CHATTER: THREE LOCAL PITCHERS OFF TO HOT STARTS IN ROOKIE BALL.Byline: Gerry Gittelson Staff Writer Three of the region's premier baseball pitchers James Shields
Birkins first pitched at UCLA for one season before taking a year off. , ex-El Camino Real of Woodland Hills, have flourished in Rookie League this month. Shields was 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings for Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley refers to the canyon of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, generally from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy. , N.Y., before being promoted to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Single-A affiliate in Charleston, S.C. In his first start for Charleston on Monday, he pitched a three-hit shutout with nine strkeouts. Graves, a left-hander, is 2-0 with an 0.83 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings for the Detroit Tigers' affiliate in Lakeland, Fla. Birkins, pitching for the Baltimore Orioles' rookie team in the Gulf Coast League The Gulf Coast League is a minor league baseball league which operates in Florida. It is a Rookie League, with a season running from mid-June to late August. The season is 60 games long and teams in the league are divided into three divisions, East, North and , went five strong innings with eight strikeouts on Monday to improve to 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA, 24 strikeouts and just three walks in 22 innings. ... Eleven-year-old Joshua Reece, one of Northridge Little League's top All-Star baseball players, leaves for Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , on July 31 to compete in the People to People Sports Ambassadors program, a two-week tour finishing in Sydney, Australia. ``It's a big deal and I'm excited,'' Reece said. ``I want to go to all the different lands and see all the different people and all the different animals.'' ... Led by Megan Hayes of Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks, the So Cal Lightning finished fifth at the ASA Asa (ā`sə), in the Bible, king of Judah, son and successor of Abijah. He was a good king, zealous in his extirpation of idols. When Baasha of Israel took Ramah (a few miles N of Jerusalem), Asa bought the help of Benhadad of Damascus and softball state championships (16 and under) in Escondido last weekend, qualifying for the upcoming national championships in McAllen, Texas. ``We've only got one 16-year-old and mostly 13- and 14-year-olds, so nobody expected us to do anything,'' coach Rob Iglow said. ... The search for a quarterback to replace graduated All-American Matt Ware at Loyola of Los Angeles has stretched all the way to Oxnard, where junior Adam Gonzalez makes the daily 65-mile commute in hopes of leading the defending Division I-finalist Cubs to another successful season. With eight All-Del Rey League returnees, plus a relatively easy schedule - Division III power Hart has dropped off - Loyola should make an impact. Offensive lineman Kevin Harbour has committed to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , and linebacker Chad Slapnicka and receiver Quintin Daniels are prospects. ... Quarterback Ben Olson of Thousand Oaks, expected to be the region's top college football prospect this fall, has been offered a scholarship by every Pac-10 university except Arizona, according to SuperPrep magazine editor Allen Wallace. ``We don't care about stats because most of time they're just a reflection of the system the kid is in,'' Wallace said. ``What made Olson one of the top five players in the country at his position was his size (6-foot-5) and the fact he has good feet. Plus, he looked great at the Nike camp at Stanford this summer. Besides the Pac-10 schools, Oklahoma, LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit and BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding have also offered. Ben can go wherever he wants to go. He doesn't even have to play football this year.'' ... The Cal Lutheran women's tennis team received All-Academic Team recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is an organization of 1,500 coaches and 15,000 collegiate tennis players, encompassing more than 1,000 college tennis programs. Included in the membership are women’s and men’s head and assistant coaches at the NCAA Divisions I, . Rebecca Hunau of Simi Valley, who won a freshman record 12 singles matches for the Regals last season, received individual honors. ... Former Ventura College basketball assistant Darren French has been named head coach at UC Riverside. ... Conejo-Simi Aquatics is organizing a triathlon club, the first of its kind in the Conejo/Simi area. Information: (805) 379-2378. |
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