Briefly In Sports

Amara named to All-Tournament team

UCLA freshman outfielder Beau Amaral, a 2009 graduate of Huntington Beach High, was named Tuesday night to the 2010 College World Series All-Tournament team at Omaha, Neb.

Amaral starred at the plate for the Bruins. Prior to the start of the best-of-three championship series with South Carolina Monday, he was seven for 15 with two doubles, two RBI, two walks and four runs. He started the tournament six for seven as UCLA recorded its first victories at the College World Series with wins over Florida and TCU.

South Carolina won its first World Series title and major national title in any sport Tuesday by coming from behind to defeat the Bruins, 2-1, in 11 innings. Amaral had two hits including a double in the game.

The Gamecocks won the best-of-three series, 2-0.

“It is one of my proudest moments as a coach,” Huntington Beach baseball Coach Benji Medure said of watching his former player compete in Omaha. “As a kid, I used to dream about playing in the CWS, so to see one of my players not only playing at Rosenblatt (stadium), but tearing it up, is huge. He is a special kid.”

Amaral finished the season with a .354 batting average, the highest average by a Bruin freshman since 1998.

Owens named to All-America team

Edison pitcher Henry Owens has been named third-team All-America by Baseball America. The left-hander, who will be a senior in the fall, went 10-2 this past year, struck out 139 and had an ERA of 1.35. Owens was one of eight Californians to receive All-America honors.

NSSA event continues today

The 2010 National Scholastic Surfing Assn. National Open Championships continues today at Huntington Beach Pier. The event , which began Tuesday, runs today through Saturday. Today’s schedule has Open Men’s, Open Boys and Open Juniors opening round heats between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. On Friday, competition begins at 7 a.m. and includes Round 2 of the Open Juniors and Open Men’s, quarterfinals for Open Women’s, Open Men’s Open Boys and Open Juniors, and semifinals for Open Women’s and Open’s Boys. Saturday’s schedule begins at 7 a.m. and includes the championship finals in Explorer Boys, Explorer Men’s, Explorer Women’s, Explorer Juniors, High School Varsity and JV Longboard, Women’s and Men’s, Open Mini Grom, Open Longboard, Open Boys, Open Juniors, Open Women’s, Open Men’s and the NSSA Air Show.

The NSSA National Open Championships is the culmination of more than 80 NSSA events nationwide and is one of the most prestigious amateur surfing events in the country. Several of the sports’ most prominent athletes have competed in and won the NSSA National Open Championships including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Kalani Robb, Andy Irons, Bruce Irons, CJ Hobgood, Carissa Moore, Nat Young and last year’s Men’s Open Champion, Kolohe Andino.

Youth baseball tourney starts Friday

The USA Premier Baseball Fourth of July Firecracker Tournament begins Friday at several Orange County locations including Golden West College. More than 100 teams will be competing in both 16- and 18-and-under divisions including 34 Orange County-based teams. Youth club teams from throughout the state, Arizona, Hawaii and Canada also will vie for division championships. The tournament ends Wednesday. For game schedules, visit the website https://www.usapremierbaseball.com.