Dominating West Oahu Outshines Young Bichette

Dante Bichette Jr. is certainly making a name for himself at the Little League World Series. Unfortunately for him, Michael Memea and the other West Oahu sluggers are turning in star performances themselves in South Williamsport, Pa.

West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, jumped out to an early lead, thanks in part to Memea’s second homer of the series, en route to a 10-0 win Monday over Bichette and his teammates from Maitland, Fla.

Both teams have clinched berths in the next round of the 10-day tournament, though West Oahu’s imposing lineup makes the Hawaiian team a favorite in the U.S. bracket.

Also Monday, Mexico downed Russia, 7-0; Japan defeated Venezuela, 7-4; Curacao beat Saudi Arabia, 3-0, and Council Rock-Newtown of Newtown, Pa., routed Davenport, Iowa, 15-0, in four innings.

Bichette was one of the few bright spots of the day for Maitland, getting two of the four hits off West Oahu ace Alaka’i Aglipay and continuing his stellar performance in the tournament.

Bichette’s father, Dante Bichette, a coach for Maitland, hit 274 home runs during a 14-year major league career.

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Golf

University of New Mexico junior Charlie Beljan shot a six-under-par 64 at Philadelphia Country Club in Ardmore, Pa., taking the first-round lead in stroke-play in qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Texas A&M; senior Andrew Parr, Kent State senior Ryan Yip, Duke senior Ryan Blaum, St. Mary’s College junior Chandler Cocco and New Mexico senior Jay Choi were tied for second at 68. They also played at Philadelphia Country Club.

Mark Strickland of Woodstock, Ga., and Todd Mitchell of Bloomington, Ill., had the only under-par rounds on the more difficult Merion Golf Club course, opening with 69s.

The players will switch courses today, with the low 64 in the 312-man field advancing to match play on Merion’s historic Hugh Wilson-designed East Course. The 36-hole final is Sunday.

U.S. Junior Amateur champion Sihwan Kim also got off to a good start. The 15-year-old Kim, from Fullerton, shot a 70 at Merion.

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Soccer

Image may well be everything for Major League Soccer when its All-Stars meet one of the world’s most glamorous teams, Real Madrid, in Madrid today.

“I don’t know if we care about the result,” Landon Donovan of the Galaxy said. “At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. It’s not like we’re battling to get a 0-0 draw. We’re going to go play and make the game fun.”

This will be the first time an American squad has played for the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy, named after Madrid’s former president and contested annually since 1979.

The 18-man MLS roster includes six members of the U.S. national team.

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Tennis

Anna Chakvetadze upset Jelena Jankovic in the Pilot Pen tournament at New Haven, Conn. Most of the top players are skipping the tournament to prepare for next week’s U.S. Open.

The unseeded Chakvetadze won, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, over the 10th-seeded Jankovic, who lost her first-round match for the second consecutive week.

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Pro Basketball

The Orlando Magic signed free-agent center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. The 50th overall pick by Portland in the 2001 NBA draft, Boumtje Boumtje has averaged one point and 1.3 rebounds in 44 games with the Trail Blazers and Cleveland.

Eddie Griffin re-signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.... Free-agent forward Matt Bonner re-signed with the Toronto Raptors after averaging 7.2 points last season.

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Jurisprudence

Former Iowa basketball star Pierre Pierce decided to plead guilty while jury selection resumed at his trial in Adel, Iowa. He had been charged with assaulting an ex-girlfriend in January.

The 22-year-old player pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, third-degree burglary, criminal mischief and false imprisonment.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss their initial charge of first-degree burglary, which would have carried a 25-year sentence.

They recommended a suspended five-year sentence for third-degree burglary. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 14.

Assistant Attorney General Patricia Houlihan said punishment on the other three charges would be argued at the sentencing hearing.

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Hockey

Defenseman Paul Mara accepted Phoenix’s $1.14-million, one-year qualifying offer and signed with the Coyotes.

Mara led Phoenix in power-play assists (22) in 2003-04.

The Vancouver Canucks acquired defenseman Steve McCarthy from the Chicago Blackhawks for a third-round pick in the 2007 draft.

Jarkko Immonen signed with the New York Rangers, who acquired the rights to the Finnish forward in a 2004 deal that sent Brian Leetch to Toronto.

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T.J. Simers is on vacation.