Briefly

Pimentel ties Little League World Series strikeout record in win

Kalen Pimentel tied a Little League World Series record for a regulation, six-inning game with 18 strikeouts Saturday to lead Rancho Bueno Vista of Vista, Calif., to a 7-2 victory over Owensboro (Ky.) Southern in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa.

“It took me a couple of innings to get adjusted and I started to get in a groove about the fourth inning,” Pimentel said. “My fastball and curve were really working well.”

The feat was last accomplished in 1979 by Chao-An Chen of the Pu-Tzu Town team from Taiwan.

Nathan Lewis had three hits including a home run for Rancho Bueno Vista (1-0), the West region champion, while Luke Daugherty homered for Owensboro Southern (0-1), the Great Lakes winner.

Pimentel’s pitching highlighted the busiest day of the 10-day tournament – six games in two stadiums all scheduled to start within a nine-hour span.

In other games, Chiba City, Japan, shut out Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 3-0; defending world series champs Curacao downed Venezuela 5-4 in eight innings; Canada blanked Mexico 2-0; Maitland, Fla., beat Council Rock-Newtown of Newtown, Pa., 3-1; and Lafayette, La., rallied to overcome Westbrook, Maine, 3-2.

Connor Toups provided the big hit for Lafayette, singling to left past a drawn-in infield to scored two runs.

“I went up there looking to get a hit. He threw me a fastball,” said Toups, who at 4-foot-10 and 78 pounds is one of the smallest boys on Lafayette (1-0), the Southwest champs. “It felt good.”

Westbrook starter Ryan Murphy held Lafayette scoreless until the sixth when Murphy failed to retire a batter. On Toups’ winning hit, Jace Conrad raced around from second base and pumped his fist after sliding home.

Nick Finocchiaro and Michael Mowatt homered for Westbrook (0-1), the New England champion,

Both teams played great defense. In the first inning, with a runner on first, Lafayette second baseman Brenn Conrad turned a double play by grabbing a relay toss barehanded, stepping on second and then throwing to first for the second out.

“It was like if we don’t hit it over the fence they were going to make the play,” Westbrook manager Richard Knight said.

Dante Bichette, Jr. started a two-run, first-inning rally and added a solo homer in the fifth to lead Maitland, the Southeast champs, past Council Rock-Newtown, the Mid-Atlantic winners.

Bichette, Jr.’s first-pitch homer cleared the hedges beyond the left-field fence to give Maitland a 3-1 lead and raise boisterous cheers of “Let’s go Maitland.”

Bichette, Jr.’s father, former major leaguer Dante Bichette, is a coach for Maitland (2-0).

Council Rock-Newtown (0-2) threatened in the fifth inning after Michael Festa scored from third with the bases loaded on a groundout by Blaise Lezynski. But Maitland pitcher Skip Kovar got the next hitter, Daniel Denton, to groundout to third.

Football

Dickenson injured in CFL game

Former University of Montana quarterback Dave Dickenson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, but Casey Printers had to finish the B.C. Lions’ 39-15 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia, after Dickenson left with a separated shoulder.

B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono said it’ll be a couple of days before the extent of Dickenson’s injury is known.

“I know after the game he said he felt a lot better than he did at halftime,” Buono said in post-game comments posted on the Lions’ Web site.

Dickenson left the game with a separated left (non-throwing) shoulder after Donnavan Carter crashed him to the B.C. Place turf in the second quarter.

Tennis

Federer advances to Cincinnati final

Roger Federer rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory over Robby Ginepri in the $2.45 million Cincinnati Masters in Mason, Ohio, leaving no doubt that the world’s No. 1 player is back in form and ready for the U.S. Open’s top spot.

Federer will try for his ninth tournament title of the season today against Andy Roddick, who beat third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal.

•Fourth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne beat defending champion Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to set up a championship match against fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Clijsters, seeded seventh, beat No. 9 Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-4, 6-1. A winner of two of the last three WTA Tour events, Clijsters has won a tour-leading five titles this year.

BOXING

Vargas wins WBC title

Former IBF and WBA junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas took a step toward re-establishing himself as the top 154-pounder with a 10-round unanimous decision over former WBC super welterweight champion Javier Castillejo at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

Vargas knocked down Castillejo in the third and held on. The crowd of 9,096 booed throughout the bout, and things turned ugly afterward when a fight broke out in the lower tier. A chair was thrown before police arrived.

On the undercard, Humberto Soto won a thrilling unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Rocky Juarez to become the WBC’s interim featherweight champion. Soto (37-5-2, 21 knockouts) moved to the front of the line for a shot at Injin Chi, whom he replaced after the champion was injured in training.

Volleyball

May-Treanor, Walsh avenge loss

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won the AVP Championship Series’ Manhattan Beach Open on Saturday, beating Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs 21-23, 22-20, 15-11.

The victory followed their loss to Wacholder and Youngs the previous weekend at the Huntington Beach Open.