Sports briefs: Clovis West’s Griffith reaches final in USTA consolation play

Clovis West High tennis player Billy Griffith was knocked out of the championship bracket but remained alive in the feed-in bracket that will determine the fifth- and sixth-place finishers in the 16-year-old division of the USTA Nationals in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Griffith, seeded 15th, lost in the championship quarterfinals, falling to 12th-seeded Henrik Wiersholm of Kirkland, Wash., 7-6(5), 6-2. Griffith then beat Shawn Hadavi of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., 6-3, 6-2 and won by injury walkover against 13th-seeded Logan Staggs of Tracy.

In the feed-in final, Griffith was to face seventh-seeded Tommy Mylnikov of Bradenton, Fla.

Greater Fresno rolls along

Greater Fresno tied Japan 0-0 in eight innings but still advanced to the semifinal round on a better pool-play record at the 31st annual World Boys Baseball Tournament in Sydney, Australia.

Preston Mott (Clovis High) pitched seven innings and Jared Westendarp (Central) closed out the shutout for Fresno, which next faces Mexico.

Visalia Cal Ripken 12s keep winning at World Series

Visalia’s 12-year-old All-Stars won 2-0 over Kokomo, Ind., on Saturday to remain undefeated at the Cal Ripken Majors/60 World Series in Winchester, Mass.

A team from Burlington, Mass., and the Visalians are the lone teams at 2-0 in the American Division of pool play. Visalia was scheduled to play El Dorado, Ark., today before a showdown with Burlington on Monday.

Clovis’ Meyers finishes fifth in Knoxville Nationals final

Clovis sprint-car driver Jason Meyers settled for fifth as Donny Schatz won the Knoxville Nationals for the sixth time in seven years, holding off local favorite Brian Brown by 0.117 seconds Saturday night at the 52nd annual event in Knoxville, Iowa.

Schatz, from Fargo, N.D., took the lead on the 13th of 50 laps with a pass on the bottom of the track and held on to take the $150,000 winner’s check.

Craig Dollansky was third, followed by Kraig Kinser and Jason Meyers.

Steve Kinser, Kraig’s father, failed to qualify for a Nationals championship feature for the first time since 1977. Steve Kinser has a record 12 Nationals titles, spanning three decades.

Former champions Danny Lasoski, Sammy Swindell and Tim Shaffer also missed the A-main.

Meyers, a two-time World of Outlaws series champion, retired from full-time competition this spring but had committed to running in at least a few big events. That included the Knoxville Nationals, which he has never won in his stellar career.