NW Briefs | Kent Little League reaches region final

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Austin Pernell pitched a four-inning no-hitter, and the dominant Kent Little League team punched its ticket into the Northwest Regional final with a 16-0 victory over the Missoula Southside Little League team of Montana on Friday night.

The region championship game against Lake Oswego of Oregon is set for 7 p.m. Sunday and will be televised live on ESPN2. The winner advances to the Little League World Series, Aug. 17-26 in Williamsport, Pa.

Kent's fifth mercy-rule victory of the regionals was sparked by D.J. Elmer, who had three hits, and Dylan Wright, who had two hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs.

Kent led 5-0 after three innings, then scored 11 in the fourth to put the game away.

College football

Linfield received five first-place votes and was picked to win the 2007 Northwest Conference title.

Whitworth, the 2006 champs, was second with two first-place votes. Pacific Lutheran was third, followed by Willamette, Puget Sound, Menlo and Lewis & Clark.

College basketball

• Central Washington announced five additions for its 2007-08 women's roster: transfers Sara Bergner (Bellingham/Whatcom CC) and LeeAna Busch (Bellingham/Northwest Nazarene) and high-school players Lexi Belcher (Mossyrock), Andrea Fine (Mount Vernon), and C'Era WalkingChild (Kennedy High).

• Washington State center Aron Baynes had 14 points, a game-high six rebounds and four blocks, but Australia fell 74-62 to Israel at the World University Games on Friday.

Baynes, a Cairns native, averaged 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds through the first two games of competition.

Hockey

• The Seattle Thunderbirds will open the 2007-08 season at Kamloops on Sept. 22, and the Everett Silvertips will get started a night earlier, at home against Tri-City, as the Western Hockey League announced its schedule.

• Everett forward Zach Hamill has signed with Boston of the NHL after being the Bruins' first-round choice (eighth overall) in the entry draft earlier this year.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources. Freelancer John Murphy contributed to this report.