LBSU Softball Wins Two Behind Ace Pitching

Story by Mike Guardabascio


Behind a pair of strong performances in the circle, the Long Beach State softball team (6-7) bounced back from an 0-2 start at the University of San Diego Tournament to defeat the host Toreros, 1-0, and Boise State, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon.



Against The Toreros

In her first collegiate start, freshman Taylor Petty tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout against USD. Petty struck out a season-high eight batters as she improved to 2-0 on the season. Junior Ashley Weber led the 49er offense, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Classmate Kristen Pocock also doubled, while freshman Megan Denio scored the game-winning run for The Beach.

Long Beach State put runners on base in three of the first four innings but was unable to push a run across until the bottom of the fifth. Denio led off with a pinch-hit infield single and senior Brianna Goad followed with a walk. Senior Danielle Linke then flied out to center field, but it was deep enough to advance a speedy Denio to third base. Weber singled in the 49ers' next at bat to score Denio for what ended up being the game-winner.

Petty retired USD (1-6) in order in all but two innings, allowing just two Toreros to reach base with a hit and a walk.

Against Boise State

In the nightcap, Long Beach State avenged an earlier loss to Boise State as the 49ers topped the Broncos, 3-1. Sophomore Brooke Turner (4-3) threw the second one-hitter of the day, allowing one unearned run while striking out seven.

Senior Danielle Linke led a trio of 49ers who recorded multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Senior Jonae Perez was also 2-for-3 with a run scored and classmate Jennifer Griffin connected for two hits and an RBI. Long Beach State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Perez led off with a single before junior Ashley Levine was hit by a pitch. With one out, senior Brianna Goad moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, setting up a two-run single by Linke.

The Broncos (3-5) responded in the next half inning as Lexi Straton opened with a bunt single. Straton was able to make her way to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundball before she came around to score on an error by Griffin. The Beach added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when junior Ashley Weber started a two-out rally with a single up the middle. Griffin then drove in Weber with a double to left field.

Long Beach State closes out action at the USD Tournament tomorrow when it takes on Colorado State at noon.

Labour welfare adviser defects

The architect of Labour's controversial welfare reform programme is to join the Conservative party, it has been reported.

In a serious blow to the government's welfare credentials, David Freud has reportedly resigned in order to become a Tory frontbench spokesman.

He is expected to be given a peerage and named shadow welfare minister by David Cameron next week.

A source told the Guardian: "David and George [Osborne] have been talking to him a lot about the economy, but also obviously about welfare

Stashing your cash? Hide it in a safe place

BY SUSAN CARPENTER
Los Angeles Times Service
Mattresses are so obvious. If you really want to keep cash in the house, stash it in a child's toy or a cereal box or a curtain rod. Don't hide it anywhere you've seen in a movie. And don't put it in a sock. Those are some of the suggestions circulating among cash stashers online as increasing numbers of Americans grow ever more wary of the global financial system.

Never mind that in 2009, U.S. bank and credit union accounts of up to $250,000 are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

As Americans face a triple whammy of declines in the stock, housing and job markets, they're looking for financial security. And some of them are indulging their fears by stuffing bills that had been destined for savings accounts into repurposed peanut-butter jars and tampon boxes and fire-resistant safes.

For Georg Lindsay, 22, it's her Kia that's become a quasi bank -- specifically, the pull-out ashtray and the pocket of space beneath the driver's seat. She also has stashed cash in an old purse and a hand-me-down bamboo cup from her grandmother. Lindsay started hiding money four years ago when she found herself out of work for several months.

''I was like, OK. You better stash whatever money you come across,'' said Lindsay, from Oak Grove, Ala., who was recently discussing money-hiding strategies on the social networking site Gaia Online.

A teddy bear, a picture frame and a narcotics safe from an old hospital were among the suggestions from the cadre of teenagers and twentysomethings who participated in the discussion.

As the economy crumbles and fiscal safety nets disappear, cash stashing is crossing generational and psychological divides, the behavioral pattern expanding beyond what had long been the domain of seniors and paranoiacs.

The world's largest safe manufacturer, SentrySafe, has seen a 30 percent to 50 percent increase in sales since September 2008. Hollandia International, which incorporates Safe-T safes on its ''extreme luxury beds,'' has sold more than 400 of the $800 add-ons since they became available last summer.

Online retailer Keeping Women Safe has seen a 15 percent jump in sales of its ''diversion safes'' -- money hideaways that are disguised to look like everyday household products, such as carpet cleanser, deodorant sticks and cans of potato chips. Paint buckets and soda cans are the site's bestselling diversion safes, said owner Ted Kollins.

''I'm not sure why,'' he said. ``If I were a criminal or the IRS coming to look in a house, paint cans and jars are the first place I would look.''

Cash stasher Shawn Forno, 26, said he tries to choose locations that seem obvious to him but ridiculous to someone who might be looking for money.

''If it tickles your fancy and yours alone, it is a great hiding place,'' he said. ``If you ever need a map or a string tied around your finger to remember it, try harder.''

Forno's first stash for cash was a tin can buried under something few would want to touch: a heaping pile of dirty laundry. That was two years ago, when Forno was working as a bartender and couch surfing with roommates. Since then, he has used a disco ball, an old VHS case and the lining of some never-to-be-worn-again raver pants.

Just be sure to remember where you hid the money. In October, a woman nearly lost $10,000 when she accidentally returned a box of crackers -- with an envelope stuffed full of $100 bills.

Financial researcher Jack Marrion understands the impulse to stash cash.

'It's the old, `If the bank fails and I can't get my money' logic,'' said Marrion, who finds the idea unwise.

The loss of money inside a home is not covered by homeowner's insurance, and banks and credit unions covered by the FDIC have never lost a penny of covered funds, said Marrion, who is also the president of SafeMoneyPlaces.com.

''The odds are much, much, much higher of having the money stolen than having the money lost,'' Marrion said. ``There are no FDIC failures, but there are burglaries.''