College Baseball Poll - Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Wednesday (March 25, 2003)

LA QUINTA NO. 1 IN EASTON SPORTS COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER (www.baseballnews.com) POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — La Quinta High School (Westminster, Calif.) is ranked No. 1 in the first regular-season Easton Sports National High School poll.

Off to an 8-0 start, the Aztecs have already captured the prestigious North Orange County Tournament.

In fact, La Quinta, under Head Coach Dave Demarest, has posted a 29-1 record over the last six years of this tournament and captured five titles. The team is currently hitting .411 with 15 homers, 21 doubles and 3 triples. The pitching staff has a superb 2.60 ERA.

The early portion of La Quinta’s schedule has been grueling with wins against highly regarded teams such as Mater Dei, Mission Viejo and Valencia.

"We have done very well, but we have been faced with the loss of All-American RHP/OF Ian Kennedy who fractured his kneecap in a collision during a game," said Demarest.

"We have been without him now for three games. He could get the go-ahead to begin practicing again April 7. But more likely, we hope he is ready to play during the CIF playoffs. We don’t want to rush him. Before the injury, he struck out 23 batters in 13 innings and only walked one.

"On a positive note, our other Ian (Ian Stewart) has hit 6 homers with 6 doubles and is hitting .531 (17-for-32) with 26 RBI. Brandon Laird has hit 4 homers with 12 RBI. Cole Garner is hitting .600 (18-for-30 with 3 homers, 3 doubles, 1 triple and 13 RBI). All of our hitters, 1-9, have really hit the ball in the early portion of our season.