BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Gibson’s Hit Is Difference for La Quinta

Jon Gibson of La Quinta erased an afternoon of frustration for his coach with a game-winning hit in the seventh inning to give the top-seeded Aztecs a 2-1 victory over Norwalk in the Southern Section Division III baseball playoffs Tuesday at La Quinta.

Gibson singled to right on a full count with the bases loaded and two outs to break a 1-1 tie.

La Quinta (25-3-1) will play Irvine in the quarterfinals Friday at site to be determined. Norwalk finished 14-7.

C.J. Livernois started the seventh with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Mory Aldrup. Corey Fox and Craig Kuzmic then walked.

Brian Martin, who had three hits, lifted a shallow fly to right that was caught. Fox had started toward third on contact and was doubled off. Mark Ukleja walked to load the bases again. That brought up Gibson, who ended the game.

La Quinta had already loaded the bases in the first and failed to score, then had runners on second and third and no outs in the second but failed to score again, this time because of a running error.

“I told the kids that somewhere along the line you have to steal one,” La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest said. “Our base-running has been our Achilles’ tendon all season.”

The Aztecs scored in the fifth when Livernois doubled and scored on Martin’s two-out single. Norwalk tied it when Alex Villarino singled and scored on a two-out double by Louie Brown in the sixth.

Norwalk got the first two runners on in the seventh but pitcher Craig Jones used a hidden-ball trick to help escape the jam. He faked a pickoff to second, and the middle of the La Quinta infield acted as if the ball had gone into center field.

Louie Vegas, a pinch-runner, bought the bluff and started toward third where he was tagged out.

Jones, who pitched the final two innings in relief, improved to 12-0.

In other Division III games:

Irvine 4, Palmdale 0--Shaun Wooley had a two-run single in Irvine’s four-run third inning. Matt Ward pitched a four-hitter with seven strikeouts to record his 13th victory for Irvine (20-7).

Garden Grove 5, Corona 2--Kevin Loken and Adam Bass each had two RBIs to lead Garden Grove (15-9), which took a 5-0 lead after two innings for the victory. Loken pitched a complete game with two strikeouts.

Santa Margarita 15, Quartz Hill 3--Michael Penney had a home run, two doubles and five RBIs to lead Santa Margarita (20-7). Teammates Chris Markey and Craig Harrison each hit three-run home runs. The Eagles had 10 extra-base hits in the second-round game.

In Division V:

Calvary Chapel 7, Sierra Madre Maranatha 4--Justin Lintini had a two-run triple as part of a three-run seventh for visiting Calvary Chapel (17-9-1), which lost the divisional championship to Sierra Madre Maranatha last year.

In Division VI:

Liberty Christian 1, Sherman Oaks Buckley 0 (11)--Greg Rule’s single to right scored Ray Cook with the game’s only run to lead Liberty Christian (16-4). Cook, who went four for four with a sacrifice, pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the bottom of the 11th. He struck out the next two Buckley batters and gave up a ground out to end the game. Liberty Christian will play La Verne in the quarterfinals.