Anaheim Hills Little League Avoids Elimination

Anaheim Hills West kept its Little League World Series hopes alive with a 6-4 victory over Taylorsville of Salt Lake City in an elimination game of the Western Region tournament Saturday in San Bernardino.

Matt Sliemers and Andrew Smith each had two runs batted in for Anaheim Hills West, which will play Grand Mesa of Grand Junction, Colo., or Mill Creek, Wash., tonight at 8 p.m.

Lance Aponte earned the victory for Anaheim Hills West, pitching four scoreless innings before Taylorsville made it close by scoring its four runs in the fifth. Joseph Dickerson pitched a scoreless sixth to preserve the victory.

Anaheim Hills West must win five more games without a loss to win the region and earn a berth at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., which begins Aug. 22.

RUNNING

Ralph Garibaldi of Running Springs finished first in the 10-mile run Saturday at the Huntington Beach Distance Derby.

Garibaldi, who ran track and cross-country at UC Irvine from 1985-87, took the lead from Dave Parsel about the nine-mile mark on the ocean-front bike path and finished in 52 minutes 25 seconds, one second ahead of Parsel.

“Once I passed him I kept surging about 100 more meters and I realized he was tired,” said Garibaldi, the 5,000 and 10,000-meter Big West Conference champion in 1986.

Dolly Ginter of Fullerton won the women’s division. Ginter, who is coming back from a five-month injury layoff, finished in 1:00:18, just missing her goal of running under an hour. Michelle Lipschultz finished second in 1:02:49.

In the five-mile run, Steven Bishop of Fullerton finished first in 26:49, followed by Mark Emdee (26:55). Loi Coker of Huntington Beach was the top women’s finisher (34:17).

ROLLER HOCKEY

The Bullfrogs, with a first-round bye in the playoffs already clinched, will host Las Vegas at 6 tonight at the Arrowhead Pond. The two teams have the best records in Roller Hockey International.

Las Vegas, which is playing its regular-season finale, is 16-6 and trails the Bullfrogs (19-3) by five points, 40-35. The Bullfrogs finish their season Monday when they host Dallas.