Moscot’s One-Hitter Propels Pali High Baseball by Sylmar

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades High baseball coach Mike Voelkel abides by one simple rule in the playoffs: never look past your next opponent.

Faced with the decision of who to pitch Saturday afternoon in his team’s City Section Division I wild card game, Voelkel chose to go with his ace Jed Moscot and afterwards he was glad he did.

The UC Davis-bound senior right-hander threw a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and that was just enough for the Dolphins to sneak past Sylmar 2-0 at George Robert Field and advance to a first round matchup against second-seeded Chatsworth.

The Dolphins, who were seeded 15th after finishing second to Hamilton in the Western League, got all they could handle against the 18th-seeded Spartans, who were seeking revenge for last season’s 5-4 loss in the first round.

Moscot hit the leadoff hitter in the first inning and the next batter bunted to get on base. Two pitches into the game, the Spartans had a runner in scoring position with no outs. However, after a force out and a strikeout, the Dolphins escaped the jam by tagging out a runner in a pickle at third.

A pitcher’s duel ensued and neither side threatened again until the top of the fourth when Andrew Ochoa led off with a double to right field for the Spartans’ only hit. However, a strikeout and two flyouts left him stranded at second base. Palisades put two runners on in the bottom of the fourth but couldn’t score.

“There was never any doubt pitching Jed and it was a typical great performance from him,” Voelkel said. “We know Sylmar is a strong team and the way this game went is no big surprise. We’ve done it this way all year. We didn’t get many chances today but what I liked is that we got good swings when we had runners in scoring position and it’s nice to see that they were rewarded.”

Cameron Schiffer led off the bottom of the fifth with a bloop single, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Brendan Ward’s sacrifice bunt. With one out, Roben Sieling singled to score pinch runner Chris Hooks and the Dolphins took a 1-0 lead.

Moscot retired the Spartans in order in the top of the sixth, then helped his own cause in the bottom of the frame with a two-out single that scored Harrison Hart with the all-important insurance run.

“It felt great to get a hit in my last at-bat at Pali,” said Moscot, who was voted Pitcher of the Year in the Western League and recorded a stellar 0.97 earned run average in 57.2 innings pitched.

Moscot walked the first batter in the seventh but got the next three on a fly ball, a strikeout and a ground ball. Schiffer had two of the Dolphins’ seven hits.

Palisades’ reward was a shot at redemption against the Chancellors, who deprived the Dolphins a trip to Dodger Stadium last season with a 3-2 victory in the semifinals at USC – a game that ended on a controversial call.

“Chatsworth is one of the best teams in the City every year and they’ve earned that respect,” Voelkel said. “We understand the challenge we face, but it’s great to have an opportunity like this.”

Palisades loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning and chased starter Danny Hernandez. Reliever Josh Garcia induced a double play but the Dolphins scored a run and added another with two outs to take a 2-0 lead.

Chatsworth answered with five runs in the bottom of the frame and tacked on one run in the fourth and another in the fifth to win 7-2.

Palisades finished 16-14.