The Palisades High baseball team has taken on some of the toughest teams in the Southland this spring’and with good reason. After all, the Dolphins have won 47 of their last 49 Western League games and facing top non-league competition is a great way to prepare for the City Section playoffs in May. Though PaliHi is just 2-6 outside of league play, the team has more than proven it can play alongside some of the City’s best. That much was on full display at home last Wednesday, when the Dolphins took on defending City champs El Camino Real and its star pitcher Jose Cardona, who has already committed to powerhouse Cal State Fullerton. Pali fell behind 4-0 after two innings and things were looking particularly dire with Cardona’s fastball hitting 91 mph. But the Dolphins refused to fold. After allowing those early runs, senior Dylan Jeffers settled down and combined with sophomore Harrison Simon for five shutout innings. Then in the fifth, the Dolphins got on the board with an RBI single by Jeffers. And in the seventh, Pali managed to wear down Cardona. Sophomore Julian Harrison led off with a single, junior Jason Barnett walked with one out, and junior Cary Jacobson singled to load the bases with two outs. Junior Harrison Wollman then walked to trim the gap to 4-2 and put the winning run on first. With the game seemingly slipping away, El Camino head coach Josh Lienhard pulled Cardona and brought in Ryan Fitzpatrick to face sophomore clean-up hitter Elliot Barzilli, who had homered six days earlier against Westchester. After a few minutes of warming up and the Dolphins’ supporters growing louder, Fitzpatrick finally delivered his first pitch. Barzilli liked what he saw and lofted a fly ball to left, but left fielder Chris Nicholson easily gloved it for the final out. Even in defeat, though, Pali’s comeback had proven something else: its own resolve and resilience. ’The thing I was most proud of was how we fought,’ Dolphins head coach Mike Voelkel said. ‘We could’ve folded; we’ve had doubts in situations like that before. But Dylan reestablished himself on the mound, changed the tempo and gave everyone behind him confidence. We battled and it turned out to be a real baseball game, against a quality opponent and quality pitcher.’ The experience gained against someone like Cardona, who is regarded by some as the best pitcher in City, was no small feat. In all, the 6-foot-2 senior did strike out six, but allowed six hits and a number of walks, with Pali only getting stronger against him in the later innings. ’I’m old-school. I don’t like moral victories. But I did like the way we battled,’ said Voelkel, who noted that Cardona was one of many non-league power pitchers the Dolphins have already faced this season. ‘We’ll only know at the end of the year if it served a purpose or not.’ For at least one game, though, it certainly seemed such experience could lead to bigger things down the road. That is, as long as the Dolphins can play precise baseball. ’We have the capabilities to play with anyone,’ Voelkel said. ‘But we can’t make mistakes. We don’t have the big bullets to cover for miscues. We have to do things exactly right in order to be successful. ’That’s what we’re working on, being a little tougher. We show signs, but we need to sustain it over a period of time.’ Last week, Pali also won at LACES, 14-1, buoyed by 10 runs in the first three innings. The Dolphins (6-7 overall, 4-0 in league) played Venice at home on Tuesday and traveled to Venice today (after the Palisadian-Post went to press). After playing at Carson in the Redondo Tournament on Saturday, Pali will next play in the Lions Tournament in San Diego, April 18-21.
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