The stakes are high every time Palisades High takes on archrival Venice, but Thursday afternoon’s softball showdown at Stadium by the Sea carried extra importance: first place in the Western League.
The Gondoliers entered the contest having outscored their first three league opponents 56-0 while Palisades was coming off a solid 4-2 victory at Hamilton.
It didn’t take the visitors long to get on the scoreboard as Samantha Soto blasted a three-run homer over the center field fence off Paulette Ely in the top of the first inning.
Jaylene Navarro and Talia Hunter hit RBI singles to pull the Dolphins within 3-2 in the bottom half.
In the second, Navarro singled to tie the game and Talia Hunter followed with a bloop hit to give Palisades a 4-3 lead.
Venice (8-6 overall, 4-0 in league) answered with four runs in the top of the third to go back in front 7-4, but a single by Calia Hunter scored two runs to cut the Dolphins’ deficit to 7-6 after three innings.
It looked as though momentum might swing back and forth, but the Dolphins (3-6, 2-1) kept making mistakes and Venice kept capitalizing. The Gondoliers tacked on three runs in the fourth inning and a bases-clearing double by Kira Wessels in the sixth made it an eight-run margin. Venice went on to win 17-6.
Former Pali High coach Manny Flores, who stepped down after leading the Dolphins to the league title last spring, showed up to watch the game and thinks this season may be a repeat of last year when the league race went right to the wire.
“It’s looking that way and it could come down to the last game,” Flores predicted.
Ely was lifted for Talia Hunter after being hit by a ground ball with two outs in the fourth. Ely moved to second base but returned to the circle for the last two innings. Venice out-hit Palisades 15-12 but perhaps the most telling stat was the Dolphins’ seven errors.
“I’ll play wherever they put me, I just want to be in the game,” said Ely, who was struck in the forearm against Hamilton as well. “Mentally we need to wrap our heads around this and realize it’s just one game. Going on [spring] break gives us time to reflect and practice our fielding.”
Navarro went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Talia Hunter went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Daisy Jones went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Calia Hunter added one hit and two runs.
“They had a couple of hitters we knew were good but our defense didn’t make plays,” Pali High Coach Tori Dario said. “We have to move forward. We have to stay focused on league.”
— Steve Galluzzo
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