Dolphins Hitless in Semifinal Defeat

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Prior to the City Section Open Division semifinals on May 24, only once in the long career of Palisades Charter High School baseball coach Mike Voelkel had he witnessed his team get no-hit—and that was by future Major Leaguer Jason Schmidt, then a senior at Kelso High in Washington, who fanned 20 of 21 batters in the first game of a doubleheader versus Hoquiam in 1991.

The Dolphins entered last Wednesday afternoon’s contest at USC riding a 13-game winning streak. They were averaging nine runs per game and were favored to reach the finals at Dodger Stadium.

However, Birmingham pitcher Daniel Flores showed guts galore in working out of several jams to render Pali High hitless through seven innings of a 5-1 victory. He needed 107 pitches and struck out only five batters, but it was enough to lift his team into the championship game, and the Patriots would go on to defeat Carson 3-1 three days later for their fourth title in six seasons.     

“Give him credit—the kid’s a gamer,” Voelkel said of Flores, a senior righty who persevered, despite only one clean inning. “You could tell they came to win it and didn’t make mistakes that were costly. I thought we’d score three or four runs off their pitchers, but we got zero. We made three big mistakes that accounted for four runs. We didn’t have our normal edge today but hats off to them—they beat one of the best pitchers in the City.”

Pali High’s bus got stuck in heavy traffic because of an accident on Pacific Coast Highway and arrived at Dedeaux Field later than anticipated. Despite having to hasten their pre-game routine, the Dolphins were confident with ace left-hander (and USC commit) Mason Edwards on the mound.

He struck out four batters in the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third. With runners on the corners and two outs, Trevor Sostman singled to get the third-seeded Patriots (22-8) on the scoreboard. A passed ball allowed JB Dalumpines to score from third to make it 2-0.

Dalumpines found the right-center field gap for a two-run triple in the fourth that doubled the lead.

Edwards allowed seven hits and four runs with seven strikeouts in four innings. He threw 93 pitches.

John Iacono tossed two scoreless innings, Jimmy Levy got the first two outs in the seventh and Ryan Higgins ended the inning with a strikeout, but not before Andrew Valdez scored an insurance run on a bases-loaded walk.

“Birmingham played tough baseball,” Voelkel said. “They just wouldn’t let Mason get them out, but he showed his true grit today also.”

Jack Woods and Yonah Cohen drew back-to-back walks to begin the bottom of the fifth, then Wesley Wells reached on a bunt that was initially ruled a hit, but later correctly changed to a fielder’s choice. Pinch hitter Noah Andrews was hit by a pitch to force home Woods and pull the second-seeded Dolphins to within three runs with still no outs, but they crept no closer. Logan Bailey struck out, Amari Yolas fouled out and Zach Gresham grounded to third to end the threat.

Cohen drew a lead-off walk in the seventh, but Wells popped to the catcher, Luca Ruggerio struck out and Bailey grounded to the shortstop, who flipped to second to force out Cohen and end the game.

“We hit better and pitched better but against lesser quality teams than in years past,” added Voelkel, whose squad equaled the 26 wins it totaled on the way to advancing to the finals in 2019. “We figured out how to only lose three games, which is a great feat in itself, no matter the level of competition.”

Pali High qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional Division III playoffs and hosted Westlake in the first round Tuesday.