Baseball Closes Strong

The Palisades High varsity baseball team wrapped up the regular season with a 10-0 five-inning rout of Hamilton on Monday that put the finishing touch to the Dolphins’ methodical march to their fifth consecutive Western League. Jon Moscot had a home run and four RBIs and had five strikeouts in four no-hit innings, Brett Whalen had two hits and Alex Meadow had two hits and two RBIs for the Dolphins (19-11-1 overall, 14-1 in league), who now wait to see where they are seeded for the City Section playoffs, which begin next Wednesday. A seeding meeting will be held Saturday morning at Santee High. The Dolphins head to the playoffs with momentum, having won seven of their last eight games and 11 of 13. As a league champion, Palisades will likely host its first-round game. Softball Coach Jose Alvarado was happy Palisades got an opportunity to take on top-seeded San Pedro in the second round of the City Championship playoffs last Thursday. However, he also knew the 16th-seeded Dolphins would need to play a perfect game to upset the defending champions. It didn’t happen. Palisades stayed close for two innings at Angels Gate Park, allowing just two runs, but the Pirates blew the game open with five runs in the third and three more in the fourth en route to a 13-0 victory that ended the Dolphins’ season at 12-6 San Pedro senior Taylor Petty, who became the winningest pitcher in section history earlier this season, pitched a two-hitter. Swimming Palisades High’s girls and boys teams competed in the City Section prelims yesterday at the Los Angeles Memorial Pool (results undetermined at press time). The defending champion girls are one of the favorites to win at next Wednesday’s championship meet. Track and Field Having dominated the Western League all season, Palisades competes in the City Section preliminaries today at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa. Look for results from today’s meet in next week’s issue. The City Track and Field Championships are next Thursday at 2 p.m., also at Birmingham High. Tennis Three days after losing to Taft in the City team finals Palisades players were back on the court Tuesday for the first round of the City Individual tournament. Third-seeded Matt Goodman and Jeremy Shore had a bye along with fourth-seeded Ren Nielsen and Kyung Choi while Pali teammates Spencer Lewin and Che Borja won their first doubles match, 6-0, 6-2, and Ali Yazdi and Eric Eckhert won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Brett Allchorn won, 6-1, 6-0 in singles and freshman brothers Oliver and Trinity Thornton each won their singles matches. Second round matches are today at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.