Cuban Baseball Players Found in the Bahamas

Four baseball players and a coach who defected from Cuba on March 10 were plucked from their rickety craft by a fishing boat in good condition and turned over to the Bahamian Coast Guard, an agent said Saturday.

The 53-foot fishing boat, Justice, turned the players in to authorities on Ragged Island, said Joe Cubas, an agent who has helped several players flee Cuba.

The Cubans are former national team catcher Angel Lopez, 25; first baseman Jorge Luis Toca, 23; second baseman Jorge Diaz, 23; pitching coach Enrique Chinea, 41; and Michael Jova, a 17-year-old junior team shortstop.

Tennis

Andre Agassi will be joined in singles by Jim Courier on the U.S. Davis Cup team for its first-round match against Russia on April 3-5 at Stone Mountain, Ga. They will team with Todd Martin and Richey Reneberg, who will try to end a five-match U.S. losing streak in doubles.

Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic fell to Russian Anna Kournikova, 6-4, 6-2, in a match of 16-year-olds at the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla. Lucic will face Monica Seles, who ended a four-month layoff by edging Maria Antonio Sanchez Lorenzo, 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.

In men’s play, three-time Lipton champion Andre Agassi beat Nicolas Escude, 6-2, 6-3, and top-ranked Pete Sampras defeated Javier Sanchez, 6-1, 6-2.

Miscellany

A Ferrari driven by Didier Theys of Belgium, Mauro Baldi of Monaco and team owner Gianpiero Moretti of Italy won the 12 Hours at Sebring (Fla.).

Bobby Labonte’s Pontiac got past Jeff Burton’s Ford in lapped traffic with 14 laps remaining and went on to win the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 by 0.066 seconds, averaging 100.443 mph at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Police have uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists to mount a bombing campaign against the World Cup soccer tournament next summer in France, the Sunday Times of London reported.

Germany’s Graciano Rocchigiani (40-4-1) pounded American Michael Nunn (52-4) over 12 rounds to win the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight title in a split decision at Berlin.

Joe Williams won his third title and teammates Mark Ironside and Jeff McGinness their second each to lead Iowa to its fourth consecutive team title at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships at Cleveland.

Stanford easily won the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championship at Minneapolis. Defending champion USC finished fifth.

Australian pole vaulter Emma George broke her world record, improving her outdoor mark to 15 feet, three-quarters of an inch.

Pro Football

Alonzo Spellman has been released from the psychiatric unit of a Chicago hospital in which the Bears’ defensive end has been confined since exhibiting bizarre behavior earlier this month. . . . Randall Cunningham will return next season as a backup quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings after agreeing to a two-year, $2-million contract.

Winter Sports

Canada’s Ed Podivinsky covered a short course in 1 minute 8.87 seconds and beat AJ Kitt (1:09.13) to win the men’s downhill at the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships at Jackson Hole, Wyo. . . . Canadians Jeremy Wotherspoon and Catriona LeMay-Doan claimed overall World Cup speedskating titles in the men’s and women’s 500 meters in the World Cup finals at Milwaukee. . . . New Hampshire beat Brown, 4-1, at Boston to win the first NCAA women’s hockey championship.

Jurisprudence

A judge lifted an arrest warrant after Fresno State basketball player Rafer Alston showed up in court and his attorney reported that his required 40 hours of community service was completed.