BRISTOL, Conn. — Portsmouth’s Booma Post 6 American Legion baseball team opened the Northeast Regional tournament with a 7-3 win over Lyndenhurst, N.J., on Thursday.

Tim Welch earned the victory on the mound for Booma, allowing just five hits in eight innings. Welch gave up three earned runs and struck out seven.

There were others, too.

One that comes to mind is Brooklawn’s Brett Laxton, who pitched the New Jersey power to the 1991 World Series championship in Boyertown and to the final day of the 1992 World Series in Fargo, N.D. … after having already committed to LSU (where he would become the National Freshman of the Year and later help the Tigers to the College World Series title).

By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008 – President Bush today pledged the United States will support the former Soviet republic of Georgia in its time of need, as Russian troops still occupy parts of the country.

\”The United States and our allies stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government,\” Bush said at the White House.

\”Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory,\” Bush declared, noting the United States is working closely with its European allies and other members of the G-7 world economic organization to bring resolution to the crisis.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is now conferring with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi, the country’s capital city, Bush said. Rice is in Georgia to express \”America’s wholehearted support for Georgia’s democracy,\” Bush said.

Bush said Rice later will travel to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to update him on the situation in Georgia. Bush said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is keeping him briefed on the ongoing humanitarian mission in Georgia.

On Aug. 8, Russian forces crossed the border into the contested northern Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after Georgian military forces had clashed with separatists in South Ossetia the day before. Georgia was part of the former Soviet Union before declaring its independence in 1991. However, South Ossetia and Abkhazia often have expressed their displeasure at being under Georgian rule and have sought to ally themselves with Russia, to the north.