Sports briefs
August 18, 2008 at 2:22AM
Little League pitcher tosses perfect game Mexico's Jesus Sauceda pitched the fifth perfect game in Little League World Series history and the first in 29 years when he struck out all 12 batters in a 12-0 victory over Emilia, Italy, in South Williamsport, Pa.
The game went four innings instead of the usual six because of Little League's 10-run mercy rule.
"To be honest with you, I wasn't expecting this," said Sauceda, 13, through translator Sergio Guzman. He proudly displayed on a table the ball that was the final pitch. "I was just going out there to throw."
Did he ever. Sauceda starred at the plate, too, going 3-for-3 with six RBI, including a grand slam in the third.
"The speed of that pitcher doesn't exist in Italy," Italian manager Andrea Bettati said.
In other early action Sunday, Trey Quinn tossed a no-hitter for Lake Charles, La., in a 9-0 shutout of Jeffersonville, Ind.; and Tokyo defeated White Rock, British Columbia, 9-3.
TENNIS
Petrova beats Dechy in straight sets to win title Second-seeded Nadia Petrova dominated unseeded Nathalie Dechy 6-2, 6-1 to win the Western and Southern Financial Groups Women's Open on Sunday in Mason, Ohio.
Petrova, 26, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon this year, clinched the victory with a forehand return on her second match point to earn her first championship since the 2007 Tier II Paris indoor tournament.
"It's been a while," said Petrova. "I've been in some finals, but it felt really good to win my eighth title. Things seem to be going in the right direction."
Petrova, the third consecutive Russian to win the Tier III tournament, earned $28,000. France's Dechy, making her first finals appearance since the 2004 New Haven event, earned $15,000.
Meanwhile in New York, the Czech Republic's Lukas Dlouhy won the GHI Bronx Tennis Classic, beating Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-0, 6-1.
In the women's final, Russia's Elena Bovina defeated Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 7-5. Bovina overcame a 5-3 deficit in the final set.
In doubles, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears beat Angela Haynes and Ahsha Rolle 6-0, 6-1 in an all-American final.
HORSE RACING
Panel to do safety study of Kentucky Derby A Jockey Club panel will study whether the number of horses allowed into the Kentucky Derby poses a safety risk. The annual Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., regularly draws 20 horses to the race. Typically, other races are limited to just more than a dozen.
Stuart Janney, head of the Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, says the panel will be looking at the race's size. The panel was created after the death of Eight Belles in this year's Kentucky Derby. The panel also has recommended a standard nationwide system for drug testing.
AROUND THE HORN
Soccer: Chelsea routed Portsmouth 4-0 as defending champion Manchester United was held 1-1 by Newcastle. Aston Villa's American goalkeeper Brad Friedel made his full debut in a 4-2 victory over Manchester City in the other match on the season's opening weekend.
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Their 28-point lead got trimmed to two late, but they held on in a Western Conference finals rematch that missed an injured Luka Doncic after halftime.
