PALISADES HIGH SPORTS ROUNDUP
Before the season started, Andrew Strassner was fighting for a spot on the varsity roster. Two and four victories later, he has become one of the most dependable pitchers in the Dolphins’ rotation. ‘I started off the spring playing short stop and I was just going all out to fight for a position on the team,’ said Strassner, a senior who played junior varsity last year. ‘I started putting on size over the summer and I’ve been working out ever since.’ Strassner’s hard work has payed off on the mound and in the clubhouse. ‘I knew our pitching would be good, but I did not think it would be as good as it’s been so far,’ Pali co-coach Tom Seyler said. ‘I knew Geoff [Schwartz] would prove himself as the best in our league. David [Bromberg] and Turhan [Folse] have been great and out of nowhere is Andrew… he’s been phenomenal.’ Heading into Tuesday’s game against Westchester, Strassner had the most wins’four’of all the PaliHi starters. He has allowed the fewest walks of any pitcher on the Dolphins’ staff and his four and two-thirds innings against Venice last week kept Pali in the game until the offense got on track. ‘I’d say the curve ball is my best pitch because I can hit my spots with it,’ Strassner said. ‘After that, I’d say my fast ball.’ So far, Strassner has had the benefit of pitching behind Schwartz, meaning he has already seen opposing batters by the time he faces them’not on the mound, but from the dugout. ‘I’ll make mental notes of who their strong hitters are and what they tend to do. It’s like being able to use Cliffs notes on a test.’ Strassner has done his homework thus far this season, one of the reasons the Dolphins are off to their fast league start. A portent of things to come was his two-hit shutout against Brentwood early in the season, when he faced 23 batters in seven innings’only two over the minimum. At the plate, short stop Dylan Cohen has flourished since joining the lineup, batting a team-high .476. Right behind are designated hitter Alex Thompson, third baseman Manny Perez and right fielder Kevin Seto (all at .429) and second baseman Matt Skolnik at .405. Pali’s other head coach, Kelly Loftus, said hard work and chemistry have been the keys to the team’s success thus far: ‘When you practice hard you get good results and these guys come out and work hard for three hours every day. This team has a lot of harmony. These guys like each other and want each other to succeed.’ Swimming In their final Marine League dual meet of the season, the Dolphins came away with three out of four victories against Venice. Pali’s frosh/soph boys and girls teams and the boys varsity team all won, but the varsity girls suffered their first defeat. Still, Cara Davidoff continued to dominate her events, clocking 1:00.64 to beat defending City champion Nicole O’Keefe in the 100 Butterfly. Freshman Patrice Dodd won both the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke and sophomore Ted Tomlinson won the 500 Freestyle in a personal-best 5:41. Pali coach Maggie Nance moved four swimmers up top varsity from the frosh/soph squad for yesterday’s league championships’Ashley Baele, Alex Ehrgott, Jody Herman and Julie Wynn. Track & Field Several runners gave notable performances at last Saturday’s Rotary Meet at Birmingham High. Freshman Angela Perry Spahn was fourth in her division of the two-mile in 12:34’a personal record by 42 seconds. Riza Lim won her heat in the 800 meters in a personal-best 2:34, Unique Shanklin ran the event in 2:39 and Elaine Roepke finished in 2:42.9. Tamara Adams ran season-bests in the 100 hurdles (18.4) and 300 hurdles (53.8). For the boys, Jeff Fujimoto ran 18:03 in the 110 high hurdles and Eric Milne ran the two-mile in a personal-best 12:10. In Friday’s dual meet against University, Pali’s frosh/soph girls won 77-27, the frosh/soph boys won 59-45, the varsity girls won 68-50 and the varsity boys lost 80-30. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok remained undefeated in dual meets this season in the 800 meters, winning in 2:42. Boys Volleyball For two games, it looked like Palisades’ hope of sharing the Western League title might be realized. But in the end host University was again too much, defeating the Dolphins 21-25, 20-25, 25-11, 25-16, 15-12 to clinch the league championship. Nash Petrovic had 11 kills for Palisades (8-4, 6-3), which traveled to Venice for its league finale Monday. Boys Tennis Palisades completed a season of domination in the Western League with a 7-0 victory at Venice. Even without No. 1 player Chris Ko in the lineup, the Dolphins won easily over the second-place Gondos. Ben Tom won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Sepehr Safii won by the same score at No. 4 singles. Taylor Robinson and Stephen Surjue won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles for Pali. The Dolphins won all 70 matches and all 140 total sets they played in league this season and virtually assured themselves a top three seed in the City playoffs.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
