Michelle Wie wins; Waipio All-Stars lose

By Fred Guzman

It was a bittersweet day for Hawaii’s sports fans.

The bitter was the result of the Waipio All-Stars falling short in their bid to win the Little League World Series, suffering a 4-1 loss to a slick-fielding team from Japan in Sunday’s championship game at Williamsport, Pa.

Waipio became the darlings of Hawaii, as well as the rest of the nation, by repeatedly surviving elimination with a series of dramatic comeback victories.

But the boys from Waipahu ran out of miracles against Japan, managing just four singles in the title game, bringing to an end a five-year title reign by American teams – including two of them from the Aloha State.

The sweet came in the form of a second career LPGA tour victory for 20-year-old Michelle Wie, who captured the Canadian Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Wie capped a wire-to-wire win by firing a 2-under 70 in the closing round for a three-shot victory to earn a paycheck of $337,500. Wie opened the tournament with a 65 and followed that up with rounds of 69, 72 and 70 to finish with a 12-under 276.

Wie’s first career win came in November at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico during her rookie season. Wie will next play in the Arkansas Championship, which begins Sept. 10, before heading back to school at Stanford.

BASEBALL: Shane Victorino went 0-for-4 on Sunday, but his Phillies posted a 5-0 win over NL West-leading San Diego as Cole Hamels allowed four hits and no walks over eight innings. On Saturday, Victorino accounted for two of Philly’s three hits, including a go-ahead triple, and threw a runner out at the plate in a 3-1 win over the Padres. By sweeping the series, Philly is two games back of Atlanta in the NL East and holds a 1.5-game edge over San Francisco in the wild-card race.

Fans will have to wait until 2012 before they can again watch rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg. The hard-throwing right-hander will have to undergo tendon replacement surgery on his throwing elbow. … The Chicago White Sox will add Manny Ramirez to their roster today after claiming veteran slugger on waivers from the LA Dodgers.

UH FOOTBALL: The University of Hawaii kicks off its football campaign on Thursday, hosting 14th-ranked Southern California in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN. UH suffered a setback on its unsettled offensive line when projected starting center Brett Leonard was ruled out of the opener because of a knee injury.