ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASEBALL : Garden Grove League : This Time, La Quinta Makes It Look Easy, 21-1

If hitting is contagious, then Dave Demarest, the La Quinta High School baseball coach, has an epidemic on his hands.

The Aztecs had 24 hits in Wednesday’s 21-1 Garden Grove League victory at Bolsa Grande. La Quinta scored nine runs in the second inning and four more in the sixth.

The 24 hits tied a school record, set earlier this season against Los Amigos.

Second baseman Tim Park and right fielder Jerry Arneson each had four hits. Park’s day included two triples and a double, four runs scored and two RBIs; Arneson scored three runs and drove in three.

First baseman James Marquez and shortstop Mark Dion had three hits and four RBIs, catcher Guillermo Alcantar had three hits and two RBIs, and left fielder Jeff Wood added three hits. La Quinta is 8-0 in league, 16-2 overall. Bolsa Grande (5-3, 10-6) is in second place.

“I’m sorry it had to go like this,” Demarest said. “Vern (Nelson, Bolsa Grande coach) and I have been around this league a long time, and I feel bad in a way. We’ve been through the wars together.”

In the first game between these teams March 25, La Quinta needed nine innings to defeat Bolsa Grande, 1-0.

Wednesday, the Aztecs scored once off Tony Beall in the first inning and then jumped on reliever Jerry Maldonado in the second.

Maldonado was forced into action when Beall, who singled in the first, jammed two fingers while diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt. Beall warmed up for the second inning but couldn’t grip the ball well enough to continue.

Maldonado, a sophomore, gave up nine runs on seven hits in the second, three runs on four hits in the fifth and four runs on five hits in the sixth.

La Quinta right-hander Mike Wilson (10-1) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.

Garden Grove 5, Rancho Alamitos 3--The Argonauts (2-6, 8-11) scored three runs in the top of the seventh and held on as the Vaqueros scored three runs in the bottom half. Garden Grove’s John Weber had three hits and drove in two runs. Isidro Maldonado (2 for 4) scored two runs and drove in one. Bruce Smalley’s two-run double highlighted the bottom of the seventh for Rancho Alamitos (4-3-1 in league).

Santiago 7, Los Amigos 4--Ricardo Gallardo singled in two runs in a four-run second inning for the Cavaliers at Santiago. Santiago’s Carlos Leon, who was 2 for 3, drove in three runs. Santiago is 3-5 in league; Los Amigos is 1-6-1.