Laird Says Hitting .600 Is Secondary to Section Title

Last year was supposed to be the season La Quinta catcher Gerald Laird would always remember. After all, he batted .505, hit 14 home runs, drove in 46 runs and was named The Times Orange County player of the year.

But Laird’s senior season has been even more remarkable. As he prepares to lead the Aztecs, ranked No. 1 in the county and the Garden Grove League champions, into the Southern Section Division IV playoffs, Laird could become the first county player to finish a season with a .600 batting average.

“The idea of hitting .600 or more is absurd,” said Ron LeFebvre, who has operated baseball and softball schools in Southern California for more than 30 years. “Normally that [kind of average] comes in a noncompetitive league. But his league is competitive. That makes what he’s doing that much greater.”

Laird is batting .649. Only a hitless stretch of eight at-bats would drop him below .600. La Quinta’s first-round game against Big Bear Lake Big Bear is Friday, and the Aztecs, if they were to advance to the finals, would have five playoff games.

A long hitless stretch seems unlikely considering the consistency Laird, 18, has shown this season. Only twice in 27 games has Laird gone hitless, against Santa Fe Springs St. Paul and Industry Workman early in the season.

Aztec Coach Dave Demarest said he has run out of superlatives to describe Laird. “I’m not going to say he’s the best ever in the county, although he’s close. But he’s definitely the best player I’ve ever coached at La Quinta.”

A consummate team player, Laird said the batting mark is secondary to his team’s goals.

“I don’t play for records. My first concern was winning the league, and next is trying to win a [section] championship before I leave,” said Laird, who has signed with Arizona State but might be a first-round pick in major league baseball’s June draft.

“To have been in a groove like this all year is like a dream,” he said. “I’d had a good junior year, but I didn’t plan to go out and beat it. Signing early with Arizona State took a lot of pressure off, and I’m part of a great team.

“There are nine other guys you have to stop, not just me. Bobby Crosby and Jason Garcia have been getting big hits all year, so I didn’t have to worry about my performance.”

Nevertheless, Laird hasn’t seen too many good pitches. Opposing pitchers respect his power.

Laird has six home runs, leads the county in hits with 61, has driven in 38 runs and has stolen 38 bases--and he’s the Aztecs’ catcher.

What has made Laird so good at the plate?

“He reminds me of [Seattle’s] Alex Rodriguez--everything is smooth and fluid,” said John Hockenberry, a first-year assistant coach at Golden West College who worked with Laird while at La Quinta as an assistant coach last year. “I don’t think he has ever struggled at this level. Last year, he showed he could hit with power. This year, he’s showing he can hit the ball where it’s pitched.

“He such a natural hitter, all we’ve done is refine him. He gets in trouble when he puts too much weight on the front foot. When he stays balanced, he has no problems at all.”

LeFebvre, who operates baseball and softball training centers in Irvine and San Juan Capistrano, said Laird’s success comes from a combination of quick hands, superior coordination and good fundamentals.

“He is more a ‘hands hitter’ than a ‘body hitter’ ” LeFebvre said after watching Laird hit two singles and a home run in La Quinta’s 16-0 victory against Santiago last Thursday to wrap up the league title.

“He’s got very quick hands and can wait longer on a pitch than other players,” said LeFebvre, who has instructed major leaguers Nomar Garciaparra, Marc Newfield and Ryan Klesko.

“He has been well-instructed on what his hitting zone is and he doesn’t deviate from it. He covers the plate but doesn’t chase bad balls, even though he’s not getting good pitches to hit.”

Laird’s success does not surprise Aztec teammates Jason Garcia or Adriel Gomez, who played with him and against him in Little League. They both said Laird showed a knack for hitting, even back then.

“I think it was in 1988,” Gomez said. “Both Jason and I pitched. We combined for about 200 strikeouts, and none of them were against Laird. He would always find a way to get on base. He’d foul off pitch after pitch until you made a mistake, and then he’d hit it.”

Garcia said Laird “was always a competitor. He always wanted to go up against the best. I never saw him intimidated.”

Mike Mayne, former Orange Coast College baseball coach, said Laird’s athletic ability and his love for the game are major factors in his big season.

“This year he’s not seeing pitches that allow him to hit the ball out of ballpark,” Mayne said. “But he is taking a lot of outside breaking balls and going to right field. A lot of kids could not accept that and would keep trying to pull the ball.

“If I were an opposing coach, I’d rather see him hit a single to right than hit a homer. But considering being under the microscope that he is, it shows his maturity by handling things that way.”

A combination of not getting good pitches and his intense desire to help La Quinta win its first section title since 1995 might prove to be Laird’s downfall, though LeFebvre doubts it.

“You’ll know how good he is when he gets to the playoffs, LeFebvre said. “He’ll have to live up to that average, and opponents will take no chances with him.”