Baseball camp begins Monday

A winter baseball camp supervised by baseball coaches Joel Desguin

(Newport Harbor High) and John Altobelli (Orange Coast College) will

run from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Wednesday on the Harbor

varsity baseball field.

Altobelli, in his 15th year of organizing the camps, will guide

players ages 5 to 11 while Desguin will coach the 12- to

14-year-olds.

Cost is $125 if a player is a Newport Harbor Baseball Association

member and $140 for non-members.

Skills such as throwing, catching, hitting and game strategies

will be stressed. Playing contests with awards will be held each day.

Snacks will be served, but players are encouraged to bring their

own water.

Campers will receive a T-shirt and other prizes.

Newport Harbor players will assist in the instruction.

Call (949) 451-2228 or visit www.newportbaseball.org for more

information.

Riptide Gold warm up at winter nationals

* SOFTBALL: The Newport Beach Riptide Gold, an under-18 travel

fastpitch softball team, won the Triple Crown Winter National

tournament in Downey Dec. 6-7.

The win qualifies the Riptide for the Triple Crown World Series in

Park City, Utah, and the eastern nationals in Myrtle Beach, S.C.,

next summer.

Riptide lost just one game in the tournament and defeated Long

Beach, 6-3, to claim the title. Strong pitching was provided by

Jessica Alvarez, Kelsey Ferguson (two shutouts) and Rachel Reekstin.

Kristin Nicholas led the offense along with Katy Erickson,

Julianne Bass (Newport Harbor High), Alanna Snedigar and Heather

Lohrman (CdM).

Jessica Hudgins, Dani Brown and Sasha Grumman (Newport Harbor)

turned in solid defensive efforts. Nicholas was named the

tournament’s Offensive Most Valuable Player.