Dolphins Winless in San Diego

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Palisades Charter High School baseball coach Mike Voelkel was hoping the confidence his team gained from its 8-4 victory over league rival Venice on March 22 would carry over to last week’s annual trip to San Diego for the Lions Tournament.

Instead, the Dolphins struggled to generate offense and got outscored 31-9 in their four games down south, losing them all to drop below .500 on the season. It was the first time Palisades failed to win a game at the tournament since going 0-4 in 2013. Last spring, the Dolphins won three of four to make the semifinals of the Classic Division.

“Right now we don’t have consistent quality at-bats throughout our lineup, which ends rallies, and the inability to score runs and put pressure on the opposing pitcher is costing us,” said Voelkel, who took over Palisades’ program in 2007 and since then has guided the team to a 20-42 record at the Winter Break tournament. “If you put pressure on the pitcher, he gets tired, the defense gets tired, it breaks their will, they start making mistakes and everyone gets excited to hit.”

In their first game last Monday, March 25, at Poway High, the Dolphins lost to Union of Oregon, 9-2. Alex Loos and Yonah Cohen each had one hit and one RBI, Noah Andrews had two singles, and Logan Bailey and Reece Frankel each added a hit.

The next day, Palisades was held to three hits in a 6-1 loss to host La Jolla Country Day. On the hill, John Iacono allowed five hits with five strikeouts in four innings, and at the plate Jack Kurland had a double, and Bailey and Roman Hawk each singled.

The Dolphins wrapped up pool play last Wednesday, March 27, at Mission Hills in San Marcos, and the Grizzlies scored eight runs in the first inning on their way to winning 11-4. Bailey and Jordan Harris each had two hits, Frankel and Hawk each smacked RBI doubles, and Max Miller pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Jaxson Jenkins and Ryan McVicker each had two doubles for Mission Hills.

Palisades closed the tournament Thursday, March 28, with a 5-2 defeat to Nogales. Bailey had two hits but the Dolphins were victims of an immaculate inning (three strikeouts on nine pitches).

“The results were not good, but we face the best teams we’ll play all year down there—teams above our level—and that’s why we go every year,” Voelkel added.

The Dolphins (6-8 overall, 3-1 in league) return to Western League action this week versus Hamilton, hosting the first game on Wednesday, April 3, and traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Yankees on Friday, April 5.

Palisades is seeking its sixth straight league title and sixth straight City Open Division playoff berth.