Soto Leads Venice to Tournament Title

George Soto of Venice was named most valuable player of the RBI/Chet Brewer baseball tournament after leading the Gondoliers to the championship.

Venice defeated Huntington Park, 10-4, in the semifinals and beat Gardena, 8-6, in the championship game Saturday at USC.

Joining Soto on the all-tournament team were Fernando Hernandez of South Gate, Rafael Ornelas of Huntington Park, Sal Camarena of Bell Gardens, Marvin Quinonez of Marshall, Cesar Rodriquez of Gardena, Manny Zepeda of Venice, Anthony Ware of Hamilton, Ryan Canon of Crenshaw, Andy Toussaint of Centennial and Baudelio Dorado of Locke.

The tournament, which featured 15 City Section and one Southern Section team, was played at several Division I universities in the Southland.

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Joe Shipp of Fairfax, Gilbert Arenas of Van Nuys Grant and Chris Osborne of Westchester are City Section players who will play for the West team in the Dada All-Star Classic Sunday at 5 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.

The event was formerly known as the Eddie Jones All-Star Classic.

The West team will play a U.S. all-star team that features 6-foot-10 Leon Smith of King High in Chicago, Travis Watson of Oak Hill Academy (Va.), Kareem Rush of Pembroke School (Kan.) and Marlon Parmer of Verbum Dei.

Other players on the West team include: Andrew Gooden (El Cerrito), Justin Davis (Alameda St. Joseph), Donnell Knight (Ariz.), Brian Weathers (Murrieta Valley), Keith Kincade (Compton Dominguez), Jamal Crawford (Wash.), Tito Maddox (Compton), Kevin Gaines (Nev.), Julius Barnes (Rowland) and Curtis Borchardt (Wash.).

Johnny Hardwick, Brandon Moorer and James Wright of City champion Manual Arts, Armand Thomas of Crenshaw, Ronald Johnson of South Gate and Eric Knight of Westchester are City Section players that will compete in an All-Southern California game at 3 p.m.