But, it was no ordinary team that toppled the District 44 girls and claimed the Section 5 crown at Gilroy High. It was a special squad of 12-year-old girls from Gilroy, a team that is dominating opponents just as the Sunnyvale National major all-stars did a year ago on their way to the Little League Softball Western Regional.

After dispatching District 44 and District 59 (North Valley of San Jose) by a combined score of 31-6, Gilroy rolled into Sunnyvale's Washington Park for the six-team Northern California Division II Tournament. Four games--and four wins--later, Gilroy had outscored its foes 30-5 and had punched its ticket for Vancouver, Wash., where it is playing in this week's Western Regional.

So instead of hanging their heads over the championship game loss, the District 44 all-stars can stand proud, knowing that it was the best team in Northern California that beat them for the Section 5 crown. After dropping a tough 13-12 decision to North Valley in the sectional opener, District 44 rebounded to whip their District 59 opponent 21-10.

District 44 team members, which represented Sunnyvale Metro, Southern, National and Cupertino American leagues, were led by manager Keith Viveiros and coach Jim Fredrickson. Team members were Karena Cai, Margo Cilker, Elena Clark, Stacey Dobson, Feane Flores, Kelli Fredrickson, Michelle Hauer, Jessica Holmes, Wangui Hymes, Kristina Luotto, Eryka Temorres and Alex Viveiros.

Basketball camp

The San José State University men's basketball program will hold a summer basketball camp for players ages 7-18 on Aug. 8-11. Camp hours run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and early drop-off (7:45 a.m.) and late pick-up (5:30 p.m.) is available.

The cost is $155 per player. For more information, call assistant coach Brent Davis at 408.924.1222.

Bronco baseball

Santa Clara University will offer senior baseball camps for youth this summer: a Kids Camp for players ages 6-12 on Aug. 8-12; and an All Skills Camp on Aug. 15-17, 9:30 a.m.-noon each day.

For more information, contact Santa Clara assistant baseball coach Matt Mueller at mamueller@scu.edu.

Camp With the Pros

The annual Camp With the Pros featuring instruction by former Major League and collegiate players will be held Aug. 8-12 at the Union Little League field, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. The cost is $139 per player.

Former San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Roger Samuels will serve as camp director. Mark Cummins, veteran coach at Live Oak High School and a former infielder at Santa Clara University, is the director of instruction, and Ernie Broglio, a former 20-game winner with the St. Louis Cardinals, is the pitching instructor.

For more information, call Samuels at 408.264.0396.