Mitchell Tames Lions in League Win

If it wasn’t for her bright smile, Krystal Mitchell might appear intimidating to opposing batters. With every strikeout, she flashes a grin at catcher Jennifer Wong. With every out, she adds a spring to her step. And, more often when not, the Dolphins are the only team laughing when the game is over. Mitchell, a sophomore right-hander, has had fun sharing pitching duties with Rachel Abraham on the Palisades High varsity softball team this season, mostly at the other team’s expense. That was the case Monday afternoon, when Mitchell recorded eight strikeouts in an 8-5 victory over Fairfax at Stadium by the Sea. Mitchell shut down the Lions 9-4 when the teams met in the first round of Western League play. ‘I like switching off with Rachel because it gives us each a chance to do what we do,’ said Mitchell, who improved to 5-3 this season. ‘We were taught by different people so our pitching styles are a little different. It doesn’t bother me to pitch the whole game’I don’t get tired.’ At 9-7 overall and 4-2 in league, the Dolphins have already won more games than they did in the previous two seasons combined. Their only league losses have come at the hands of City championship contenders Westchester and Venice. ‘I think we have a good chance at making the playoffs this year,’ Mitchell said. First-year coach Calvin Parker agreed: ‘I’m pleased with where we’re at. We’ve beaten the teams we should beat’Fairfax, Hamilton and University. If we keep that up we’ll be 8-4 and finish third in our league.’ Stephanie Torres got the Dolphins off to a fast start with a line-drive down the left field line for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first inning that gave Pali a 3-0 lead. Fairfax answered with two runs on errors and a third on a single to tie the game in the top of the second, but Pali took the lead for good in its half of the frame when Dominique Neal was forced home on a bases-loaded walk. The Dolphins added three runs in the third inning to build an 8-3 lead. Mitchell struck out the first two batters in the seventh inning and senior Katie Webber caught a hard line drive at first base to end the game. Boys Volleyball Perhaps the 50 minutes it took to sweep visiting Hamilton 25-14, 25-2, 25-20 Monday afternoon were just what the Dolphins needed to regain momentum in the Western League race. If the match did little to prepare Pali for yesterday’s showdown with first-place University, it at least allowed head coach Dave Smith to experiment with his lineup and give some of his bench players an opportunity to play most of the match. Setter Rusty Barneson had 16 assists and ended the match with a rare kill. Usually, he is the player setting his teammates up for spikes. ‘That was fun,’ he admitted. ‘But our focus now is on Uni. We can’t get blocked as much as we did the first time and we have to serve really well.’ Palisades (8-3 overall, 6-2 in league) lost on its home floor in four games to the Wildcats the first time around and is looking for revenge and a chance to share the league title. That would require victories over Uni and second-place Venice, which also beat the Dolphins in their prior meeting. Pali travels to Venice next Monday for its league finale. ‘I’m confident we can beat Venice,’ said PaliHi senior outside hitter Jason Cutler, who had a team-high five digs Monday against the winless Yankees. ‘Our strength is our middles. When our middles are on, we get one blocker on the outside and we do well.’ Sophomore hitters Jonathan Peters (two blocks) and Joey Sarafian (six kills and seven aces) led the Dolphins’ attack against Hamilton and made up for the absence of 6-6 senior middle blocker Nash Petrovic, who tweaked a knee during last Saturday’s Sylmar tournament and sat out Monday’s match. Palisades finished third out of 25 teams at the Sylmar tournament, losing to eventual-champion Canyon Country Canyon, then beating Reseda, Sylmar and Newhall Hart in pool play. The Dolphins lost to archrival Venice 25-22 in the semifinals, then ousted Los Angeles Marshall in the third-place match. Despite having lost to the Gondoliers twice, Smith is confident the outcome will be different the next time. ‘That match could be for second place so it’s one we have to win,’ Smith said. ‘I thought we played poorly the last time, so if we correct a few mistakes we made we can pull it off.’ Boys Tennis Palisades continued its romp through the Western League with 7-0 victories against University last Friday and Hamilton on Monday to remain unbeaten and untested in nine league contests. Against the host Wildcats, Ben Tom won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Ariel Oleynik won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, Sepehr Safii won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 and Daniel Burge won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4 singles for the Dolphins. Taylor Robinson teamed with Darya Bakhtiar to win 6-1, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles, Josh Kim paired with Stephen Surjue to win 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 and Daniel Lee teamed with Neema Ghiasi to win 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 doubles. Palisades lost only 12 games in 14 sets against the Yankees Monday at Palisades Recreation Center. Chris Ko won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, Oleynik won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2, Safii won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 and Lee won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Robinson/Bakhtiar won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, Burge/Surjue won by the same score at No. 2 doubles and Kim teamed with Ryan Kling to win 6-0, 6-4 at the No. 3 doubles spot. The Dolphins have won all 126 sets they have played in league so far. ‘These matches certainly aren’t preparing us for the playoffs, but one good thing is that they’ve given me a chance to tinker with the lineup and play a lot of guys,’ PaliHi coach Bud Kling said. The Dolphins play Venice in their league finale Monday at Stoner Park in Santa Monica. Boys Golf James Paleno’s squad was 5-2 heading into yesterday’s 6A League match against Los Angeles Marshall, a team the Dolphins defeated handily in the first round of league play. Pali’s only two losses were by two strokes and three strokes to defendign City champion Granada Hills. The Dolphins are led by sophomore Ben Seelig, seniors Brandon Schlig and Alex Podel and Jimmy Nissin, who shot a two-under-par last week.

