NOTEBOOK : La Crescenta Falls in Regional Final

The best team in the major leagues last year calls Oakland home. And the city may be home to the nation’s top Babe Ruth team as well.

On Friday night in Carson City, Nev., a team from Oakland swept a doubleheader from La Crescenta to win the Babe Ruth Western Regional and advance to the World Series this week in Jamestown, N.Y.

The team of 13-year-olds from La Crescenta had entered the contest from the winners’ bracket and needed just one victory to advance to the World Series.

Oakland, however, won, 2-0, in the first game and came back with a 7-2 victory to claim the title.

Championship drive: Two Glendale-area softball teams are competing in division World Series championships this week at Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Centennial League all-stars (13-to-15-year-olds) advanced to the Senior Division World Series by sweeping two games from Red Bluff, Calif., in the Western Regional last week at Pinole, Calif.

Centennial lost to Georgetown, Mich., 1-0, Monday in an opening-round game at the World Series. They played a losers’ bracket game Wednesday, but results were not available at press time.

The Liberty League all-stars (10-to-12-years-old) advanced to the series by defeating Quito, Calif., 2-0, at Pinole.

Liberty played defending champion Naples, Fla., in an opening-round game Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.

Homecoming: Cal Linam, a former cross-country and track standout at Glendale College and Cal State Long Beach, has been named cross-country coach and assistant track coach at Burbank High.

Linam, 28, succeeds Dave Kemp, 51, who coached at Burbank from 1974-86 and 1987-90. Kemp, Linam’s father-in-law, will take over the sophomore football program and continue to coach golf.

The Western State Conference runner-up in the steeplechase in 1983 for Glendale College, Linam has a best of 9 minutes 4.4 seconds in the event. He was also a member of the 1981 Vaquero cross-country team that placed third in the state.

Linam, who taught English at Hoover High last year, will teach freshman and sophomore English at Burbank.

Kirby Lee contributed to this notebook.