Pali Blue Heaven

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Incredible! Unbelievable! Unreal! Awesome! Those were just some of the adjectives being used to describe the performance of Pali Blue pitcher Lars Refnes after last Wednesday night’s Westside Interlock Pony Division championship game at the Field of Dreams.   

Pali Blue entered as the underdog against Pali Black, but Refnes had opposing batters feeling black and blue all over, fanning 16 of them and allowing only three hits in seven innings in Blue’s 4-0 shutout win.

Combined with his 13-strikeout effort in a 10-0 five-inning semifinal victory over Pali Red in which he did not allow a hit, Refnes’ total of 29 strikeouts in 12 postseason innings will be rememebered as one of the most impressive pitching performances in league history.

After the last out Wednesday, Blue players poured from the dugout to hug their pitcher and rejoiced in knowing they will get to ride a float in the Fourth of July Parade.       

“I’ve always been a pitcher since T-ball,” said the 14-year-old Refnes, an 8th-grader at Paul Revere Middle School who will take his rocket arm to Palisades High next fall. “I was kind of hyped for this game. It was all about taking care of business.”

Becker Ludwig had three hits, including an RBI single to scor Wyatt Wolsefer in the top of the first inning, Wolsefer had two singles and Griffin Cosman hit a two-run double down the right field line to  bring home crucial insurance runs in the seventh. May Eyerly doubled and Chasen Long also had a hit for Blue (13-5), which also got a run on a bases-loaded walk.

Also contributing to the cause were outfielders Nick Stepanian, Matthew Ennis, Judah Roberts, Jack Gilligan and Liam Kamdar along with shortstop Wyatt Foster. Piloting the victors were head coach Eric Foster and assistants Todd Refnes and Kambiz Kamdar.

It was fitting that the four playoff teams in the Westside Pony League (consisting of teams from Cheviot Hills, Palisades and Santa Monica were all from the PPBA. Pali Black entered the final with a gaudy 15-1-1 record after beating Pali Green in the semifinals three days earlier.

Making up Pali Black’s talented roster were Max Conchuratt, Sean Gihooly, Sebastian DeRosa, Thomas Geraty, Chase Harding, Tate Jennison, Finn Konner, Zealand Law, Noah Le Chang, Colton Nassour, Wes Neumann, Wyatt Schinto and Walter Sibson and Laith Thierry.