Baseball Wins Sixth Straight

The last two weeks have been all about winning for the Palisades High varsity baseball team. Heading into the season Coach Mike Voelkel was unsure whether his team could dominate the Western League like it did last spring. Well, so far, so good. Ace pitcher Julian Achez blanked LACES, 10-0 behind three hits from Philip Joseph and two more from Julian Harrison. Next was a 16-0 shutout of the same team, with Nick Poulos striking out 14 in the complete-game victory. Achez beat rival Venice 5-2 four days later, thanks to two hits each by Sam Wasserman and Julian Harrison. The second game of the home-and-home series included a home run blast by Cary Jacobson that cleared the 30-foot screen in left field, 328 feet from home plate. Ryan Kim added two hits in the 10-1 victory. At the Redondo Tournament, Palisades routed Gardena 12-1 as Joseph had three hits while Jake Green and Achez each added two. Next came a 7-3 win over Burbank on two hits apiece from Brad Schaeffer and Jacobson. The Dolphins’ winning streak came to an end last Saturday against Corona Centennial, 12-4. Chris Kaufman had a double and Adam Levin nearly hit a three-run homer to tie the game at seven, but the wind knocked it down on the warning track. Palisades bounced right back on Monday, beating University 11-1 at George Robert Field. Julian Achez pitched a complete game, Jacobson has a double and a triple and Elliott Barzilli added two hits. Swimming Palisades won its annual showdown against Venice last Friday, but the Dolphins’ varsity girls were upset 88-81’a result Coach Brooke King hopes will motivate her team come City Finals. “We had a lot of things go wrong and other things that didn’t go our way,” King said. “In a way, I think they needed that. Venice is our rival, so I think losing to them is a good wake-up call. The girls aren’t used to losing. The rest of the Western League dual meet went Palisades’ way. The varsity boys won 93-77, the frosh/soph boys won 95-37 and the frosh/soph girls won 81-36