Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney will miss the start of the upcoming season after successful surgery yesterday in Charlotte, N.C., to correct a chronic condition in his left foot.

The recovery time for such surgery is between three and five months.

The 6-foot-4, 219-pound Whitney, 25, scored 12 goals and added 28 assists in 76 regular-season games in 2007-08 and added one goal and five assists in 20 playoff games as the Penguins reached the Stanley Cup final before losing to Detroit.

"Ryan has been bothered by the condition in his foot for some time," said Penguins general manager Ray Shero. "He consulted with a number of physicians in an effort to correct the problem without surgery, but it was ultimately determined that surgery was the best path to take -- for his general well-being and for his career.

"The doctors tell us he will be able to play pain-free when he returns to the lineup this season."

Trailing by a run and without a hit, the boys from Hagerstown, Md., galloped to one unlikely victory. Maryland manager Bill Abeles Jr. remained in disbelief minutes after his team was no-hit by Jeffersonville, Ind., starter Drew Ellis and still won, 3-2, in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa. Maryland scored in the first off a walk and an error, and got two runs in the fifth off a hit batsman, a walk and four wild pitches.

Ellis struck out 11. His father, manager Derek Ellis, said his team would bounce back. "It's baseball, it's not life or death," he said. "So we lost one, big deal."

In other action yesterday, Kennon Fontenot dominated on the mound with 15 strikeouts and added a triple and single at the plate as Lake Charles, La., beat Mill Creek, Wash., 5-1. Fontenot started the game with eight consecutive strikeouts. Meanwhile Matamoros, Mexico, defeated Willemstad, Curacao, 6-2; Yona, Guam scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to beat Emilia, Italy, 7-6; and Shelton, Conn. defeated Rapid City, S.D., 9-4.

Washington scored three runs in the sixth inning last night to defeat the Midwest Sliders, 4-2, at Falconi Field and move closer to a spot in the Frontier League playoffs. Jacob Dempsey drive in two runs in the inning for the Wild Things.

Pat Cash and Jim Courier won round-robin matches to advance to the Hall of Fame Champions Cup final In Newport, Conn. Playing on the historic grass courts at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, Cash beat John McEnroe, 6-7 (0), 6-2, 10-7 (Champions tiebreaker) and Courier edged Wayne Ferreira, 7-6 (0), 6-3.

• Nathalie Dechy reached her first final in four years with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 upset of fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in a semifinal of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Mason, Ohio. Dechy, who won the past two U.S. Open women's doubles titles, will play in a final today for the first time since losing the championship match at the 2004 New Haven tournament.

Elena Delle Donne, Connecticut's top recruit of this year's class, has decided not to enroll at the university, women's coach Geno Auriemma said. The 6-foot-5 forward, also courted by Tennessee before committing to Connecticut, "has decided not to play college basketball," Auriemma said in a brief statement. Delle Donne, 18, was chosen as the nation's top female player this spring, winning the Naismith National High School Player of the Year award based on her career at Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Del. She averaged 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Police say a promising New York City boxer is dead after being shot during a fight in the Bronx. Ronney Vargas, 20, was gunned down about 3:30 a.m. Saturday after the dispute with a group of men who fled the scene in a white car. The three-time Golden Gloves champion was pronounced dead at the hospital.