LATIMES.COM/SPORTS SS MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019D3
It sure feels good to be
home. The Sparks won at
Staples Center for the 11th
straight time Sunday, best-
ing one of the WNBA’s top
teams, the Connecticut Sun,
84-72. It was a statement vic-
tory, giving the Sparks (18-
10) the tiebreaker should
they catch the Sun (20-9) in
the standings.
It didn’t come easily. Be-
fore a sold-out arena of 17,076
celebrating #WeAreWomen
day, the teams went back
and forth for the first half.
With the final moments of
the second quarter ticking
away and the score knotted
at 39, 5-foot-7 guard Riquna
Williams found herself de-
fended by 6-6 defensive force
Jonquel Jones. With some
fancy dribbling, Williams
found herself in the corner,
hoisting a fadeway jumper
as the buzzer sounded.
It went in, and the Sparks
took not only a lead, but mo-
mentum into halftime.
“I kind of glanced at the
shot clock, and knew I had to
put it up,” said Williams, who
led all scorers with 21 points,
including five three-point-
ers. “So I just dribbled to the
corner. ... Normally when
post players are guarding a
guard, it’s like their worst
nightmare. So for me it’s at-
tack mind-set, because
that’s not where they want
to be.”
After that, it was all
Sparks. Los Angeles jumped
on Connecticut in the third
quarter with suffocating de-
fense and held the Sun to 13
points for the second
straight quarter to push the
lead to double digits.
It started in the back-
court, where the Sparks de-
fenders kept the Sun guards
from getting to their spots
and dictating the flow of the
game. Connecticut’s back-
court of Courtney Williams
and Jasmine Thomas com-
bined for 28 points and 10 as-
sists, but shot just 12 for 32
from the field.
“When you guard good
players like those two,
they’re gonna score points,”
Sparks coach Derek Fisher
said. “They’re gonna get thebest of you on a lot of pos-
sessions, because they’re
that good. But the mental
fortitude, and the ability to
let that roll off your back,
and stick your nose in there
the next time ... And there’s a
trust factor that you have to
have in your teammates.
That you can take the risk of
sticking your nose in there,
and you’re not gonna get em-
barrassed after, because no-
body was willing to have
your back and rotate.”
While two of the WNBA’s
top teams squared off, two of
its top players did as well, as
most-valuable-player candi-
dates Nneka Ogwumike and
Jones were matched up.
They produced nearly equal
stat lines: 16 points on six-
for-10 shooting, 12 rebounds,
and two steals for Jones, and
16 points on six-for-nine
shooting, eight rebounds,
four steals and a win for Og-
wumike. Their battle set the
tone for an intense game
filled with hard fouls, flying
bodies and technical fouls.
“It was definitely a playoff
atmosphere,” Sparks center
Candace Parker said.
“Nneka did a great job. It’s
tough to go against [Jones’]
length, but she was able to
attack her.”
The Sparks now hit the
road for their final three
away games before ending
the season with a three-
game homestand.Williams helps
Sparks remain
on a roll at home
She scores game-high
21 points as L.A. wins
its 11th game in a row
at Staples Center.
SPARKS 84
CONNECTICUT 72By Brady KlopferLouisiana claimed its
first Little League World Se-
ries title as Marshall
Louque hit a pair of doubles
and drove in three runs and
pitcher Egan Prather threw
a two-hit shutout Sunday to
lead a team from River
Ridge past Curacao 8-0 in
South Williamsport, Pa.
Egan shut down a power-
ful Curacao lineup over six
innings. His championship-
game performance capped
off a tournament in which he
earned two wins and struck
out 19 in 14^1 ⁄ 3 innings.
With Louisiana’s victory,
U.S. teams have won back-
to-back Little League
crowns for the first time
since 2009, when a team from
Chula Vista capped off a
streak of five consecutive
championships for the
United States.
This year, the team from
suburban New Orleans
fought its way back through
the loser’s bracket after
dropping its first game to
Hawaii. Louisiana won six
games in eight days.
In the third-place game,
Yuto Misaki tossed five
scoreless innings as Japan
beat Hawaii 5-0.
