GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Kennedy Starts Fast in Victory Over La Quinta

If you want to know why Kennedy High School’s baseball team usually plays a little better against Garden Grove League powerhouse La Quinta, all you have to do is look at the championship banners on the Aztecs’ center-field fence.

Kennedy recorded its fourth consecutive victory over La Quinta Friday, scoring four times in the first inning en route to a 4-1 victory.

Kennedy Coach Chris Pascal pointed to La Quinta’s banners, which list the 14 years the Aztecs have reached the Southern Section playoffs--including an unbroken string since 1977--and the school’s seven league championships.

“All you’ve got to do is look out there,” Pascal said. “Our kids get real excited to play La Quinta because they know they’re going up against one of the best baseball programs in Orange County. We always have close, exciting games, and that’s the way it should be.”

Kennedy (12-11, 7-3 in league) moved to within a game of first-place La Quinta (17-7, 8-2).

Kennedy’s first three batters in the first inning--Craig Roah, Rod Rosales and Scott Wood--singled off right-hander Walter Dawkins (5-3). Scott Jones cleared the bases with a double to right-center.

Jones scored when La Quinta shortstop Jason Cherms made the first of his four errors.

Kennedy right-hander Brian Faddoul (5-4) allowed only five singles and struck out eight. La Quinta had baserunners in every inning except the first, but Faddoul snuffed Aztec rallies with strikeouts in each of the last four innings.

La Quinta’s only run came in the second, when catcher Matt Logan singled and went to second on Faddoul’s throwing error. Logan moved to third on a grounder to short and scored when Don Hopkins hit a high chopper to third.

“I wasn’t trying to get fancy,” Faddoul said. “I knew I had to go right at them because we got up on them early.”

Faddoul has been inconsistent since March 23, when he pitched a perfect game against Bolsa Grande. But Faddoul, a 5-foot-10 junior, picked up a new pitch recently--a sharp-breaking slider--and he used it Friday to record several of his strikeouts.

“Faddoul didn’t have his dominating stuff, but he had enough to get by,” La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest said. “Good pitchers do that. They learn to survive.”

Garden Grove 5, Bolsa Grande 2--Garden Grove only had two hits but took advantage of nine walks and two errors at home. Joe Aguirre (3-5) pitched a three-hitter, struck out 12 and walked two for Garden Grove (8-11, 5-5).

Santiago 7, Rancho Alamitos 6--Santiago (13-7, 7-3) scored a run on two errors and a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh for the victory. Steve Garza reached on an error but was out when Cip Cruz hit into a fielder’s choice. Cruz took second on a passed ball and scored when Rancho Alamitos’ first baseman couldn’t handle a ground ball. There were 15 errors in the game, Santiago committing 10 of them.