Anaheim Lions Tournament : Giuliano Leads La Quinta Past Powerful Dana Hills

After watching his La Quinta High School team defeat Dana Hills, 6-4, in an opening-round game of the Anaheim Lions tournament Saturday, Coach Kevin Demarest may have found himself a third starter to go with the combination of Mike Wilson and James Marquez.

Left-hander Corey Giuliano (1-0) limited the Dolphins to only four runs and seven hits before giving way in the fifth inning to Wilson, who sealed the victory at Glover Stadium in Anaheim.

The victory improves the record of last year’s Garden Grove League champions to 8-4. The los drops Dana Hills to 7-4. The Aztecs advance to the second round where they will play Fullerton Monday at 7 p.m. at Glover.

“Corey battled all game,” Demarest said. “My plan all game long was to go to Wilson if the game was close in the late innings.”

Marquez threw a five-hitter Friday to beat Bolsa Grande, and Wilson fired a no-hitter on Wednesday against Kennedy.

Dana Hills, which leads the county in home runs with 19, had a four-run inning but failed to hit a homer. Two errors by third basemen John Park led to two of the Dolphin runs.

La Quinta scored three times in the first off Ryan Henderson, who got just one out before giving way to Ricky Whipple. The Aztecs roughed up Whipple (2-2) in the fifth inning and didn’t spare reliever Darren Daffenbaugh, who gave up a single to Jason Cherms that scored pinch-runner Jeff Hackney with the go-ahead run, 5-4. Daffenbaugh walked Gerry Arneson with the bases loaded to score Mike Wilson for the final score.

“We are in a little bit of a slump,” Dana Hills Coach Bob Canary said. “Our pitchers aren’t throwing strikes and our fielding hasn’t been very good so far. We are hoping to change things soon.”

Westminster 8, Garden Grove 6--David Rodriguez went 2 for 3, scored 2 runs, had 3 RBIs and stole a base to lead Westminster (7-4) over Garden Grove at Brookhurst Park. Brian Stubbs, who improved his record to 4-0, struck out 10, walked 2 and gave up an earned run in six innings. Stubbs went to left field to start the seventh, but returned to the mound to pick up the save, getting Ben Mendoza out of a jam by getting the final out.

Cerritos 8, Canyon 3--Cobi Cradle hit a three-run home run in the first inning to lead Cerritos at Glover Stadium. Canyon is 6-4. Cerritos will play Savanna at 4 p.m. at Glover.

Rim of the World 4, Troy 3--Mac Duckworth singled in the winning run with the bases loaded in the seventh to lead Rim of the World (6-3) at Brookhurst Park. Scott Miller (0-1) gave up four hits in 2 innings for the loss.

Kennedy 10, Riordan (San Francisco) 1--Mike Dowd (3-1) gave up three hits in five innings for Kennedy at Brookhurst Park. Steve Rath went 2 for 2 with 3 runs scored; Greg Hansell went 2 for 2 with 3 RBIs; Peter Montera went 2 for 2 with a run scored; Scott Morris went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and Paul Roark went 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs for Kennedy.