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL
Tennessee
player arrested
Tennessee cornerback
Bryce Thompson was ar-
rested in Knoxville, Tenn.,
on suspicion of domestic as-
sault stemming from an ar-
gument Saturday night in
his dorm with his girlfriend.
Thompson and the wom-
an said they had been dating
for four years.
Witnesses told police
they heard Thompson
threatening to slap a wom-
an. Police say he acknowl-
edged arguing with the
woman but denied making
physical contact with her or
issuing any threats.
Tennessee issued a state-
ment saying, “We are aware
of the situation and waiting
for additional information
while the appropriate proc-
esses take place.”
Thompson, a sopho-
more, made 10 starts last
season and recorded three
interceptions. Tennessee
opens the season Saturday
by hosting Georgia State.Wide receiver Cedric
Byrdhad four touchdown
catches to help Hawaii pick
up a 45-38 season-opening
win over Arizona late Sat-
urday in Honolulu. The
Wildcats’ Khalil Tate
passed for 361 yards and
three touchdowns with two
interceptions. He also
rushed for 108 yards in 13
carries. ... Jack Coan was
named starting quarter-
back for 19th-ranked Wis-
consin. ... James Blackman
was announced as Florida
State’s starting quarter-
back, beating out Wisconsin
graduate transfer Alex
Hornibrook and Louisville
transferJordan Travis. ...
East Carolina linebacker
Delvontae Harrisand cor-
nerback Juan Powellwere
suspended indefinitely after
they were accused of break-
ing into a car.ETC.Aurora Games
will be returning
The Aurora Games, an
international multisport
competition and entertain-
ment festival with female
competitors, will be staged
two more times in the next
four years.
The first Aurora Games
were held in Albany, N.Y.,
and at their conclusion Sun-
day founder and executive
producer Jerry Solomon
said the games will return to
Albany in 2021 and 2023.
The six-sport event drew
more than 100 professional
athletes and produced some
memorable moments. Fig-
ure skater Alysa Liu, 14, suc-
cessfully landed a quadruple
lutz, the first U.S. female to
land what’s widely consid-
ered the hardest jump in fig-
ure skating in a competition,
and former UCLA gymnas-
tics star Katelyn Ohashi
earned one of two perfect 10sin the artistic floor exercises.
Total attendance for the
six-day event was 20,423.
The athletes also participa-
ted in sports clinics and
workshops.The Colorado Rapids
named former MLS player
and longtime assistantRob-
in Fraser as their head
coach. He steps in for Conor
Casey, who had been the in-
terim coach since the team
fired Anthony Hudson in
May. Fraser, 52, had served
as an assistant at Toronto
FC since 2015. ... Rhonda
Revelleis back as Nebraska
softball coach after going on
paid administrative leave in
July. Revelle was on leave
while school officials looked
into concerns raised by play-
ers. The nature of the con-
cerns was not disclosed. ...
Brett Moffittled 45 of 64 laps
of the Chevrolet Silverado
250 at Canadian Tire Motor-
sport Park in Bowmanville,
Ontario, on his way to a sec-
ond straight win in the
NASCAR Truck Series play-
offs.THE DAY IN SPORTS
La. gets
its first
LLWS
crown
wire reports
PEYTON SPADONI, front, and his River Ridge, La., teammates celebrate their
8-0 victory over Curacao in the Little League World Series title game Sunday.Gene J. PuskarAssociated PressHOUSTON —Way too
often this season, Angels
second-year pitcher Jaime
Barria has been summoned
into his manager’s office to
be told he will remain in the
big leagues no longer. That
although he demonstrated
one season ago he deserved
the benefit of the doubt, he
needed further seasoning in
triple A.
In rare instances, the de-
cisions to demote Barria
seemed warranted. He
spent a month playing for
Salt Lake after the Kansas
City Royals hit him hard for
seven runs in 1^2 ⁄ 3 innings in
late April. But in June the 23-
year-old was also sent back
after a successful relief ap-
pearance against the Oak-
land Athletics and again fol-
lowing a three-hit, one-run
spot start against the Cin-
cinnati Reds. He proved his
mettle in a July 3 start in
Texas, holding the Rangers
to four runs and two hits
while striking out eight bat-
ters two days after the death
of Tyler Skaggs. He was
handed another boarding
pass to Utah.
