Dhaliwal, Baines net hat tricks for Richmond

After narrowly losing their home opener last week to the Coquitlam Saints, the Richmond Roadrunners got on the winning track Monday.

Richmond exploded with a barrage of goals to top White Rock 12-5 with Aniel Dhaliwal and Spencer Baines again leading the Roadrunners' scoring with a hat trick each. The pair, with their considerable stick skills, are developing into a dangerous combination for opponents.

Jonathan Findlay, the team's biggest hitter, also scored a pair while Bryan Parks, Jake Safarik, Peter Wiebe and Allen Tang got singles.

Goalie Clayton Skapski turned in another strong performance stopping several breakaways and two-on-one rushes.

The game was penalty-filled with nearly an hour of time meted out by the referees, most of it against White Rock. But for the most part Richmond ignored the distractions and put together its first complete game so far.

Isles '90B tops tourney

The Richmond Islanders '90B girls' softball team won gold at an invitiational tournament in White Rock last weekend.

Pitcher Danica Stanley made her first start in more than a week as the local Squirt Division squad defeated Abbotsford 9-3 in the final game, after earlier losing to the same team 8-0 in round-robin play.

Abbotsford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Islanders answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Erin Semancik then made a pair of timely catches at shortstop inspiring her teammates to a five-run second inning. Power hits by Moni Vataiki, Rachel Ramsden, Meghan Talbot, Jenny Mackinnon and Danielle Slater were instrumental in the run.

Pitchers AJ Bureyko, Bianca Verde Rios, Katie Clarke and Stanley showed good poise and pitch selection throughout the tournament, with Stanley's off-speed pitch working well in the final game.

The Islanders finished the round-robin 3-1 after defeating North Delta Divas 4-3, the 1991 Langley Rebels 17-2 and 1990 White Rock Thunder 11-6.

Five first-inning runs powered them to a 10-4 win over the North Vancouver Stars in the semifinals.

Dana Winter and Patricia Griffiths both took away possible home runs with their strong play in the outfield, while Natalie May caught five of the Islanders' six games.

Richmond is scheduled to play Surrey tonight at 6:30 at McNair Park and is at a tournament in North Delta this weekend.

Beaupit slugs it out for Titans

Hits were at a premium Friday night at Steveston Park.

But not for Mike Beaupit.

The Richmond slugger was 3-for-3 and scored a run as the Titans blanked the Gameday Sports Mariners 2-0 in the Richmond Senior Men's Fastball League.

Jeff Koruz and Beaupit both got aboard on singles in the first inning and scored on passed balls.

Meanwhile, Titans' pitchers Larry Swart and Jason Beaupit combined to limit the Mariners to just four hits.

The game sharply contrasted one a few days earlier, when the Ladner Suds scored twice in each of the first three innings in a 12-1 win over the Sportstown Rangers.

The Rangers rebounded for a lopsided victory of the own Thursday, crushing the Ladner Merchants 8-1 behind a five-hitter by winning pitcher Mike MacKay.

Kelly Bigelow led the offence by going 2-for-2 with a double and triple and driving in five runs.

McFarlan's in the running for series lead

Richmond masters runner Gwen McFarlan is in the thick of the race for the B.C. Timex-Asics Road Runing Series title in the women's 65-plus age group.

McFarlan, who was a nominee for the 2001 Richmond Sports Award female athlete of the year (sponsored by The Richmond Review), is among the leaders at the halfway point of the series which wraps up here on Labour Day weekend.

Focus is Achilles heel for locals

The Richmond Roadrunners had plenty of try Friday, but lacked finish.

While goalkeeper Campbell McLeod stood tall in making 57 saves for Richmond, the New Westminster Salmonbellies were still able to earn a 9-7 B.C. Intermediate Lacrosse League victory.

It was Richmond's second setback last week, having also lost 9-4 to Coquitlam on Wednesday.

"Loose balls were our enemy in the first period," coach Gord Frederickson said of Friday's game.

"We lacked some concentration (but) the boys gave it their all tonight and we played our best defensive game."

One of the bright notes for Richmond was the play of Midget Division call-ups Aneil Dhaliwal and Jason Findlay, who both dealt easily with the step up required to play senior ball in the end-to-end tilt against New Westminster.

Jeff Buchanan, Bryan Safarik, Ryan Bourne, Kevin White (from cornerman Brock Nordman), and Yoshi Hikida were among the Richmond goal scorers.

Little Rascals hosting district playdowns

The Little Rascals are going to the district playdowns.

Timley hits by Bryanna Kochems-Speck and Jennifer Hass in the third inning helped power the local Squirt C girls' softball team to a 13-1 win over the Mustangs in the final of the Richmond championships last weekend.

Pitcher Brianna Farrall and catcher Brooke Goussen combined to hold the Mustangs to a single run in the first inning while Caryn Ginter and Jodi Waddington each hit doubles.

Lauren Smirfitt and Megan Sanderson were strong defensively.

The Mustangs earlier defeated the Rascals 5-4 to force a second game in the double-knockout tournament.

.The District 6 playdowns are scheduled for June 8 and 9 at London secondary.

Hit, Run and Throw Challenge on Sunday

Richmond Minor Baseball is hosting a Hit, Run and Throw Challenge this Sunday at Brighouse Park.

The fun event, which also helps participants improve their baseball skills, is open to boys and girls born in 1989 and later.

Medals are awarded in each age category from the Pre-rookie to Peewee Division, with the top scorers province-wide competing in a championship at Nat Bailey Stadium in August.

Station starts are at 9, 10 and 11 a.m., but participants are asked to register at least 30 minutes before the start time they prefer.

Hayle's homer highlights Budgies' win

Jason Hayle hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to ignite a rally as the Richmond Auto Body Budgies overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat Vancouver 9-4 Thursday in the B.C. Senior Baseball League.

Allan Attridge tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth, and drove in three more runs on a double in the sixth. Chris Randall also had a two-run double for Richmond which improved to 4-5 on the season.

Ryan Turner scattered eight hits over seven innings for his second win of the season, both coming against Vancouver.

"We basically followed the same format as the last time we played them," Richmond manager Gord Lowrey said.

Vancouver also led that game 4-0 before Richmond rallied for a 5-4 win three weeks ago.

"I think being off (last weekend) helped us," Lowrey said. "We were going with about 12 guys when the league opened and played eight games in eight days."