DOLE BIG WEST BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : La Quinta Hangs Tough, Beats Huntington Beach

Even for Dave Demarest, La Quinta’s seen-it-all baseball coach, this was a stressful day.

He wore a path to the mound in the Aztecs’ 1-0 victory over Huntington Beach Monday at Irvine Windrow Park. There were moments when it appeared his team had dangled one too many opportunities in front of the Oilers, right down to the final out.

But even with all the fuss and bother, the Aztecs advanced to play Los Alamitos today in the Dole Big West semifinals.

“Holy cow, was that something?” said Demarest, who has been the Aztecs’ coach for 21 seasons. “La Quinta’s always been known for pitching and defense.”

The Aztecs needed one to bail out the other.

Joe Garcia labored through 4 2/3 shutout innings. He walked six. Reliever Craig Jones, who pitched the final 2 1/3 for the save, didn’t fair much better.

Huntington Beach (8-8) had at least one runner on in every inning and Demarest made five trips to the mound.

“There have been seasons when I haven’t made five trips to the mound,” Demarest said.

But when things looked bleak, the Aztecs (16-2-1) made a play to tap dance around trouble.

Second baseman C.J. Livernois started two double plays, by being in the right spot at the right moment.

Center fielder Charlie Tuggle chased down two line drives to end innings, the last on one knee to end the game.

Third baseman Corey Fox fielded a high chopper and made a quick throw to first with a runner on third and two outs in the fifth.

Garcia even got himself out of a jam by picking off Jeff Lineberger in the fifth, after which he walked two more batters in the inning.

‘You can’t play defense better than we did,” Demarest said. “I’m, sure Huntington Beach probably thinks they should have had five runs.”

The Oilers could have.

Huntington Beach hurt itself during its best opportunity. Brad Lineberger and Chris Hanson led off the six with consecutive singles. But Robert Russell failed on two bunt attempts, then hit a grounder to Livernois to start a double play.

Jones struck out Mark Pistilli to end the inning.

It helped preserve a one-run lead, which took some doing in itself. The Aztecs worked two hit-and-runs to take the lead in the fourth. The second was a Jon Gibson sacrifice fly, which drove in Craig Kuzmic.

It was enough for Garcia and Jones, but barely.

Garcia (7-1) was hardly sharp, but got the victory. He was in trouble from the start: the Oilers had two on with one out in the first. But Livernois, who was near second base, trying to keep the lead runner close, was in perfect position to catch Jason Locklin’s ground ball and turn a double play.

In another quarterfinal games:

Los Alamitos 4, Irvine 2--Jason Ball, a junior right-hander, took a no-hitter into the seventh for Los Alamitos at Windrow Park. He gave up two runs and needed relief help from Mike Pleschel, who got the save.

The Griffins scored twice in the first and twice more in the third.

Marina 8, Woodbridge 4--Craig Wilson had three hits, three runs scored and one run batted in to lead Marina (13-2) in a championship qarterfinal game. Kenny LaPoint went two for three with a double and home run for Woodbridge. Marina plays Trabuco Hills in the other semifinal.

Trabuco Hills 4, Servite 1--The Mustangs scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth for the victory. Ryan Kelley pitched a one-hitter for Trabuco Hills (7-6-1).

In the consolation round:

Valencia 4, Modesto Grace Davis 3--Dan Lincavage’s two-out, two-run single drove in the winning run and Joe Secoda was two for three with one RBI for Valencia (6-5).

Ocean View 6, Moreno Valley Canyon Springs 5--Jason Hoffman was three for four with two RBIs and Cory Carr was two for four with one RBI for Ocean View (5-9).