Palisadians Powering College Baseball Teams

By STEVE GALLUZZO
Sports Editor

The college baseball season ended Sunday when LSU beat Coastal Carolina to win the World Series in Omaha, but several players with Palisades connections enjoyed  stellar seasons for their respective teams. Perhaps no one had a greater  impact on his school’s success than  former PPBA All-Star and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High standout Jack Gurevitch.

A junior infielder at the University of San Diego, Gurevitch led the Toreros in batting average  (.371), OPS (1.158), runs (56), hits (85), homers (17), total bases (156), runs batted in (56), slugging percentage (.681), walks (35)  and was second in RBIs (56). In the field he had a .984 percentage with 325 put-outs and 39 asssists as the Toreros posted an overall  record of 28-30 and a 19-5 mark in the West Coast Conference. He went four-for-four at the plate with a run scored and one RBI on February 25 against Arizona and went four-for-six with three runs  and four RBIs and a homer against Gonzaga on May 23.

As a sophomore he started all 56 games, hit .324 with nine home runs, 11 doubles and 110 bases and made the All-WCC Second Team. He made the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2023 and made  only two errors in 229 chances for a .992 fielding percentage.    

As a senior at Notre Dame he batted .357 with 41 hits and earned CIF All-State First Team honors and was named Mission League MVP after leading the Knights to a 25-9-1 record and a CIF finals appearance.

Meanhile, Truman Pauley put together an excellent season on the mound at Harvard University, earning All-Ivy League Honorable Mention and a spot on the Ivy League All-Tournament sqiad. The sophomore right-hander ranked third in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings (5.37) and 33rd in strikeouts per nine innings (11.64). He led the Ivy League in both strikeouts (91) and opponents average (.171), while ranking third in innings pitched (70.1), fourth in games started (12), fifth in wins (four), and ninth in earned run average (4.61). He made 15 appearances and four starts as a freshman in 2024.

Pauley was a PPBA All-Star and a first team All-League choice in 2022 and 2023 at Windward School, where he made the Dean’s List and won the Athletics Scholar of the Year Award as a senior . He played club for Legacy Baseball and SoCal Renegades.

One of Pauley’s teammates at Windward was Anton Shelton, who just wrapped up his junior year at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he played catcher and had 13 hits, 14 runs, 10 RBIs and four doubles in 71 at-bats for the Yeomen. He had 15 runs, 22 hits and five doubles his sophomore year.    

Also starting behind the dish was Hamilton College (Clinton,  NY) junior Lucas Herman, who  helped the Continentals go 14-17 overall. The Viewpoint School alum finished the 2025 campaign with 12 runs, 21 hits, six doubles and 19 RBIs in 31 games played. He appeared in 14 games in 2024 when he hit his only college home run as a sophomore and had 17 hits with 13 RBIs and eight runs scored as a sophomore.

Palisades High alum Mason Edwards is beginning to feel right at home at USC. The sophomore left-hander made 12 appearances with five starts for the Trojans,  striking out 46 batters in 32.2 innings pitched and accumulated a 3.86 earned run average. He made 20 appearances (four starts) in his first year at USC with a 52 to 19 strikeout to walk ratio.     

At Palisades, Edwards was an intimidating figure on the mound, playing two seasons on varsity and earning All-City honors twice.

He was a two-time Western League Pitcher of the Year and as a senior in 2023 he posted a 1.15 earned run average with 103 strikeouts in 55 innings while leading the Dolphins to the City Open Division semifinals, where they lost to Birmingham at USC’s Dedeaux Field. Palisades went 26-4 and Edwards finished with an 8-1 record. As a junior in 2022, Edwards went 6-4 with a 1.20  earned run average and 102 strikeouts in 64 innings.

Another ex-Dolphin pitcher,  righty John Iacono, struck out 27

batters in 24.2 innings for Biola University in La Mirada. He was 4-4 with 91 strikeouts his senior year at Palisades.

Former Pali High catcher Nate Sterling had 36 hits, 14 runs, nine doubles and 19 RBIs in 107 at-bats for LA Valley College and lefty relief pitcher Ryan Higgins, also a former Dolphin, posted a 5-0 record with four saves and 47 strikeouts for the Monarchs. Sterling had 30 hits and 25 RBIs as a senior at Pali High in 2023. Higgins was 8-1 and had 85 strikeouts and a 0.92 earned run average.