SPELL IT B-E-E C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N TENACIOUS BOY WINS EMOTIONAL COMPETITION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Correctly spelling ``affidavit'' and ``strophic,'' 13-year-old Sean Sabino of Santa Clarita won the 18th annual Daily News Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday.

His mother, Mel, 43, immediately jumped up and down, clapping her hands gleefully. Then she, husband Justin, 46, and Blanche Roberts, the English teacher who helped coach Sean, took turns in teary-eyed embraces with Sean.

``It's amazing,'' said Sean, a future surgeon or genetic researcher who attends Pinecrest Schools in Woodland Hills. ``I never could have done this without my parents, (Blanche) Roberts and God. There's always someone; it's never just you.''

``This is just so exciting,'' Mel Sabino said, laughing and crying at the same time. ``He worked so hard for this!''

Tyler Perry, 12, of Panorama City, who attends St. Charles School, was awarded second place. He and his parents, Henry and Pat Perry, congratulated the Sabino family.

Sean and one of his parents will next travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, May 30-June 4. He also won a $100 savings bond, a gold medal, an engraved pen set, T-shirts, movie passes and a copy of the ``Spellbound'' DVD, a documentary about the national spelling bee.

A total of 49 fourth- through eighth-grade students, each of whom had won a school spelling bee, competed Saturday in the regional event, correctly spelling words such as ``caramelize'' ``agnostic,'' ``reagent'' ``septendecimal'' ``anhydrous'' and ``subfulgent.''

But other words - such as ``illimitable'' ``benign'' ``biscuit'' ``imperceptible,'' ``hackamore'' ``Apollonian'' and ``saltatory'' - gave the young spellers more trouble. Spellers who missed a word were invited to remain on stage until the end of the round, but many left immediately, some in tears.

``It's nerve-racking,'' said Lisa Stolp, 39, of Sun Valley. Her daughter, Shannon, 13, who attends St. Paul's First Lutheran, lasted until the fourth round, when she misspelled ``grandiloquent.''

``I'm cheering for all of them; you just want all the kids to do well.''

Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy assured the children before the competition began that they were all winners, and signs of support and encouragement were everywhere, from siblings and snapshot-taking parents to beaming grandparents.

Brooklyn Cook, 13, of Elizabeth Lakes, who attends Hughes Elizabeth Lakes Union, was out after misspelling ``latticed'' in the third round, but still had a half-dozen peach roses, a gift from her teachers.

``They're backing me up,'' Brooklyn said, visibly touched.

For Lauren Castillo, 13, of Van Nuys, who attends Our Lady of Peace, the spelling bee was just something she decided to try for fun, at the urging of her principal. ``Dramaturgy'' in the fourth round tripped Lauren up, but she said she was looking forward to joining a debate team in the future.

``I like to argue,'' said the future marine biologist, grinning. ``I like to prove people wrong just because I can.''

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Sean Sabino, winner of the Daily News Spelling Bee, gets a congratulatory hug from his father, Justin Sabino, of Santa Clarita, after the contest Saturday at Taft High School.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer