U.S. Baseball Team Is Target of Attack

A team of top college baseball players from the United States withdrew Sunday from a tournament in Nicaragua after a window on its bus was shattered and four players were slightly injured during a period of civil unrest.

Pitchers Steve Reich of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and John Kelly of the University of Connecticut were cut by flying glass but not seriously injured, team spokesman Mike Lantz said.

Pitcher Danny Graves of Miami and Louisiana State infielder Russ Johnson also suffered minor abrasions.

“There just was not enough security,” Team USA Coach John Anderson told WCCO Radio in Minneapolis. “The scary thing was it could have been worse because we were totally outnumbered.”

Crowds swarmed onto the field at a Managua stadium after Nicaragua beat Team USA, 6-1, Saturday night in the Pre-World Championship qualifying tournament, Anderson said.

Anderson said he perceived the crowd as “anti-American.”

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, but authorities said the window bashing by one man could have been a robbery and appeared unrelated to violent hostage-taking that has convulsed the country.

Lantz said the U.S. team had been signing autographs for a friendly crowd before the attack occurred as the bus was getting set to leave the stadium.

Soccer

Bolivia virtually clinched its first World Cup berth since 1950 while Brazil and Argentina won as South American qualifying started to take a familiar look.

Bolivia’s 7-0 victory over Venezuela set off celebrations throughout the country, with the streets of La Paz filled with fans waving flags and banners.

Bolivia has 10 points, four more than Brazil and six more than Ecuador and Uruguay. Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador have three games remaining. Uruguay has four.

Only the top two teams from South American Group B will qualify for the 24-team World Cup next year in the United States.

Hockey

Jim Campbell scored twice and assisted on one goal as the United States beat Lulea HF of Sweden, 6-4, in the final of the Tampere Cup hockey tournament at Tampere, Finland.

Goals by Jim Storm, Campbell and David Sacco put the U.S. team ahead, 3-1, in the first period, and the lead increased to 5-1 on goals by Peter Ferraro and Campbell. John Lilley’s breakaway goal at 12:40 of the third period ended the scoring for the Americans against last season’s runner-up in the Swedish elite league.

The U.S. team was the best among the eight competing in tournament, with a 5.25 goal average.

This was the fourth in a series of 56 games that candidates for the U.S. Olympic team will play before the Winter Games open in Lillehammer, Norway, in February.

Names in the News

Elizabeth Bourland of Wichita Falls, Tex., defeated Tammie DeAngelis of Kansas City, Mo., by one point in the women’s three-position rifle competition to win her second gold medal in the U.S. International Rifle & Pistol Championship at Chino. . . . William Stokkan, chairman and chief executive officer of IndyCar, the organization that operates the Indy Car PPG World Series, will step down at the end of the year.

Federico Paris and Roberto Chiappa of Italy outpaced Australians Danny Day and Stephen Pate to win the men’s tandem final at the World Cycling Championships at Hamar, Norway. . . . Manuel Carbajal, father of boxing champion Michael Carbajal, died after suffering an apparent heart attack at his home in Phoenix. He was 61. Michael Carbajal, the WBC and IBF light flyweight championship, is 29-0 with 17 knockouts. He is scheduled to defend his titles Oct. 30 against Domingo Sosa of the Dominican Republic in Phoenix.