Curran Catches Wave Into Third Round of Surfing

On a day when the waves ran inconsistent, Tim Curran of Oxnard made the most of what came along, defeating Michael Barry of Australia on Thursday to advance to the third round of the Op Pro surfing contest at Huntington Beach.

Barry was coming off a victory in a recent World Championship Tour event at Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa, but was frustrated by the fickle surf that has plagued the contest this week.

The few decent waves of the heat went to Curran, a tour rookie who will face another Australian, Shane Powell, today.

BASEBALL

Pitcher Jordan Olson and catcher Luke Peterson from Southern Section Division I champion Crescenta Valley High are among five players from the region selected to the Dodger team for the Area Code tournament Aug. 10-15 in Long Beach.

More than 275 high school players tried out for the team. Infielder Brian Jacobsen of Agoura, infielder John Puccinelli of Notre Dame and infielder Billy McGrath of Birmingham also made the team.

Tyler Johnson pitched a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts and Matt Bernstein hit a grand slam to help Conejo Valley Little League to an 11-4 victory over Santa Barbara in the championship game of the Section 1 tournament for 17- and 18-year-olds at Nipomo Community Park in Santa Maria.

Conejo Valley (12-1) advanced to the state tournament Saturday in La Mirada.

Conejo Valley, which lost to Santa Barbara in the second round of the double-elimination tournament, defeated Santa Barbara, 8-7, in a game earlier Thursday. Shea Johnson hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the game after Wes Rasmussen hit a three-run homer to tie the score.

The Encino Little League 9- and 10-year-old all-star team has advanced to the state tournament after winning eight consecutive playoff games, including a 2-1 victory over El Monte on Wednesday in the section championship game.

Pitcher Darren Kagasoff pitched a complete game and Gabriel Cohen drove in the winning run in the final, sending Encino into the state tournament Saturday in Pomona.

FOOTBALL

Tight end Gabe Crecion of UCLA, a graduate of Chaminade High, said he might redshirt this season.

Crecion, a junior, has not used his redshirt year and will likely play behind seniors Mike Grieb and Ryan Neufeld. A decision will be made early in the season.

TENNIS

Robert Yim defeated Ray Hong, 7-5, 6-0, in a battle of Glendale residents in the semifinals of the boys’ 18 singles in the second annual Jack Kramer Junior Open at the Burbank Tennis Center.

Aaron Ungerleidor of Pacific Palisades beat Hagop Timourian of Glendale, 6-1, 6-0, in the other boys’ 18 semifinal.

Other boys’ semifinal winners were Jesse Ferlianto of Canyon Country and Narbe Zohrabi of Thousand Oaks in 16s; Glendale residents Samuel Tadevosian and Sergy Vagramian in 14s; Halq Kassabian of Los Angeles and Alex Krueger-Wyman of Pasadena in 12s, and Jeffrey Karsh of Pasadena and Chad Gerber of West Hills in 10s.

In girls’ competition, Stephanie Berg of Los Angeles and Diana Friedland of Van Nuys won semifinals in the 16s. Other semifinal winners for girls were Samantha Hammond of Thousand Oaks and Georgette Wright of Burbank in 14s; Amanda Fink of Calabasas and Christine Ong of Tarzana in 12s; Desiree Stone of North Hollywood and Logan Hanson of Santa Monica in 10s.