Heading into the final week of the regular season the Palisades High varsity softball team is right where Coach Manny Flores hoped it would be: in contention for the Western League title.
The Dolphins (10-5, 7-3) did their part to stay in the race with back-to-back blowouts of University and they got the help they needed from other teams to move into a tie for second place with Hamilton.
The Yankees close the season against frontrunning Venice and if they manage to win one of the two games and Palisades takes care of sixth-place Fairfax it could create a four-way tie atop the standings, but the Dolphins own the tiebreaker over Venice, Hamilton (splitting with both teams but scoring more total runs) and swept Westchester.
Photo: Craig Weston
“We need to take care of our own business and then see how it all plays out,” Flores said. “We’ll probably only get two teams from our league in the [Division I] playoffs, so we have to finish no worse than second.”
Stephanie Boorstin belted an inside-the-park grand slam and pitched one scoreless inning, Lily Lack went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Jaylene Navarro had two RBIs and scored three runs and Sarah Cortez had a double and two RBIs in Thursday’s 20-5 six-inning victory over University at Stadium by the Sea.
Two days earlier, Cortez had three hits and four RBIs, Navarro had four hits and three RBIs and Monika Swanson scored five runs as PaliHi racked up 23 hits in its 23-3 five-inning rout of the host Wildcats.
Baseball
Pitching has been the Dolphins’ key to success all year and it was again versus University.
Holt Maybank retired the last 18 batters he faced and had 11 strikeouts, Zach Liebenson got a game-tying hit in the fifth inning and Harrison McElroy scored the go-ahead run on an infield single in the sixth as PaliHi beat the host Wildcats 5-2 last Tuesday at Loyola Marymount University. Maybank, Liebenson and McElroy each had two hits.
On Thursday it was Cade Hulse’s turn and he fanned six batters in five innings before giving way to Jed Moscot, who pitched the final two innings of a 2-1 win that clinched first place in the Western League for the Dolphins. Hulse, McElroy and Alex McNair had hits.
Palisades (14-12, 9-1) wraps up the regular season today against last-place Fairfax at George Robert Field.
Boys Lacrosse
PaliHi lost to top-seeded Harvard-Westlake 15-2 in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs last Tuesday but will have a chance at redemption in the City playoffs, which open tonight.
A victory moves the Dolphins (11-8, 8-0) into Saturday’s championship game at 4 p.m. at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa.
Girls Lacrosse
The Dolphins routed visiting La Canada 14-1 in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs last Wednesday as Jackie Sanett scored four goals, Liesel Staubitz had three, Michael Ware, Emily Tomimatsu and Mariam Zafar-Khan each had two and Laura Sussman added one.
On Friday, Tomimatsu, Zafar-Khan and Bella Barber each scored in a 10-3 second-round loss to Chadwick in Palos Verdes. PaliHi plays for the City title Saturday at 2 p.m. at Birmingham High.
Track & Field
Menelik Dagnachew won the boys 1,600 in 4:28 and Marissa Williams cruised to victory in the girls 1,600 in 5:14 at the Western League prelims. The league finals are today at Fairfax High.
Wrestling
Six PaliHi wrestlers competed in a freestyle tournament Saturday in Santa Fe Springs and four took first place in their weight classes.
Erik Miranda won at 113 pounds, Sam Reedy won at 152, Brad Boorstin won at 182 and Kenny Jones won the Open Division. Matt Au got third at 120 and Kevin Rosen was third at 145.
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