Gulls to Open Season Oct. 9 Against Salt Lake

The Gulls on Friday announced they will open their third season in the International Hockey League on Oct. 9, against the Salt Lake Golden Eagles at the Sports Arena.

The Gulls’ 82-game season runs through April 13, concluding against Salt Lake at the Sports Arena. They will play 41 home games, including 12 on Friday nights and 15 on Saturday nights.

Game times are 7:05 p.m., except Sundays, when face-off is at 6:05 p.m.

After the opener, the Gulls entertain Phoenix on Oct. 10, then finish out the four-game home stand Oct. 15-16 against the Fort Wayne Komets.

The Gulls finished 45-28-9 (99 points) a year ago, finished third in the Western Division and were swept in the first round of the playoffs by Peoria, 4-0.

BASEBALL

The San Diego Rookies baseball team, representing California at the Continental Amateur Baseball Assn. World Series in Laredo, Tex., split the opening games of pool play. They scored a 2-0 victory over Ohio, then lost 6-3 to New York. The Rookies, a 16-and-under select team, are the defending CABA champion.

In the opener, Rancho Bernardo High’s Jaime Jones tripled to open the second inning and Helix’s Mario Sanchez homered for the only runs of the game. Capistrano Valley’s Pete Zamora, one of three non-San Diego County players on the team, added two hits.

Ramona’s Bryan Scott pitched the first four innings and allowed three hits. He struck out five. Sanchez pitched the final three innings and struck out six of the nine batters he faced.

In the second game, Zamora had two hits, a double and two RBIs, but he surrendered four runs in 2 2/3 innings. Poway’s Kevin Van Dommelen pitched 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief, and Capo Valley’s Brandon Puffer was touched for two runs in one inning.

Jones had an RBI single.

The Rookies play Puerto Rico and Washington today.

The San Diego Sox Baseball Club will represent the Pacific Southwest Region today through Saturday at the XXVI AAU/USA Junior Olympic Games in Rochester, Minn. It is for players 16 and under.

INDOOR SOCCER

Groups in two former Major Soccer League cities--Cleveland and Wichita, Kan.--have been granted conditional approval to join the National Professional Soccer League this fall.

The league said Friday that Akron stockbroker George Hoffman will own the Cleveland team. Wichita’s club, the Wings, will be community-owned, with Roy Turner as general manager and head coach. The Wings will play at Kansas Coliseum.

Buffalo and Baltimore also are joining the league this season, raising the number of teams to 13.

ACADEMICS

University of San Diego had 54 athletes named to the West Coast Conference Scholar-Athlete List, and 12 of those were named to six WCC All-Academic teams for the 1991-92 year.

Those who were named to the 10-person All-Academic teams were baseball players Chad Boyd (Jr., 3.38 g.p.a., Hilltop High), Jeff Crane (Sr., 3.34, Bonita Vista), Kevin Herde (Jr., 3.37, San Pasqual); women’s basketball players Chris Enger (Jr., 3.42, Vista High), Deborah Gollnick (Sr., 3.44, Auburn, Wash.), Lynda Jones (Sr., 3.21, Mt. Carmel), Jill Shaver (So., 3.46, Albuquerque); women’s volleyball player Nikki Wallace (So., 3.27, Lancaster); men’s soccer player Sean Pinnell (Jr., 3.244, Mt. Carmel), Toby Taitano (So., 3.69, Valhalla); men’s cross-country runner Bill Clark (Jr., 3.75, San Diego) and women’s tennis player Maddy Diekman (Sr., 3.74, Las Vegas).

To make all-academic consideration, athletes must maintain a 3.20 cumulative g.p.a. with contributions to the institution’s athletic program. They were selected by WCC Commissioner Michael Gilleran.