Poulos Fans 13 in Rout of Comets

Junior Nick Poulos overcame a shaky start to pitch a one-hit complete game with 13 strikeouts in leading Palisades High’s varsity baseball team to a 12-1 trouncing of host Westchester last Thursday. Poulos’ performance on the mound was just what Head Coach Mike Voelkel wanted to see. “This is the best he’s pitched,” Voelkel said. “He has the ability to dominate opponents and this game him the confidence to know he can finish games.” After the Dolphins stranded runners at second and third in the top of the first inning, Poulos walked the first batter, who promptly stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout. Poulos then allowed two more walks before striking out the last two batters to prevent further damage. The Comets’ only hit was a double to center field in the third inning. Palisades, meanwhile, racked up 15 hits, scoring four runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-1 lead. Julian Achez led off with a single and Chase Holmes was safe on a bunt. Dylan Jeffers drew a walk to load the bases for freshman Julian Harrison, who singled to score two runs. Cary Jacobson walked and Josh Korn hit a ground rule double that plated two more runs. Jacobson smacked a line drive past the diving third baseman and down the left field line to put Palisades ahead to stay in the third inning after Jeffers and Harrison reached on errors. Poulos struck out two Comets in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh. The Dolphins put the game out of reach with five runs in the seventh. First, Phillip Joseph scored on Adam Levin’s infield single. Then, with the bases full of Dolphins, catcher Cary Jacobson hit a bases-clearing double, then scored on a wild pitch. “Obviously, this is the best we’ve hit too,” Voelkel said. “Our leadoff and No. 2 hitters really set the table and we put the ball in play when we needed to today and that’s a big key for us. We’ve played one of the two or three toughest schedules in the City, so maybe that’s starting to pay off.” The defending champion Dolphins improved to 2-0 in the Western League, having nipped Westchester 4-3 at George Robert Field three days earlier. The Comets returned their three best pitchers from a team that won the City Section Division II championship last year and were expected to challenge for the league title this spring. “It’s a long season and anything can happen,” Voelkel warned. “We’ve been challenged and that’s good. Nick [Poulos] pitched the San Pedro game [a loss] so this was a good way to bounce back.” On Saturday, Palisades fell 5-2 at crosstown rival Santa Monica in a Redondo Tournament game. On Monday, the Dolphins (4-6) got edged 7-6 by Valhalla in the first round of the San Diego Lyons Tournament. sports@palipost.com