Perhaps the most flum-
moxing move of all came in
the final days of March.
Manager Brad Ausmus told
Barria, who went 10-9 with a
3.41 earned-run average in 26
starts as a rookie last sea-
son, he would be the team’s
fifth starter. Thrilled to
make his first opening-day
roster, Barria alerted his
family members in Panama
and prepared himself for a
season-opening trip to Oak-
land and Seattle.
Plans changed drasti-
cally a short time later. The
Angels traded for Chris
Stratton, a former first-
round pick who showed
some promise as a starter in
2018 but has had more suc-
cess as a reliever now pitch-
ing for the Pittsburgh Pi-
rates. Ausmus tapped Bar-
ria on the shoulder in the
visitors clubhouse at Dodger
Stadium, where the young-
ster was scheduled to start
the final game of the spring
training Freeway Series, and
told him he was out.
“You do a lot of work to be
here,” Barria said in Span-
ish, reflecting five monthslater. “I think I proved last
year that I belonged here.”
In an 11-2 loss that ex-
tended the Angels’ latest los-
ing streak to five games, Bar-
ria did so again. He held the
formidable Houston Astros
to two runs and three hits in
51 ⁄ 3 innings at Minute Maid
Park. He also walked three
and struck out four. His
longest outing since mid-
April was the lone bright
spot for a team that failed to
hit with runners in scoring
position and watched its
bullpen implode.
Barria, like a few Angels
relegated to riding the
triple-A shuttle, has been a
casualty of roster
management this season.
He has been recalled from
the minor league ranks eight
times this year, including
last Tuesday. With just fiveweeks remaining in the sea-
son, Barria should now be up
for good.
Especially after dueling
Houston starter Framber
Valdez into the sixth inning.
While Valdez held the Angels
to one run and two hits in six
innings and retired 12 of the
final 14 batters he faced, Bar-
ria confounded one of base-
ball’s most potent offenses.
A heavy dose of sliders — he
threw 44 among his 90
pitches — helped him draw
three swings and misses and
receive four strike calls. His
changeup allowed him to
limit hard contact to Jose Al-
tuve’s leadoff double in the
first, Yuli Gurriel’s third-in-
ning hit and Josh Reddick’s
run-scoring single in the
fourth.
“I think that pitching
against a big team, you canjudge how you pitch,” he
said. “A team like the Dod-
gers, the Astros, they’re
tough to face. I like to pitch
against them because it
helps me show the team that
I belong here.”
Barria held Astros in-
fielder Alex Bregman, who
has batted .394 with five ho-
mers and 25 RBIs during a
19-game hitting streak, hit-
less in three at-bats.
“Give Barria a lot of cred-
it,” Bregman said. “He was
good.”
And, really, Barria has
performed better than the
6.10 ERA he has posted dur-
ing this hectic season would
indicate. He was the only
starter who suffered from
the Angels’ decision to
adopt the opener strategy:
In three outings as the so-
called primary pitcher, Bar-
ria gave up 18 earned runs
over 13^2 ⁄ 3 innings. In his other
11 outings, which include two
as a standard reliever, he has
a 4.18 ERA and has never giv-
en up more than five runs.
“The opener is practi-
cally the only thing that has
not worked for me,” Barria
said. “It’s new to me. It’s a
different role. It’s not the
same routine you keep. But
when I do start games, it’s
worked out better for me.”
That has been the case
twice in the last 32 days. He
pitched five innings of one-
run baseball in a July 24 win
over the Dodgers. Although
he was charged with the loss,
he was nearly as effective
Sunday.
So one cannot fault Bar-
ria for carrying a chip on his
shoulder. In a sense, he’s
used it as motivation. He has
dedicated his starts to prov-
ing a point — to himself as
much as the organization
that employs him — that he
is worthy of a bigger rolethan the one he was as-
signed.
“I think that’s the base of
all this,” he said. “If you don’t
have a strong mind-set, bad
things can happen to you. I
always try to be positive, to
find good things among the
bad. That’s what’s helped
me this year.”Short hops
Six straight Astros
reached base before reliever
Taylor Cole retired a batter
in the eighth inning. After
two outs, Altuve cranked a
two-run shot into the left-
field seats for an 11-1 Astros
lead. The Angels were trail-
ing 4-1 when Cole entered the
game. Since combining with
Felix Pena to throw a no-hit-
ter July 12, Cole has given up
22 earned runs in 22 innings.
