When Palisades High short stop Dylan Cohen was intentionally walked with two outs in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Western League baseball game against Venice, Adam Franks stepped to the plate with one objective: make the Gondos pay. The Dolphins’ catcher did just that, lining a two-strike pitch to right field to score Alex Thompson from second base with the only run in a battle for first place at George Robert Field. ‘I can understand why they walked Dylan’he’s our best hitter,’ Franks said. ‘But it is a little personal, yeah. By doing that, they were basically saying they didn’t think I could come through with a man in scoring position. Even though I was behind in the count, my approach was the same’stay aggressive and look for a fastball I could drive.’ The 1-0 victory kept Palisades (10-3 overall, 5-0 in league) undefeated in league play and dropped defending champion Venice (3-2 in league) into second place. The teams meet again today at Venice. ‘That’s the way it’s meant to be,’ Pali co-coach Kelly Loftus said. ‘This was just a great game between two good teams. When both teams combine for only eight hits, you know there’s some good pitching going on. This was a true test of character for our team and we passed.’ Pali’s ace right-hander Geoff Schwartz pitched a three-hitter and retired the Gondos in order in each of the last two innings to earn his third win of the season. ‘We owed them from last year,’ Schwartz said. ‘We had to come out and prove we are the better team and we did.’ Thompson’s pinch-hit single with one out started the Dolphins’ last-inning rally. After a groundout, he stole second and, with a base open, Venice walked Cohen to set up Franks’ winning hit. Thompson slid past the catcher’s tag at home plate then was mobbed by his teammates in the dugout.
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