified three teams for the finals of the National Junior Olympics played Friday at Long Beach State.

The SoCal 17-and-under team beat Stanford, 9-6, in one semifinal. David Hay had three goals and Ian Ching added a goal and three assists for SoCal, which lost to Stanford in the title game last season. SoCal plays Annapolis (Md.) for the title at 1 p.m.

SoCal’s 15-and-under team beat Harvard-Westlake, 8-4, to move into the title game. Brian Brown had three goals and Jeff Pflueger added two. SoCal plays Santa Barbara at 11 a.m. for the title.

Robby Arroyo had five goals as SoCal’s 13-and-under team beat Inland (Riverside), 10-2. SoCal plays Cerritos at 9 a.m. for the title.

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The Fullerton Marlins split games in the opening day of the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series at the Crosley Field Complex in Cincinnati.

The Marlins beat Tri-County of Ohio, 4-3, in the opening game of the double-elimination tournament. Matt Goldstein allowed three runs in the first six innings for the victory. Jason Hamner pitched the final three innings for the save.

J.C. Andre had two hits, drove in one run and scored another for Fullerton. Tim Larsen scored the winning run in the fifth. He singled, stole second and scored on an error to break a 3-3 tie.

Fullerton lost to Hines Park of Ann Arbor, 8-7, in the second game. Fullerton’s Butch Bucher had doubled in a run to put the Marlins up, 7-4, in the bottom of the eighth but Hines Park rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth.

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Eddie Ruiz was three for three with six runs batted as Placentia beat a team from Decatur, Ga., 14-6, in the first round of the Sandy Koufax World Series at Spring, Tex.

E.J. Ochoa remained undefeated (19-0) for Placentia (44-12).