Wi Fires 74, Remains in U.S. Amateur Hunt

Charlie Wi of North Hills shot 74 in the second round of stroke play qualifying Tuesday and remained in the hunt for a berth in the match play portion of the 94th U.S. Amateur Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Wi, a Westlake High graduate, is tied with 15 players for 54th place at two-over-par 146 and is facing a playoff today.

Thirty-nine golfers, including Mitch Voges of Simi Valley, were still on the course when play was suspended because of darkness. They will complete their second round today and the field of 312 will be trimmed to the low 64, who will begin match play later in the day.

Voges shot 75 in the first round. James Camaione, a member of the Crystalaire Country Club in the Antelope Valley, shot 76 to finish at 149. David Saylor of West Hills shot 89-81--170.

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Chad Wright of Ventura, a sophomore at USC, shot rounds of 71 and 75 to win the Oxnard Junior City Championship by seven shots at the River Ridge Golf Course.

Brent Hendon of Oxnard was second at 153.

Dusty Morton of Ventura won the 14-15 age division with a 73 and Mike Hewitt of Ojai won the 13-and-under division with a 75. Jill Kaopua of Oxnard won the girls’ division with an 80.

Baseball

Jon Tucker, one of the top high school players in the area, has enrolled at Chatsworth High after he failed to meet academic standards at Alemany.

Tucker, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound, left-handed hitting first baseman, hit .370 with two home runs and 15 runs batted in last season at Alemany.

Tucker and Montclair Prep outfielder Darrell Dent have been selected to play for the United States in a series of games with teams from Japan and South Korea on Sept. 3-5 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Track and Field

Darvena Merritt, the City Section champion in the shotput for North Hollywood High, has signed a letter of intent with Cal State Northridge.

Merritt, who has a personal best of 43 feet 2 inches, narrowed her final choices to Northridge and Southern University in New Orleans before choosing the former.

Although Merritt excelled as a shotputter in high school, she will focus on the javelin and discus in college because her relatively lanky 5-foot-8 frame is better suited for those events.

Merritt, a two-time City Section 4-A Division selection in basketball, hopes to walk on to the Northridge team in that sport.

“I’m going to give it a shot,” she said. “I can’t guarantee I’m going to make the team, but I am going to try out.”