La Quinta’s Laird Signs to Play Baseball at Arizona State

Gerald Laird, the La Quinta High catcher who was named The Times Orange County baseball player of the year last season, said he has committed to play at Arizona State, his coach, Dave Demerest, said.

Wednesday was the first day of the early-signing period for high school athletes in softball, baseball, basketball and several other sports.

Laird set a county single-season record for hits (56) last season. He batted .505 with 14 home runs and 46 runs batted in. He also filled in at shortstop and third base when needed and recorded four saves.

“Arizona State was the only school that really pursued me. This week the Oklahoma coach called and asked if I made the right decision. But after taking the trip to Arizona State and seeing the campus, it was too hard to say no.”

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Christy Robitaille, who pitched Woodbridge to the Southern Section finals each of her three years and won twice, made an oral commitment to attend Cal State Fullerton, said Coach Alan Dugard.

Robitaille, a two-time first-team Times all-county selection, won a season-high 24 games, going 24-2 with a 0.28 earned-run average last season, and struck out 172 in 189 innings.

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Lindsay Fossatti, twice a second-team all-county selection, said she has made an oral commitment to attend Fresno State. A pitcher/first baseman, Fossatti (.361, 31 RBIs) posted a 15-1 record and 0.73 ERA last year.

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Tyler Sporrer, an outfielder for El Dorado, has signed to play at San Diego, according to his father, Bob Sporrer.

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Leah Combs of Esperanza, a first-team all-county player, signed a letter of intent to play women’s basketball at Arizona State. Combs, a 6-2 center, averaged 16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds last year, shooting 50.7% from the field.

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Christy Ring, a shortstop for Calvary Chapel, has orally committed to attend Oklahoma, Coach Rose Imbriano said. Ring, one of the county’s leading hitters, was the 1997 Division V player of the year.

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Nicole Crouse of Kennedy signed a letter of intent to play softball at Purdue, said her coach, Sue Hall. Crouse had an 0.09 ERA last season and an 8-3 record.

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Susan Shuplock, an infielder for Brea Olinda, has orally committed to attend Penn State, Coach Sharon Caperton said. Shuplock (17 RBIs, 25 runs) batted .506.

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Samantha Kimura, a shortstop for El Dorado, said she has orally committed to attend Ohio State. Kimura was recruited as a catcher/infielder by the Buckeyes.

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Sam Nelson, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward at Estancia, expects to receive an appointment to the Air Force Academy to play basketball, Coach Rich Boyce said. Nelson averaged 17.5 points a game.

Times staff writers Martin Henderson, Paul McLeod and Mike Terry contributed to this report.