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Friday LL (11-12 b) Red Bluff vs Corning at Anderson, 8 p.m. LL (11-12 s) Red Bluff vs TBD at Cottonwood, 7 p.m. Tour de France — Stage 6, 5:30 a.m., VERSUS MLB — Giants at Nationals, 4 p.m., CSNB MLB — Angels at Athletics, 7 p.m., CSNC PGA — John Deere Classic, Noon, TGC Sports 1B Friday July 9, 2010 Nor-Cal Pride takes 1st It’s Miami By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer See ya, Cleveland. Sorry, Chicago, New York and New Jersey. Maybe next time around, Clippers. LeBron James chose superstar help over the com- forts of home and is heading for Miami because he wants to win a championship with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. NBA, get ready: A super- star trio has just been born. Ending weeks of will-he-or-won’t-he speculation, the Courtesy photo The Nor-Cal Pride ASA A-Division softball team is (from top left): Alyssa Hethcoat, coach Scottie Hethcoat,Aubrey Mendonca, Hailey Reineman, Helena Diaz, coach Brian Zazueta,Shannon Packard, Tayler Zazueta, Jenny McCluskey, Bailey Akins, scorekeeper Denise Zazueta, Madelynn Hoskins, Cheyenne Eischen,Hailee Nichols,Adrienne Hinkston and Bailey Jennings.Not pictured are Ashleigh Fox, Madison Waelty, Samantha Jones and coach Mike McEnaney. The Nor-Cal Pride, may be a rather new team, but they’re having no trouble finding success. The Pride, a 14-and-under ASA A-Division softball team won the Mercury Madness Invitational over the Fourth of July weekend and took a second place finish at the Heat is on Tournament June 19-20. Coach Mike McEnaney said the team has to thank all of the local peo- ple and businesses that have helped in fundraising for part of their suc- cess. At the Mercury Madness Invita- tional, the Pride knocked off the Red- ding Riptide 9-5 and the Siskiyou Heat 17-2 before running into a road block with a 4-3 loss to Humboldt on the first day of the tournament. But the Pride got back to rolling on the second day of the tournament, eliminating the Riptide with a 20-3 win and then revenging their earlier loss with a 13-0 shutout of Humboldt to claim the championship. On June 19-20 the Pride won four straight games at the Heat is on Tour- nament, an IFA Softball West Coast World Series Qualifier. They ended up falling to Sac Dynasty in the championship game, 6-4, to finish second. Local drivers win go kart awards Three drivers from Red Bluff, including a father-son team, won awards at the International Karting Feder- ation (Go Kart) 4-cycle Sprint and Shifter Grand Nationals held July 1-3 in Lakeland, Wash. One youngster from Cottonwood won several awards. All are members of the Shasta County Kart Klub which will be holding the Nationals event at the club’s track at the Redding Munic- ipal Airport in June 2011. The club also hosted the in 2009. Justin Foux, 14, of Red Bluff won the "Screaming Eagle" award as the fastest qualifier in the Junior 2 Ani- mal Methanol class just ahead of London Amlin of Cottonwood who qualified as the second fastest. Justin’s father, Keith Foux, took a fifth place in the Sr. Animal Masters class. Keith is the president of the Shasta Kart Klub. Robert Towne Jr. of Red Bluff took third place in the Senior Animal Heavy class and a fifth in the Senior Ani- mal Class. Amlin, 14, of Cotton- wood won first place in the Junior 2 Animal Methanol See KART, page 2B Photo by Lyle Amlin London Amlin, 14, of Cottonwood, screams to his first National Go Kart first place win at Richland,Wash. two-time MVP said Thursday night that he’s decided to join the Heat and leave the Cavaliers after an unsuccessful seven- year quest for the ring he covets. ‘‘I can’t say it was always in my plans, because I never thought it was possible,’’ James said on a made-for-Lebron live show on ESPN. ‘‘But the things that the Miami Heat franchise have done, to free up cap space and be able to put themselves in a position this summer to have all three of us, it was hard to turn down. Those are two great players, two of the greatest players that we have in this game today.’’ Olympic teammates in Beijing, James, Bosh and Wade all helped deliver gold medals. This time, it’ll be about a gold trophy, the NBA champi- onship one — the one Wade got in 2006, the one that James and Bosh have yet to touch. ‘‘Winning is a huge thing for me,’’ James said from a stu- dio in Greenwich, Conn., where an audience of kids from the Boys and Girls club was present for the announcement. It’s a huge victory for the Heat, which got commitments from Wade and Bosh on Wednesday. That duo, along with James, formed the upper echelon of the most-celebrated free-agent period in league history. Heat president Pat Riley landed them all, a three-pack of stars to help shape his quest for a dynasty in Miami. ‘‘There’s magic in the number three,’’ Wade said, a nod to his jersey number. And for Cleveland, a city scorned for generations by some of sports’ biggest letdowns, James’ long-awaited words represented a defeat perhaps unlike any other. James is gone. Home sweet home no more. He said he made the decision Thursday morning and knows it won’t go over well in Ohio. ‘‘They can have mixed emotions, of course,’’ James said, adding that Akron will ‘‘always be home for me.’’ His new home — part-time or otherwise — wasted no See MIAMI, page 2B Homers continue, Giants get sweep MILWAUKEE (AP) — Days after ending a seven- game losing streak, the San Francisco Giants are sud- denly playing some of the best baseball Bruce Bochy has seen in his time as man- ager. Aubrey Huff homered and drove in four runs, rookie Buster Posey homered again and the Giants’ bullpen held on in a 9-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday to complete a four-game sweep. ‘‘Overall, pitching, defense, hitting, clutch hitting, we played our best ball here in this series,’’ Bochy said. ‘‘We did a lot of great things.’’ San Francisco may have to go on without Dan Runzler, who is likely headed to the disabled list after being one of five relievers who followed Barry Zito. Runzler (3-0) earned the win getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then dislocated his left knee falling after an awkward swing in his first major-league at-bat in the seventh. He will have more tests on Friday. ‘‘My left back foot got caught on the clay,’’ Runzler said. ‘‘Foot stuck, knee went and it popped out of place and came back in.’’ Andres Torres homered in the eighth and Posey homered for the fourth time in the series in the ninth. The Giants outscored the Brewers 36-7 in this series for their first four- game sweep in Milwaukee. ‘‘We got to pitchers early and I think that’s what you’ve got to do,’’ Huff said. ‘‘We got their starter down by three or four early on and it gives everybody at the plate a little bit more of a confidence, a little bit more of a relaxation up there to be able to keep the line moving.’’ Huff drove in runs with a single in the first, a two-run homer in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fourth off Brew- ers starter Manny Parra (3-6) as the Giants built a 6-0 lead. Huff is 11 of 28 with five homers and 12 RBIs and Posey is 14 of 28 with five homers and 10 RBIs in the first eight games of this 11-game road trip that began with three losses in four games in Colorado. ‘‘His power is amazing, man,’’ Huff said of Posey. ‘‘It’s Courtesy photo/Lyle Amlin Members of the Redding Kart Klub team who participated in the 2010 Nationals last week in Richland, Wash. pose in front of the award pavilion after the end of the racing. From left, team mechanics Matt Hopper and Lane Amlin,London Amlin with his two trophies, Justin Foux with his trophy,Keith Foux with his plaque and team mechanic and driver Rich James. definitely a great swing, he stays through the ball well, he lets it get deep, he lets it travel and when you’re doing that there’s not to much you can throw up there at him that he’s not going to see and get fooled on.’’ San Francisco finishes the first half in Washington with a matchup Friday night pitting Matt Cain against rookie phe- nom Stephen Strasburg. ‘‘We’re going to face an outstanding pitcher tomorrow. Hopefully guys look forward to it,’’ Bochy said. ‘‘We’re hav- ing a pretty good road trip and we have some momentum going. That’s what you want.’’ Milwaukee (37-49) is playing bad baseball at the wrong time and stranded 17 runners, two off the franchise high for a nine-inning game. The Brewers have lost five straight and are a season-worst 12 games under .500 with tough deci- sions coming ahead with their roster. For now, Milwaukee would settle for a few clutch hits See GIANTS, page 2B