It is said that defending a championship is harder than winning it. The Palisades High baseball team found that out on Monday, falling behind 5-2 and 6-3 before rallying for a 8-6 victory in its Western League opener Monday at George Robert Field. After taking it on the chin at the San Diego Lions tournament, where they lost four games over spring break, the Dolphins showed resiliency in a back-and-forth struggle against their beach rivals. Despite struggling with his control early, Palisades ace Jonathan Moscot turned in a gutsy complete-game effort and catcher Garrett Champion hit the decisive home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning as the Dolphins improved to 5-6-1 under new coach Mike Voelkel. “It was a 3-1 count so I was just looking for one pitch and he gave it to me,” said Champion, who’s mighty clout cleared the left field fence and gave Palisades a 7-6 lead. David Skolnik’s triple to right field added an insurance run and that was all Moscot needed to close the deal. Moscot froze pitching counterpart Zack Mandell on a called third strike to end the game. “Jonathan was one hitter away from coming out two or three times but to his credit he hung in there and pitched out of it,” Voelkel admitted. “This was an exciting game. Miracles only happen with guts and courage and I have a feeling a lot of league games will be this way.” Jared Sklar’s RBI double tied the game, 1-1, in the first inning. Skolnik doubled to lead off the bottom of the third and Sklar’s sacrifice fly pulled Pali to within 5-3. After the Gondos (3-12) tacked on a run in the top of the fourth, the Dolphins rallied for three runs in their half. Both pitchers struck out the side in the fifth inning, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. “Venice did a good job of situational hitting,” Voelkel said. “They executed some hit-and-runs but I was pleased that defense-wise we made them earn their runs.” Pali and Venice went right back at it on Wednesday (result undetermined at press time) and Palisades travels to Westchester Monday. Softball Jose Alvarado’s squad dropped its first game on its new field when it lost to Venice on Monday, evening the Dolphins Western league mark at 1-1. A pitching duel developed early on between Palisades’ Emily Noel and the Gondos’ Danielle Mestas, who struck out Adria Bonillas with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning to preserve the Gondos’ 2-0 lead. Tennis Palisades remains undefeated in the Western League. The Dolphins lost a nonleague match to Beverly Hills Monday in the final round of the Bay Area Classic and played Brentwood in another intersectional match on Wednesday (result unavailable at press time).
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