Palisades Sharks Bat First at SCV Spring Tourney

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The Palisades Sharks, a local 13U baseball team, took first place out of five teams during last weekend’s Santa Clarita Valley Spring Invitational, finishing 4-0 at the two-day tournament.

In their opening game Saturday morning against the Palmdale Potrillos, the Sharks prevailed 8-6 thanks to the batting prowess of Hayden Prince (two-for-two with three RBIs) and Henry Koplan (two-for-two with two RBIs).

On Saturday afternoon, Watson had two doubles and two RBIs, Brandon Bendel smacked a double  and Captain Wagner had a sacrifice squeeze in a 10-1 triumph over the Lancaster Jethawks.

Sunday morning’s semifinal rematch against Lancaster proved to be the game of the tournament.  The Sharks trailed 5-4 going into the bottom of the sixth, but staged a rally. Bendel’s RBI single scored Watson to tie the game. With one out, Bendel advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a walkoff single by Jimmy Levy. Bendel started on the mound and pitched three innings. Luke Connon pitched the last three innings in relief as the two combined to allow four hits.       

In Sunday afternoon’s finale, Palisades clinched first place with a 7-4 victory over Los Potrillos.

Levy pitched a complete game with three strikeouts and was also a force at the plate, belting a double off the wall. Watson hit an RBI double, Joaquin Scholer had two RBIs and Beau Schinto added an RBI single in the third inning.

After falling behind 3-0 after an inning and a half, Palisades exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second. The Sharks outhit the Palmdale squad 7-1.

The Sharks’ roster is made up of Hayden Prince (pitcher, shortstop, center field); Quincy Watson (second base, shortstop, center field); Jimmy Levy (pitcher, first base, third base); Jack Michael (catcher, first base, third base); Brandon Bendel (shortstop, third base, pitcher); Joaquin Scholer (right field, first base); Henry Koplan (outfield); Beau Schinto (catcher, second base, outfield); Captain Wagner (catcher, pitcher, second base); Luke Connon (third base, shortstop, pitcher); Sammy Dunn (second base, shortstop, outfield); Max Meier (pitcher, first base); Davis Lee (second base, pitcher, outfield) and Teddy Goldwyn (third base, pitcher, outfield).

The Sharks 13Us, coached by Rick Zeitlin and Ollie Dunn, are 7-3 this winter. For more information about the Palisades Sharks program, email Rick Zeitlin at: labaseballcoach@hotmail.com.