GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Perez Is Nearly Perfect as Santiago Takes Title

Santiago pitcher Louie Perez flirted with perfection for six innings Tuesday while helping his team win its first outright Garden Grove League championship in 22 years.

Perez, a 6-foot-2 sophomore right-hander, retired the first 16 batters he faced and allowed only one hit in Santiago’s 5-2 victory over La Quinta at Westminster. The victory clinched sole possession of first place for the Cavaliers for the first time since 1969.

The bid for a perfect game was lost when Perez walked Brett Osborn with one out in the sixth. La Quinta outfielder Walter Dawkins ended the no-hit bid with a two-run homer in the seventh.

“I knew I had a perfect game going after the third inning, but I didn’t care when I lost the no-hitter,” Perez said. “I just wanted to win.”

Santiago (19-6, 12-1 in league) scored four runs in the top of the seventh when center fielder Balfred Guzman hit a solo homer and third baseman Enele Scanlan added a three-run homer to give the Cavaliers a 5-0 lead.

After Dawkins’ sixth homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh, Perez walked the next batter, and Coach Myron Pines called on Scanlan to finish the game.

“I didn’t even care about coming out of the game,” Perez said. “I just wanted to win.”

La Quinta (19-7, 9-4) lost for the second time in its past three games and only came close to getting a hit once through five innings. Catcher Kenny Granger lined a long fly to left in the fifth that Scott McGarrh caught in front of the fence.

Afterward, La Quinta Coach Dave Demarest credited Pines with turning around Santiago’s program the past two seasons.

“They’ve always had good players, but Myron did a great job of organizing and disciplining them,” Demarest said. “They were co-champions with us last year. This year, there’s no doubt they’re the league champion.”

The title was a long time coming when one considers the last time Santiago won an outright league championship, the Cavaliers’ star player was Angel pitcher Bert Blyleven.

In other league games:

Los Amigos 4, Kennedy 1--Andy Fraser (3-0) allowed eight hits and an unearned run for visiting Los Amigos (8-12, 5-8). Joe Portillo had two doubles and an RBI and scored twice for Los Amigos. Kennedy is 13-12, 5-8.

Garden Grove 5, Rancho Alamitos 1--Joe Aguirre pitched a seven-hitter for visiting Garden Grove (12-8, 9-4). Rancho Alamitos is 7-12, 4-9.

Pacifica 12, Bolsa Grande 1--Eric Stevens went four for four with three RBIs and scored three runs for visiting Pacifica (12-13, 6-7). Jeff DePippo had two hits, one RBI and scored twice. Chris Edwards (2-1) pitched a five hitter with 10 strikeouts for Pacifica. Bolsa Grande is 4-18, 2-11.