Hawaii Beat Star-Bulletin staff

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HAWAII

Little Leaguers find lost bats

The Waipio Little League team made it cross-country from Southern California to Williamsport, Pa., yesterday. But for a while, it feared its bats didn't.

Waipio's 13 players and three coaches won the West Region championship in San Bernardino on Sunday, earning their berth in the Little League World Series. They left by bus for Los Angeles International Airport at 2:30 a.m. yesterday. Their flight to Newark, N.J., left LAX at 7 a.m. and they arrived there at 3:45 p.m., Eastern time.

That left them a 3-hour bus ride to finally get to Williamsport. But it took 2 hours to find the bag with their bats in it at the Newark airport.

"We weren't going to leave there without them," said manager Timo Donahue in a phone call late last night from Williamsport, where the team finally arrived safe with all its equipment.

Waipio now has today and tomorrow to rest and prepare for Friday's first pool-play game against the New England representative, Shelton, Conn. It will be telecast on ESPN2 at noon, Hawaii time.

Taketa wins match play senior title

Lance Taketa of Hilo beat Bill Hunt of Golf Academy of Hawaii 2 and 1 to capture the senior division of the Aloha Section PGA Match Play Championship at Turtle Bay yesterday. Taketa won $1,300.

Kevin Hayashi and Kevin Carll will play for the overall championship, beginning at 7 a.m. today.

Hayashi beat John Hearn to get into the final, while Carll took out Ron Castillo.

IN BRIEF

Burress hits field for Giants

ALBANY, N.Y. » Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress took the field in pads yesterday for the first time since the New York Giants opened training camp late last month.

Burress, who has been bothered by a troublesome right ankle, jogged a few pass routes during individual drills and lined up with the starters as they walked through a couple of plays in the evening workout. He did not run any patterns full speed, but he did catch a couple of passes from Eli Manning.

"It's like riding a bicycle - it's like I never left," Burress said.

Seattle wants its own bowl game

SEATTLE » Even with 34 bowl games already on the college football calendar, the director of the Seattle Sports Commission wants to add another.

Ralph Morton said that his group is in the early stages of trying to bring a bowl game back to Seattle. He hopes to develop a relationship with the Pac-10 for a game in 2010.

The NCAA recently certified two more bowl games - the Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C., and the St. Petersburg Bowl in Florida. That brings the total to 68 Division I teams that could play in the postseason.

The initial Seattle Bowl was moved from Hawaii to Seattle in 2001.

Injuries piling up for Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. » Two more Florida players will miss the season after tearing knee ligaments.

Gators sophomore offensive lineman Jim Barrie and freshman linebacker Brendan Beal are the fourth and fifth players to tear their ACLs. Beal suffered his injury during Monday's practice and Barrie was injured Saturday.

"Five ACLs, that's a tough deal," Florida coach Urban Meyer said after announcing the latest injuries following yesterday's morning practice.

Wie thinking about winning

Michelle Wie makes her final LPGA Tour appearance of the year at the CN Canadian Women's Open, needing to win or finish second to avoid a trip to Q-school - if she decides to try qualifying.

"I haven't really decided anything yet," Wie said. "I think planning what's going to happen next year or this fall is going to happen after this week. Right now, all I'm thinking about is how am I going to play good this week. How am I maybe going to possibly win this?"

Asked if she would consider Q-school, Wie replied, "I'm not going to think about the future right now."

The tournament starts tomorrow and features a strong field that includes defending champion Lorena Ochoa.

Canadian Women’s Open » Where: Ottawa » Schedule: Tomorrow through Sunday » Course: Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club (6,510 yards, par 72) » Purse: $2.25 million. Winner's share: $337,500 » Television: Golf Channel (Saturday through Sunday) » Last year: Lorena Ochoa won the fifth of her eight 2007 titles, beating Paula Creamer by three strokes at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton, Alberta. » Notes: Michelle Wie is using her final sponsor exemption of the year. She is ranked 309th. ... Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, the 2001 winner at Angus Glen, top the strong field. Ochoa has six victories this year. Sorenstam, in her final season, has three wins. » On the Net: lpga.com, www.cncanadianwomansopen.com