San Diego Roundup : Over-the-Line Event Begins Saturday at Fiesta Island

The 34th World Championship Over-the-Line tournament, sponsored by the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, begins Saturday at Fiesta Island on Mission Bay.

First-round games continue Sunday, and winners advance to the second rounds July 18. The finals in each age division will be July 19.

More than 970 men’s and women’s teams are expected to compete on 36 courts beginning at 7 a.m. each day.

The object of over-the-line is to hit a softball pitched by a teammate over a line 55 feet away without the other team catching it. After a team has two hits, each subsequent hit in the inning produces a run. If a ball is caught or lands in front of the line, it is an out. As in baseball and softball, three outs make up a half-inning. A game lasts five innings or until one team leads by 10 runs at the end of an inning.

Three players play at a time on a long, narrow, rectangular court. Women are allowed to wear gloves, but men must play bare-handed.

A free shuttle bus will run every 30 minutes from DeAnza Cove on Mission Bay to and from the island, beginning at 7 a.m. Vehicle access to the island will close each day at 10 a.m.

Scott Tinley of Encinitas, a former Ironman triathlon champion, is one of the 750 competitors expected to compete in the Carlsbad Triathlon Sunday morning. Participants will begin with a one-mile swim at Tamarack State Beach in Carlsbad. Men in the 34-and-under division begin at 7, and the other racers will start at 7:10.

The 16-mile cycling portion also will begin at Tamarack, and the 6.2-mile running portion will begin near the UNISYS Corp. at 5600 Avenida Encinas in Carlsbad. Because there will be a loop course for the run, the starting line also will serve as the finish line. Registration for the race is closed.

The Magic Johnson basketball camp for boys ages 7 to 17 will be held July 12-16 at UC San Diego. For more information, call UCSD Coach Tom Marshall at 534-6481.

Entries are being accepted for the Carlsbad Bodysurfing competition Aug. 8-9. To enter, call 434-2838.