Opponents have hit .348
against him in those 17
games. ... Infielder Tommy
La Stella took a significant
step in his recovery from a
leg fracture, taking ground
balls and hitting off the tee
for the first time since his
All-Star campaign was way-
laid July 2. The Angels be-
lieved at the time of the in-
jury La Stella could be side-
lined up to 10 weeks. If that
timeline remains accurate,
La Stella could rejoin the ac-
tive roster in early Septem-
ber. ... Angels shortstop An-
drelton Simmons hit a line
drive so hard and at such a
low angle in the second in-
ning of what was then a 1-0
ballgame that he burst out of
the batter’s box on contact,
thinking he’d need to hustle
for a base hit. But his barrel
caught more of the ball than
he realized — it soared into
the left-field Crawford
Boxes for his sixth home run
of the year. He almost
missed first base on his trot
around the bases.Barria determined to stick in rotation
Hoping to stay off Salt
Lake shuttle, the
right-hander turns in
another solid outing.
HOUSTON 11
ANGELS 2
By Maria Torres
THE ANGELS’David Fletcher gets up close and personal with fans as he catches
a foul popup by the Astros’ Yuli Gurriel in the first inning of Sunday’s game.Bob LeveyGetty ImagesSPARKS 84, SUN 72
CONNECTICUT—A.Thomas 3-8 0-2 6, C.Williams 8-
17 2-4 18, J.Jones 6-10 2-2 16, J.Thomas 4-15 0-0 10,
Stricklen 4-9 1-1 12, B.Jones 0-0 2-2 2, Hiedeman 0-0
0-0 0, Holmes 2-4 1-2 6, Plaisance 0-0 0-0 0, Tuck 1-5
0-0 2. Totals 28-68 8-13 72.
SPARKS—Gray 5-13 1-1 12, N.Ogwumike 6-9 4-4 16,
Parker 5-10 2-2 13, R.Williams 7-12 2-2 21, Ruffin-Pratt
2-7 1-1 5, A.Jones 0-0 2-2 2, Beard 1-3 0-0 2, Brown
0-0 0-0 0, C.Ogwumike 2-4 1-1 5, Mabrey 0-0 0-0 0,
Vadeeva 1-4 0-0 2, Wiese 2-2 0-0 6. Totals 31-64 13-13
84.
Connecticut........................26 13 13 20—72
Sparks...............................22 20 23 19—84
Three-Point Goals—Connecticut 8-22 (Stricklen 3-6,
J.Jones 2-4, J.Thomas 2-8, Holmes 1-3, Tuck 0-1), Los
Angeles 9-24 (R.Williams 5-8, Wiese 2-2, Parker 1-3,
Gray 1-5, Beard 0-1, Vadeeva 0-1, Ruffin-Pratt 0-2,
N.Ogwumike 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Con-
necticut 33 (J.Jones 12), Los Angeles 26 (N.Ogwumike
8). Assists—Connecticut 15 (J.Thomas, C.Williams 5),
Los Angeles 19 (Gray 6). Total Fouls—Connecticut 21,
Los Angeles 19. Technicals—Connecticut coach Sun
(Delay of game), Ruffin-Pratt. A—17,076 (18,997).Western Conference
Team W L Pct. GB
x-SPARKS .....................18 10 .643 —
x-Las Vegas...................19 11 .633 —
x-Seattle.......................15 14 .517 31 ⁄ 2
Minnesota ....................15 15 .500 4
Phoenix ........................13 15 .464 5
Dallas............................9 20 .310 91 ⁄ 2
Eastern Conference
Team W L Pct. GB
x-Washington.................21 8 .724 —
x-Connecticut ................20 9 .690 1
x-Chicago.....................18 11 .621 3
Indiana ........................10 19 .345 11
New York ........................9 20 .310 12
Atlanta...........................7 22 .241 14
x—clinched playoff berthWNBA
STANDINGS