Baseball Bounces Back in League

Pitching and Clutch Hitting Lead the Dolphins Past Venice and Fairfax

After a disappointing 6-4 loss to Venice in their Western League opener, players on the Palisades High varsity baseball team made a vow not to let their frustration carry over to the next game.
Indeed, the Dolphins looked like a different team – and a much better one – in last Wednesday’s home opener against Taft and escaped with a 3-2 victory thanks to the hustle of junior second baseman Tyler Yeh.

Behind by a run in the seventh inning, the Toreadors put runners on second and third with one out. Justin Thomas stepped to the plate looking to give Taft the lead, butt  fouled off a pitch down the right field line. Running at full speed, Yeh dove to make an over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory, got to his knees and fired a bullet to the plate where catcher Joseph Fasano tagged out Toreadors runner Kyle Weiner to complete the double play.
“We practice that situation a lot actually,” Yeh said. “I saw [first baseman Henry Coquillard wasn’t going to get there so I just went all-out for it. I figured the guy at third might go and he did.”
Harrison Hart got the save  after Coquillard’s sacrifice fly tied it and Leo Bucksbaum’s single  scored Jed Moscot to give the Dolphins a 3-2 lead in the sixth.

After relieving starter Roben Sieling, Will Bucksbaum pitched out of a jam in the sixth to keep Palisades within a run after Taft had taken a 2-1 lead on a two-out single by Max Mehlbaum in the fifth.
Hart singled with the bases loaded to get the Dolphins on the board in the third inning.
On Thursday, Moscot took the hill to try to avenge Palisades’ loss to Venice and the Dolphins’ senior pitched a gem, allowing just four hits with seven strikeouts  in a 3-0 victory.
The Dolphins capitalized on two dropped balls in the outfield to score three runs in the first inning and that was all the offense Moscot would need. The shutout upped his season totals to 28 innings pitched with 32 strikeouts and only two earned runs allowed.

“Jed’s been nothing short of awesome,” Pali High Coach Mike Voelkel said. “He’s proven he can go late into games with his best stuff.”
Palisades lost its league opener at Westchester last season before reeling off 11 straight wins to finish in first place. The Dolphins hope to duplicate that feat this spring. On Monday they beat Fairfax 15-0 in five innings.
The Dolphins swung the bats early and with great effect against Fairfax.

Cameron Schiffer led the way, going three-for-three with three RBIs. Hart hit two doubles, Aidan Wirshing had two hits and two RBIs and Charlie Carr threw a one-hitter with seven strikeouts.
“It felt good to  get through the fifth inning,” Carr said. “I kept pounding the fastball because they weren’t hitting it. Whenever you pitch you want to finish the game. If you get in trouble you  want to get out of trouble. In games like this it’s important to make sure you’re doing the little things like hustling back to bases and sprinting all the way to first.”
On Saturday, the Dolphins hosted Camarillo in Redondo Tournament play and lost 2-0 on back-to-back first-inning home runs by Camarillo’s Frankie Tostado and Nico Lima.
Leo Bucksbaum pitched the first five innings and Will Bucksbaum pitched the final two against the Scorpions. The Dolphins were held to six hits.
Palisades travels south next week to play in the Premier Division of the San Diego Lions Tournament. On Monday, the Dolphins open against Chula Vista Eastlake. On Tuesday they face Ramona and on Wednesday they take on Lakeside El Capitan.