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1B Sports BMW CHAMPIONSHIP Friday September 13, 2013 VOLLEYBALL Snedeker leads; Berrendos aces tournament Tiger 3 back LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Brandt Snedeker was making so many birdies that even an 18-foot putt looked like a mere tap-in. When he finished his amazing run Thursday in the BMW Championship, he had seven straight birdies on his card and an 8-under 63 at blustery Conway Farms. ''You get on runs like that, you get excited for the next hole because you know something good is going to happen, because you're in such a good frame of mind and everything is going in the right direction,'' Snedeker said. In this case, everything was going in — a 15-foot putt from the fringe on the 13th, another 15-footer on the next hole when he used the blade of his sand wedge to bump the ball out of the short rough, and a 40-footer from the fringe on the 17th stood out to him. That gave him a one-shot lead over Zach Johnson in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. Tiger Woods sounded disgusted with his round of 66, mainly because he had a pair of three-putt bogeys and missed a 4-foot birdie putt over his last five holes. ''I'm not exactly real happy,'' Woods said. ''I played well, and I just didn't get much out of that round. I missed three little short ones in there and then played the par 5s even par. That's just not very good.'' Steve Stricker, Charl Schwartzel and Kevin Streelman also were at 66. The opening round was mainly about the debut of Conway Farms, a Tom Fazio design north of Chicago which has a blend of strong holes and plenty of birdie opportunities on par 4s where players hit wedge for their second shot. Low scoring was predicted, and Snedeker's round was proof of that. But as the wind picked up and shifted directions, the course was far from a pushover. Rickie Fowler opened with a pair of double bogeys, followed by a pair of bogeys. He rallied for a 77. Rory McIlroy made a double bogey — his ninth of the FedEx Cup playoffs — on his second hole, and then three-putted from 4 feet for a triple bogey and staggered to a 78. Lee Westwood, fighting severe pain in his back and ribs, had an 80. ''There's a good mixture of really hard holes and really good birdie opportunities. I think that makes for exciting golf,'' Phil Mickelson said after opening with a 70. ''That's why we have such a discrepancy in scores.'' The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup after the BMW Championship advance to the Tour Championship next week and a shot at the $10 million prize. Sevillano Links Par Fore a Cause Pro-Am set for Sept. 20 By DN Staff Report The fifth annual Par Fore a Cause Pro-Am golf tournament at Sevillano Links at Rolling Hills Casino is set for Friday, Sept. 20. The tournament has raised $200,000 for Mercy Foundation North, which supports St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, according to a press release. Among the competitors in the tournament will be Isaac Sanchez, the Big Break NFL Puerto Rico celebrity. "Each year I look forward to Sevillano's Par Fore a Cause Pro-Am and welcome the challenge the course presents," Sanchez said in the press release. "I am happy to know that proceeds raised through this golf tournament benefit the local community hospital." Participants will be able to compete in a closest-to-thepin contest and can enjoy the annual awards buffet banquet at Carlino's Event Center at Rolling Hills Casino. Organizers expect the event to sell out, and any questions can be tossed to Ong Lao at 530-528-3542. Armstrong returns Olympic bronze medal AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lance Armstrong has returned his Olympic bronze cycling medal, the latest fallout from his confession to using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong won the medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The International Olympic Committee in January vacated the medal Armstrong won in the road time trial. Armstrong tweeted Thursday that he gave it back and a U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman released a statement confirming its return. Armstrong's tweet included a photo of the medal and its blue ribbon along with the message: ''The 2000 Bronze is back in possession of (at)usolympics and will be in Switzerland asap.'' Tehama Tracker Today's schedule CROSS COUNTRY Corning at Las Plumas Invitational FOOTBALL Anderson at Red Bluff, 7:30 p.m.; Oroville at Corning, 7:30 p.m.; Weed at Los Molinos, 7:30 p.m.; Mercy at Hayfork, 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL Mercy at Los Molinos Beth Pilger Invitational Sports on TV AUTO RACING 7 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, practice for EnjoyIllinois.com 225, at Joliet, Ill. 9 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, final practice for EnjoyIllinois.com 225, at Joliet, Ill. 10 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, practice for GEICO 400, at Joliet, Ill. 11:30 a.