Pali High Baseball Makes Semifinals at Lions Tournament
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Spring break arrived at the right time for the Palisades High baseball team, which made its annual trip south for the San Diego Lions Tournament last week and finished 2-2 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
The 68th edition of the prestigious prep tournament added an Open Division and expanded from 136 to 144 teams spread across 10 divisions on 75 fields throughout San Diego County. Palisades played in the Classic Division, the second highest, after competing in the Premier Division (second tier) the previous four years. The team bonding and tough opposition the tournament provides have served the Dolphins well in the past and this year was no exception.
“I like the division they put us in,” said Pali High Coach Mike Voelkel, who has entered his team in the tournament every year since he took over the program in 2008. “It’s very competitive and we have to play together in order to be successful. We’ve been in the top division three times and probably above our talent level but you have to engage and have the courage to play teams that are better. It’s good in terms of preparation and details that go in to a baseball game. Sometimes we’ll look at MaxPreps about our opponents and decide before a pitch is even thrown how much we’re going to buy in but I hope tournaments like this help us to develop routines that will keep us at a high level and not yo-yo in our effort against certain teams.”
Palisades has played in San Diego for 12 consecutive seasons, the first in 2007 under previous coach Tom Seyler. The Dolphins are 15-32 overall there and 14-29 in 11 seasons under Voelkel.
The team got off to a promising start last Monday as Will Coquillard pitched six and one-third innings with eight strikeouts in a 12-4 rout of Carlsbad. Jacob Kalt had two hits and three RBIs, Josh Barzilai had a double and three RBIs and Benji Taylor, Lucas Braun and Kent Johnson each added two singles and one RBI.
The next day, the Dolphins were dealt a 10-2 defeat by Montgomery. Barzilai hit a sacrifice fly to score a run, Taylor had an RBI single and Johnson, Coquillard and Cord Vanley each singled. Miles Kirshner pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Palisades took first place in its pool and advanced to the semifinals with a 7-2 win against Las Vegas Desert Oasis highlighted by two doubles by Lucas Braun, an RBI single and sacrifice fly by Taylor and Barzilai’s four strikeouts in five innings pitched.
In the playoff round Thursday at Westview High, Palisades was mercied by Francis Parker 12-2 in six innings. Taylor, Kalt and Barzilai all doubled.
“On paper Desert Oasis was the best team we faced but on the field Parker was,” Voelkel said. “They swung the bats really well.”
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