Zero Is Dolphins’ Magic Number

The mantra of Palisades High’s varsity baseball team is simple this season: If the other team doesn’t score, it can’t win. Carried further, if the other team doesn’t win then there’s no chance of the Dolphins relinquishing their Western League title. Palisades blanked Hamilton 9-0 on Monday at George Robert Field’the Dolphins’ fourth straight shutout in league play. In fact, Palisades has won those games (against University, Fairfax twice and Hamilton) by a combined 40 to zero. Monday’s win gave Pali (13-10-1 overall, 9-0 in league) a four-game cushion in the standings with only six remaining. First-year Coach Mike Voelkel would like nothing better than for his team to duplicate what the Dolphins did last spring–finish a perfect 15-0 in league. “As a coach and as a player you want to try to win every single game,” Voelkel said. “If you lose a game, you should be bitter. So yes, 15-0 is our goal.” A week after striking out 10 in a five-hit, six-inning victory over Fairfax, left-hander Buck Traweek pitched another gem against the Yankees–allowing just two hits with four strikeouts while improving to 5-1. Catcher Garrett Champion went two for two with a double, a single and a sacrifice fly. “This game was fun to coach because our mistakes were few and far between today,” Voelkel said. “We got good swings and scored when we had opportunities. We had one situation where we didn’t double squeeze that I’m second guessing about but otherwise we played well.” On Saturday, Palisades failed to hold a 3-0 lead and lost to Garfield, 6-5, in a Redondo tournament game at East L.A. College. Despite the loss, Pali assistant coach and former Dolphins’ catcher Nick Amos said it was the best he’s seen the team hit all season: “We were playing on a field with no fences but if there had been I’ll bet we would’ve had five or six home runs. They’re outfielders were playing us deeper than anyone has and we still hit a few over them.” Palisades dropped to 3-4-1 in nonleague games against City opponents–a black mark on an otherwise stellar campaign. “We have to try to learn from adversity–that’s what these tournament games are for,” Voelkel said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.” When it comes to league, however, the Dolphins are already lapping the field.