Diamondbacks down A’s in opener

The Diamondbacks opened the season with an 8-6 victory over the A’s

Feb. 29 in Newport Harbor Baseball Association Mustang Division

action.

Brett Parker allowed no earned runs in three innings on the mound

while slamming a home run and double at the plate. Fritz Howser hit a

bases-loaded triple and made a game-saving play at first base.

Blake Pinder allowed one run on one hit in two innings on the bump

for the A’s while Daniel Albert pitched the final two innings,

allowing no runs and one hit.

In other Mustang action:

* Yankees 12, Cardinals 9

The Yankees took a 9-1 lead, but the Cardinals made it close at

the end.

Jake Stowell, Nick Sargeant, James Jarvis and Tommy Hennessy had

hits and RBIs for the Yankees while Blake Bell, Christopher Sheppard,

Landon Gyulay and Tyler Kielne led the pitching.

Matthew Carpenter, Daniel Razzano and Troy Arnold led the

Cardinals.

Waves dim Rockets

* BASKETBALL: The Newport Beach Waves, ages 13-14, defeated the El

Toro Rockets, 44-42, in the first game of the championship bracket in

National Junior Basketball action.

Zak Maurer-Erickson grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and

scored the tying basket with 11 seconds to go. Andrew McDonald then

intercepted the Rockets’ inbound pass, was fouled and made two free

throws for the winning margin.

Max Haase and Cameron Chase each scored 10 points for the Waves,

the league champions.

Harlan Webster made two critical baskets in the final quarter

while Youssef Farfan and Travis Sorensen came off the bench to add

solid play for the short-handed Waves.

Maurer-Erickson led all scorers with 12 points and added 20

rebounds.