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Nationwide Series, practice for Dollar General 300, at Joliet, Ill. 1 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, pole qualifying for EnjoyIllinois.com 225, at Joliet, Ill. 2 p.m. ESPN2 — NASCAR, Sprint Cup, pole qualifying for GEICO 400, at Joliet, Ill. 5:30 p.m. FS1 — NASCAR, Truck Series, EnjoyIllinois.com 225, at Joliet, Ill. COLLEGE FOOTBALL 5 p.m. ESPN — Air Force at Boise St. GOLF 9:30 a.m. TGC — European PGA Tour, KLM Open, second round, at Zandvoort, Netherlands (same-day tape) Noon TGC — PGA Tour, BMW Championship, second round, at Lake Forest, Ill. 3:30 p.m. TGC — Web.com Tour, Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship, second round, at Columbus, Ohio (same-day tape) MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 11 a.m. WGN — Cleveland at Chicago White Sox 4 p.m. MLB — Regional coverage, N.Y. Yankees at Boston or Baltimore at Toronto PREP FOOTBALL 5 p.m. ESPN2 — Stillwater (Minn.) at Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) 7 p.m. FSN — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) vs. John Curtis (La.), at New Orleans SOCCER 7 p.m. NBCSN — MLS, Real Salt Lake at Seattle Courtesy photo Berrendos Middle School won first place in the Middle School Madness Volleyball Tournament at Foothill High School. They defeated Redding Christian School in the championship game. Ten teams participated in the A team tournament. Players pictured from back left are Carissa Twitchell, Logan Wheeler, Gloria Abbate, Brooklynn Potter, Sarah Reineman, Hannah Huhn and coach Janay Twitchell From bottom left are Natalie Valdez, Emyli Palmer, Aubree Akins, Cleo DuFrain and Katie Thompson. ATHLETICS 8, TWINS 2 A's cushion their AL West lead MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With Josh Reddick back and hitting home runs, the Oakland Athletics are bringing some more muscle and a bigger lead into a crucial weekend series. Reddick homered and had three RBIs, A.J. Griffin allowed just two hits in seven innings, and the A's beat the Minnesota Twins 82 Thursday afternoon to increase their division lead to 3 1/2 games over idle Texas in the American League West. It is Oakland's largest lead over the Rangers since Aug. 3. The teams are to scheduled play a three-game series this weekend in the Lone Star State. ''We know it's an important series, but we're not going to sweat about it,'' Reddick said. ''We know we can beat those guys.'' Reinstated from the 15day disabled list Wednesday after missing time with a sprained right wrist, Reddick hit an eighth-inning pitch from Brian Duensing into the right field seats for an 8-1 Oakland lead. It was his 11th homer of the season in his 99th game. He hit 32 in 156 games last year. ''Being able to hit it hard ... without my wrist hurting really felt good,'' said Reddick, who was also on the disabled list May 7-30 with the same injury. ''Watching these guys the last two weeks it kind of stung not being able to be a part of it, but I was just hoping to come back and just jump on AP photo Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick (16) is welcomed at the dugout by Daric Barton after hitting a two-run home run Thursday in Minneapolis. board and not screw up the rhythm. Hopefully, more days like this are coming.'' Adding Reddick to a lineup that already has 26 home runs from Brandon Moss, 22 from Yoenis Cespedes, 21 from Josh Donaldson and 19 from Coco Crisp makes things much easier for manager Bob Melvin. ''We've got a lot of options right now, a lot of guys that are heating up offensively,'' Melvin said. In winning his fourth straight start, Griffin (14-9) struck out eight and walked just one batter. ''I was working well, I was working quick, I had a good rhythm,'' he said. Griffin struck out six of the first nine batters he faced, including four straight, and lowered his opponents' batting average to .165 the first time through the lineup, the lowest mark in the majors among pitchers with at least 130 innings pitched. Other than allowing Oswaldo Arcia's home run in the seventh, Griffin, who has served up a major league leading 34 home runs, didn't have many problems the rest of the way. ''I feel like I can throw any pitch in any count and throw them effectively. It's a lot more fun when that's going on,'' Griffin said. Minnesota had two run- ners on with one out in the fourth, but Arcia lined out to second baseman Alberto Callaspo and Brian Dozier was doubled off first. Dozier had walked. Making his first start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester, Minnesota starter Scott Diamond (5-11) lasted just 4 23 innings. He allowed five runs — four earned — on six hits while striking out one. Before the game, Gardenhire said that Diamond appears to be a much more confident pitcher than he was before his Aug. 1 demotion. In six minor league starts, Diamond was 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA. PREP ROUNDUP VOLLEYBALL The Los Molinos Lady Bulldogs defeated Williams, 25-9, 25-11, 25-18 on Wednesday. The Bulldogs (13-0-1) were led by Clarivel Castillo's 18 kills and Kaitlyn Seaman's 27 assists. Emily Bailey notched 18 digs for the surging Bulldogs, and Katie Morgan added 15 digs of her own. The Bulldogs on Thursday, in the Beth Pilger Invitational tournament, swept its three games against Chester, Princeton and Mercy. The Bulldogs took down Chester, 25-7, 25-11. They defeated Princeton, 25-16, 25-11, and downed Mercy 25-21, 25-15. Los Molinos is back in action Saturday. TENNIS The Red Bluff Lady Spartans edged Foothill, 5-4 on Wednesday. The Spartans No. 1 singles player, Ginger Shaffer, defeated her Foothill counterpart, Adele Duval, 6-4, 6-4. Emmaline Iverson added a singles victory for Red Bluff, 3-6, 63, 6-4. And Victoria Yates won her match, 6-3, 6-4. Shaffer and Aislynn Lair teamed up and defeated Liz Kelley and Montana Yaley, 10-5. Foothill's Kelley and Yaley won their singles matches on the day by scores of 6-1, 7-5, and 6-1, 6-0, respectively. The Spartans' Rylee DuFrain and Yates added a doubles victory of their own by a score of 10-5. FIELD HOCKEY The Corning Lady Cardinals defeated Davis, 2-1 on Wednesday. Corning High's Maria Diaz put the Cards on the board first off an assist from Bailey Jennings. Corning's second score, 15:07 into the first half, came off a short corner pass from Jessica Beckley to Jennings, who scored on a hard drive. Davis scored at 26:31 in the second half. Corning's Kaitlyn Huntley played 60 minutes with two saves. Concepcion Paz made a saved a Davis scoring attempt at the corner. The Cards received help from Ashlee Mishoe, playing her best game of the season, Rachel Silva and Lupe Miron. Corning next hosts Pleasant Valley at 3:30 p.m. Monday.