YOUTH BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Thousand Oaks Gains Western Regional Berth

Standout defensive plays in the seventh inning gave the Thousand Oaks Little League 13-year-old all-star team a 7-5 victory over South Mission Viejo and the Southern California Division II championship in La Mirada.

With two runners on base and one out in the seventh, first baseman Jon Shepard made an over-the shoulder catch down the right-field line, then third baseman Ryan Ayers backhanded a line drive to end the game.

Right-handers Matt Rogers and Chris Strauser combined for Thousand Oaks, and Strauser was the winning pitcher for the third consecutive game.

Thousand Oaks opens the four-team Western Regional tournament in San Jose on Sunday against the champion from a division encompassing the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

The Western Regional winner advances to the World Series in Taylor, Mich.

Westlake Senators 21, Dublin, Ohio 1--Jared Krehbiel led the Westlake Senators in the first round of the Continental Amateur Baseball Assn. 14-year-old World Series in Dublin.

Krehbiel drove in four runs with a home run and a triple. The game was called after five innings. Westlake banged out 15 hits and Chris Parker and Jeremy Sugarman each drove in four runs.

Westlake plays a doubleheader today. The Senators take on Enid, Okla., then face a team from Wisconsin.

Indiana 6, Westoaks Senators 5--Westoaks concluded play in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics 16-year-old tournament and finished with a 3-4 record.

Westoaks trailed, 6-3, in the bottom of the seventh and pulled to within one run on a single by Steve Udell that scored Jason Simmons and Matt Riordan.

Ryan Holmes batted .500, Ryan Lane hit .435 and Brent Hirsh hit .381 in the tournament.