Almost Perfect

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High sophomore Mason Binder began the season as a relief pitcher on the junior varstiy team, but after throwing a no-hitter in his first start on the mound he may not only have earned a spot in the rotation, but possibly a trip to San Diego with the varsity squad for the Lions Baseball Tournament in April.

Looking calm, cool and collected, Binder retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, striking out nine of them, walking none, allowing but one baserunner and needing only 55 pitches in a five-inning masterpiece. If not for a hit batter in the second inning, it would also have been a perfect game. Instead, Binder had to “settle” for a no-no.

“I normally come in to close but I found out that day I was going to start,” said Binder, who lives in Westwood and has been playing baseball since elementary School.  “My slider was my out pitch and it was working great.”

Binder reached a full count once, with two out in the second inning, and got a strikeout with a slider to end the frame. His teammates gave him plenty of run support en route to an 11-0 victory.

As comfortable as he appeared starting, Binder has been equally impressive out of the bullpen. In his first relief outing he had eight strikeouts in three shutout innings and the next time he induced three fly ball outs in one inning of work at Chatsworth. When not pitching,  he plays third base. He is also the team’s No. 4 hitter, belting three doubles in his first 12 at-bats. The JV season was canceled last year due to the pandemic, but Binder used the opportunity to expand his repertoire to include a changeup and to work on his pick-off move.

“My goal is to pitch on varsity next year,” added Binder, who has played club for GBG (Garciaparra Baseball Group) since 8th grade.

Pali High JV coach Eric Sterz decided the night before who he would start, but did not tell Binder until 30 minutes before the game.

“Mason is our Babe Ruth—he can hit, field, pitch and he’ll play anywhere,” Sterz said. “Saturday he was spotting his fastball and the breaking ball was so good they weren’t even swinging at it. And at the plate he got two hits and his average actually dropped to .500. I made sure to get him the game ball and he didn’t really want it.”

In the varsity game, Mason Edwards pitched a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 12-0 victory. He has not allowed a run in 17 innings.