Watching Kennedy warm up before Saturday morning’s Lincoln Classic game in Granada Hills, Palisades High softball pitcher Talia Hunter admitted she was unsure how her team would fare against the Golden Cougars.
“I wasn’t intimidated, but they looked really sharp, like they would murder us,” Hunter said. “I was trying to paint the corners with my fastball but at first my pitches weren’t working.
After Kennedy scored twice in its first at-bat, it looked like Palisades might indeed be overmatched.
Things all changed in the second inning, when Hunter smacked a bases-clearing triple down the third-base line to ignite a six-run rally and suddenly it was the home team on its heels.
“In my first at-bat I was too antsy, but the next time I got an inside pitch and turned on it,” Hunter said. “I thought the third baseman would get it.”
The Dolphins scored three more runs to take a 9-2 lead in the top of the fourth courtesy of a towering triple to the fence by Gretel Payne. A scary moment occurred in the fifth when Hunter, trying to complete the game, was struck in the mask by a line drive. She was uninjured, but Payne replaced Hunter in the circle and got the final two outs to preserve a 9-7 victory.
Hunter allowed six hits with two strikeouts in four and one-third innings. Hunter, Payne and Cienna Henry Milton each had two hits and Alyssa Wallin added three singles and two runs for the Dolphins.
“I was preparing to come in to pitch anyway just in case,” said Payne, who sat out last season recovering from knee surgery. “These tournament games are fun and we have to come even harder because these teams are better than the ones we play in league.”
Half an hour later, Palisades was back on the field to play Nordhoff and prevailed 3-1 to improve to 2-1 overall. Perhaps the biggest key to the victory was that the Dolphins committed only one error.
“In terms of hitting we’re a very contagious team,” said Pali High Coach Tori Dario, who scheduled more challenging opponents this year to toughen her team for league and the playoffs. “When multiple batters get hits it builds momentum and that’s what happened.”
Payne pitched four and one-third innings. She and Sasha Vanley had RBIs for the Dolphins, who scored all three runs in the fourth inning.
— Steve Galluzzo
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