Brayden Davis of Olive touches home plate after a three-run home run Sunday. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Olive Orange Pony Bronco 12-and-under baseball all-stars are headed to the super regional beginning Friday in Corona.

The Orange squad clinched a berth in the super regional with a 12-1 victory over Santa Ana Sunday in the regional tournament at Placentia Champions Sports Complex. Olive missed a chance to advance to the regional championship when it lost to Torrance 13-12 later Sunday.

Undefeated Placentia faces Torrance Monday, July 14 at 5 p.m. in the championship game.

“We get to move on from there,” said Manager Shea Shandra after Sunday’s win over Santa Ana. “We have goals for these tournaments and definitely getting to move on to the super regions is a big day for us.

“We actually got to take district, so that let us skip section tournament and now we know we get to move on.”

To see more photos, click on the first picture:

Orange starter Victor Ayala gets ready to throw a pitch vs. Santa Ana.

Santa Ana’s Gilbert Ortiz heads to the plate.

Alexander Velasco of Olive scores a run Sunday.

Players from Olive and Santa Ana exchange handshakes after Sunday’s game.

Orange Olive also defeated South Bay 8-0 before losing to Placentia 12-7 on Saturday. Olive stayed alive with an 11-1 victory over John Mendez from Wilmington on Saturday.

In Sunday’s game vs. Santa Ana, Victor Ayala pitched a five inning no-hitter, striking out six and walking three. Gilbert Ortiz drove in the only run for Santa Ana with a groundout in the first inning.

“A no-hitter for Victor, he’s had another one, he’s our workhorse,” Shandra said.

Ayala also had a three-run home run for Olive during a four-run first inning. Jake Schierberi also had an RBI single in the inning.

Ayala was not aware he had pitched a no-hitter until after the game.

“I’m proud of myself, I didn’t think I could do it against that team knowing that they had a lot of good hitters especially the very top half, they could all hit really well,” he said.

“It’s really nice to see my team go on, maybe we can go past to zone’s like last year, maybe we can go more games in zone if we make it.”

Olive moved ahead 8-1 with four more runs in the second inning. Enrique Triana and Ben Hirsch had RBI singles and Brayden Davis had a sacrifice fly.

Davis put the game out of reach with a three-run home run in the third inning. Davis was 2 for 2 with four RBI and two runs scored.

Leadoff hitter Ethan De La Palma had a double, walked two times and scored three runs; Alexander Velasco had an RBI single and scored a run; Hirsch had two hits and an RBI;Matthew Dayton had a single and scored two runs and Triana had two hits and an RBI.

Santa Ana opened the tournament with a 15-4 victory over Olive Green Wednesday, then defeated East Long Beach 6-5 on Thursday. Santa Ana lost to Torrance 9-5 but stayed alive in the double elimination tournament with a 10-5 victory over East Long Beach Saturday.

Placentia and Torrance will also be moving on to the super regional in Corona.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com

Registration for fall soccer, football, cheerleading and volleyball is opening this week for children ages 5-14 through the Ramstein and Vogelweh youth sports program. (Areca Bell/U.S. Air Force)

Registration for fall cheerleading, football, soccer and volleyball is now open for children ages 5-6 through the youth sports program serving Ramstein Air Base and Vogelweh Housing Area.

Registration for ages 7-8 begins Tuesday, followed by ages 9-10 on Wednesday and ages 11-14 on Thursday. Sign-ups close for all age groups at 5 p.m. July 25.

An active account with the Air Force’s child and youth program business modernization system and current sports physical are required. Homeschooled children must also provide an immunization record.

Registration costs $80 and space is limited. More information is available on the Ramstein and Vogelweh youth sports program website.

Since its launch, Dakar en Jeux has brought together thousands of people across Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly, celebrating sport and Senegalese culture through concerts, art and sports demonstrations. Past editions have featured highlights such as slam poetry battles, a 300-metre mural by African graffiti artists, and the introduction of the Brevet Olympique Civique et Sportif, an Olympic values-based education programme for schoolchildren.

The third edition in 2024 saw attendance grow to 20,000 people, with sporting highlights including Senegal’s victory in the boys’ 3×3 basketball tournament. It also featured the launch of Impact Spark, a new initiative by Dakar 2026 and the Lausanne-based SPARK/innov-action association, supported by the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) in Switzerland, aimed at promoting health and well-being through physical activity in a fun and inclusive environment to combat lifestyle-related diseases.

Looking ahead, the fourth and final edition in November 2025 will set the scene for Dakar 2026, continuing to inspire youth engagement and community celebration.

Dakar en Jeux is delivered by the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee (YOGOC) in partnership with the Senegalese Olympic Committee (CNOSS), the Senegalese government, the International Olympic Committee, and the local authorities in the three host cities.

UPMC Orthopaedic Care – Lititz is offering free sports physicals to local youth athletes participating in sports during the 2025-2026 school year.

The event will take place on July 28, 2025 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the UPMC Orthopaedic Care office at 1555 Highlands Dr., Suite 190, Lititz, PA 17543.

It is estimated that hundreds of students in the Lancaster area participate in more than 20 different sports each year. Annual physicals can provide parents, children, and coaches with reassurance that an athlete is ready to participate in sports.

Parents can fill out this form or call 717-291-8345 to register for a physical.

Hotel and rental car taxes that pay for the Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale, spring training baseball parks and promote Arizona tourism also fund youth and amateur sports.

This year, $6.3 million is being shared by dozens of groups, including one with plans to make physical movement part of grief support.

One service offered by Billy’s Place in the northwest Valley is peer-support groups for children with a parent, sibling or loved one who has died.

But frustration born out of trauma can keep kids from getting the most out of sessions.

So with grant money from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, Billy’s Place will turn an old bathroom in the nonprofit’s future headquarters into a space for blowing off steam.

“It’ll have padded walls. It’ll have a punching bag. A space for kids to let go of those big emotions,” said Kris Friedman, the organization’s executive director.

Grant money will also pay to outfit an outdoor play area at the new Billy’s Place, a feature that does not exist at the current location.

“And this grant is going to turn it into our dream space with stuff for them to climb on a firepit for the parents to sit around,” said Madelyn Vincent, associate executive director.

Voter-approved hotel and bed taxes that fund projects like this one are scheduled to sunset in 2031.