Longshot Tam Reaches City Boys’ Tennis Final

Norman Tam of Belmont High has made an improbable run through the City Section boys’ individual tennis tournament.

Tam, an unseeded freshman, defeated Lee Weinstein of Granada Hills in the quarterfinals, then upset top-seeded LeGeorge Mauldin of Dorsey in the semifinals.

Tam plays second-seeded Ricky Rollins of Palisades for the championship at 2 p.m. today at the Warner Center Tennis Club in Woodland Hills.

Rollins, a senior, teamed with Blake Baumgarten to win the doubles title last year.

Baumgarten, a senior, and Peter Shirley, a sophomore, will play in the doubles final today against Granada Hills freshman Brad Steinberg and junior Brian Mintz.

Palisades senior Artin Tafazoli, the defending City champion, was withdrawn from the tournament by Dolphin Coach Bud Kling before competition began. Kling cited academic reasons for the withdrawal.

*

Second-round games in the City Section baseball playoffs will be played today.

Twelfth-seeded South Gate avenged a loss to Wilson in last year’s 3-A championship game with a 10-9 first-round victory over the fifth-seeded Mules. South Gate plays host to 13th-seeded Van Nuys Grant, a 7-6 winner over fourth-seeded Granada Hills.

Top-seeded Chatsworth plays host to eighth-seeded Roosevelt. Second-seeded Banning plays 10th-seeded Granada Hills Kennedy.

*

Southern Section quarterfinal baseball games are Friday, but several of the top teams during the regular season already have lost.

Anaheim Servite, the top-seeded team in Division I, lost its opener to El Toro. Defending champion Crescenta Valley lost its opener to Downey. Third-seeded Yucaipa fell to Santa Ana Mater Dei in the second round.

Meanwhile, second-seeded Riverside Arlington is rolling. The Lions defeated San Gabriel and Palmdale Highland and play host to San Clemente today.

Other Division I quarterfinals: El Toro at Rialto; Long Beach Wilson at Los Alamitos; Mater Dei at Fontana A.B. Miller.

*

Rosie Martinez, softball coach at Carson, challenged her team by posting a picture of UCLA’s Easton Stadium in the Carson dugout this season.

Carson’s season ended Tuesday when the Colts lost to Woodland Hills El Camino Real, 3-0, at Easton Stadium in the City championship game. Carson finished 24-8.

“It was an awesome season,” Martinez said. “Our goal was to win at UCLA and we were one game away from pulling it off.”

*

Quartz Hill, the top-seeded team in the Southern Section Division I softball playoffs, needed 19 innings to defeat Glendora, 3-1, in a first-round game that began Friday and ended Monday.

Jodie Cox hit two home runs for Quartz Hill and pitched the final 18 innings, striking out 30.

The effort, however, drained the Rebels.

On Tuesday, they lost their second-round game to Thousand Oaks, 6-3.

*

The Southern Section boys’ volleyball finals will be played Saturday at Cypress College.

The Division III match is at 1 p.m., Division II begins at 4 and Division I will start at 7.

*

Thirteen former City Section champions representing six decades will be honored today at 5:45 p.m. before the start of City Section track and field championships at Van Nuys Birmingham.

Former champions attending are: Frank Jones, Jefferson (1934); Wilbur Miller, Jefferson (1937); Louis Beadle, Jefferson (1945); Fred Thompson, Jordan (1948); Lang Stanley, Jefferson (1950); Earl Hall, Manual Arts (1954); Greg Miguel, Gardena (1964); Steve Lang, Fremont (1967); Rayva Griffin Harrell, Westchester (1974); Barbara Drake Scott, Westchester (1976); Linda Soja Cook, Poly (1980); Roman Gomez, Belmont (1985); and Angela Rolf, Dorsey (1989).

Channel 58 will televise the meet.