Photo by Steve Galluzzo
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
In the 70-year history of the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association, this year’s Mustang 9U squad will be remembered as one of the best All-Star teams the local youth league has ever put on the field.
The summer came to an end Saturday, July 13, after a second defeat in the double-elimination PONY West Zone tournament, but that did not diminish a magical run that saw the Palisades-based team win 23 of 29 games and advance to the Zone playoffs—only the second PPBA team to ever do so.
Head coach Taylor Talt and assistants Matt Underwood and Joe Layton were proud to coach a roster consisting of 12 talented players: Will Feil, Carter Bergman, Tristan Kawasaki, Cabe Talt, Anthony Layton, Axl Moody, Bennett Underwood, Dylan Morrow, Jack Hetherington, Owen Tyler, Nate Underwood and Maddox Martin.
Palisades opened the eight-team Zone bracket in Walnut by beating Rodeo 12-3, but lost to Cypress 8-5 the next day. On Saturday afternoon, Palisades avoided elimination with a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over Hawaii.
A few hours later, the boys changed from their white uniforms to blue to face Tecolote Red of San Diego and battled to the final out of an 8-5 loss that ended their dream of being the first PPBA team to make the International World Series.
The only other PPBA All-Star team to reach the Zone playoffs was Coach David Hoffman’s Mustang 9U “Nachos” in 2022. That team won 28 of 37 games and finished 2-2 in the Zone playoffs, just like this year’s squad.
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