YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Seoul American’s baseball and girls softball teams’ motto could very easily read: "Champions of today and built to last."

On Saturday, each team seized the regular-season championship in their respective DODDS-Korea leagues, sweeping their games against Osan and Daegu American at the Lombardo Field FourPlex on Yongsan’s South Post.

"We’re fortunate. We’re a young team, and the girls did a really good job of stepping up and playing well," coach Julian Harden said after his Falcons beat Osan 13-0 in four innings and Daegu 16-1 in three.

Seoul American improved to 8-0, six games ahead of Osan (2-6) and Daegu (2-6) with just two weekends left in the season.

His squad of 15 players includes nine freshmen, and Harden admits that after losing so many seniors from last year, a third straight DODDS-Korea title wasn’t expected. "I didn’t see this coming," he said.

Only one senior, Jina Kim, departs after this season; the freshmen group, including Ashton Wiggins and Hannah Swafford, will be back next year and beyond.

"We have a good nucleus, some good leadership," Harden said. "These girls are hungry. They have a thirst for knowledge and the ways of the game. We’re pleased with how they’ve played."

Harden’s fifth title in six years will also be his last; he intends to step down as Seoul American’s football, wrestling and softball coach.

"I’m looking forward to sitting in the stands and cheering," he said.

Likewise, the Falcons baseball team is armed, literally, with what coach Bob Heckerl calls a seven-man pitching staff, which has paced Seoul American to a 7-1 mark, four games ahead of Daegu (3-5) with two weekends left. The Falcons won their first title since 2005 by virtue of an insurmountable head-to-head advantage over Osan and Daegu.

Freshman Casey Donovan and sophomore Colton Heckerl pitched the Falcons past Daegu 15-0 in five innings and Osan 12-0 in five, but the elder Heckerl says he has three others, including sophomores Jake Kail and Greg Morris, who "are interchangeable on any given day."

And all except Kail will be at Seoul American until they graduate. Coupled with solid hitting, Heckerl said it’s possible the Falcons can be a power for years to come.

"The one place where we haven’t been tested is our defense, because of our pitching," Heckerl said. "The ball’s being put in play maybe only four or five times a game."

That could present a problem for the Falcons, who travel to Camp Zama, Japan, for the Kanto Plain Invitational Tournament May 15-16.

"When we get to Japan, it’s going to be quite different. Our defense can’t fall into a sense of complacency based on what we’ve experienced in Korea. It will be a whole different ballgame," Heckerl said.

Perry boys coming aliveMISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — They’ve lived all season in the shadow of a girls team that holds a school-best 16-6-1 record. But just in the last couple of weeks, Matthew C. Perry’s boys have displayed signs of life.

Andre Bugawan scored three goals and Sean Barker two as the Samurai swept a DODDS-Japan weekend series at Robert D. Edgren 3-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday. Perry (8-15-3) has won three of its past four.

"Nice little streak," coach Mark Lange said. "We’ve been steady all season, we kept it going and going and I knew at some point it would turn around."

Lange made a lineup adjustment, going with a fifth midfielder to stop opposing runs at the net before they start. "That’s made a difference," Lange said. "We were getting eaten up at midfielder. The extra mid is paying off."

Perry’s girls also swept Edgren 3-1 and 2-0, with Karla Stroud notching her 36th and 37th goals.

Zama American (17-3-3) continued its school-best season by sweeping Edgren 6-0 and 5-0. Aubrey Ashliman scored three goals in each match and tied Stroud for the Pacific girls goal-scoring lead.

Zama’s boys (11-5-2) rebounded from a shutout loss to Christian Academy In Japan with a 4-0 and 4-2 sweep at Edgren behind Spenser Clark’s three goals and two assists.

On Okinawa, it appeared as if Kubasaki’s girls (12-1-1) would have to settle for a scoreless tie with Naha West. But Maya Lowe snapped the deadlock with four minutes left with her fourth goal of the season, then assisted on Elizabeth Fabila’s 21st goal for a 2-0 victory.

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