Trying to keep pace with their Major League namesakes, who sit atop their division, the Mustang (ages 10-11) Dodgers won back-to-back games against the Phillies last week to remain atop the National League standings in Palisades Pony Baseball Association play at Palisades Recreation Center. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies 13-2 last Wednesday and 8-6 on Saturday, improving to 7-1 and building a three-game lead over the Cardinals and Braves, who are tied for second place. The Braves pulled even with the Cardinals by sweeping the red birds by 9-4 and 16-6 scores last week. Over in the American League, the Tigers improved to 7-1 with 13-6 and 12-6 victories over the Red Sox (4-4), who dropped into second place three games back of the Tigers. The Orioles (3-5) moved into third place with a pair of convincing wins over the Indians. Games continue Saturday at the Field of Dreams complex. PINTO (ages 10-11) As in the Mustang Division, the Dodgers and Tigers moved into sole possession of first place in their respective leagues with a pair of victories last week at the Rec Center diamonds. The Dodgers and Phillies were tied atop the National League standings heading into last week’s games, but the Dodgers beat the Phillies 16-8 and 10-4, improving to 6-2 and building a two-game lead. The Cardinals (4-4) moved into a second-place tie with the Phillies after splitting two games with the Braves. The Cardinals won the first game 17-12 while the Braves took the second 13-6. In the American League, the Tigers (6-2) posted 12-6 and 7-6 victories over the third-place Red Sox (3-5) to move one game ahead of the second-place Indians (5-3), who split a pair of games with the Orioles (3-5). The Indians triumphed 9-4 but the Orioles rebounded for an exciting 12-11 win Saturday to gain a share of third place with the Red Sox, three games behind the frontrunning Tigers. Games continue Saturday at the Field of Dreams complex. BRONCO (ages 11-13) The Indians remained the only undefeated team in PPBA, improving to 8-0 last week with impressive 11-0 and 8-0 shutouts of the Orioles. In the other American League games, the second-place Red Sox (5-2-1) beat the third-place Tigers (2-5-1) twice to stay within two and a half games of the Indians in the standings. In the National League, the Cardinals and Dodgers remained tied atop the standings after splitting games last week. The Dodgers (5-2-1) won one and lost one against the Phillies while the Cardinals (5-2-1) split 16-5 and 11-5 decisions against the third-place Braves (3-5), who are two and a half games behind the division leaders. Games continue this afternoon and Saturday at the Field of Dreams complex.

Wooden Legend Lives On

As a lifelong sports fan growing up in Southern California, I heard about John Wooden all the time. I read stories about him receiving this award or that, saw him interviewed on television or watching a UCLA game from his courtside seat at Pauley Pavilion. But I had never met him until last Wednesday, when Jeff Fellenzer invited me to sit in on his ‘Evening with John Wooden’ at USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism. In speaking with Jeff since the event, I learned that dozens of his students e-mailed him afterwards to express how much they enjoyed meeting Coach Wooden and how much they learned from him. One such e-mail Jeff was kind enough to share with me reads: ‘I just wanted to thank you for arranging Coach Wooden’s visit to class. I greatly enjoyed it and found myself thinking about him often this past week. I know that it was a lot for him to come all the way over here and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy task. And I hope he knows how much it was appreciated. I’m not sure the class really understood just who was sitting in the room. Sports stars of the past are of a greater caliber than they are today and I’m not sure they realize and appreciate the rarity of Mr. Wooden’s style. But I’d like to think they did. I know I did. Thanks again and send my regards to Coach.’ Another student told Jeff she had watched last weekend’s Wooden Awards and was amazed a man his age could have so much energy and enthusiasm. The sentiments expressed by these students and others were shared by all of us who were fortunate enough to be in that classroom with Coach Wooden. He was our teacher that night and in those three short hours he gave us new things to think about and reminded us of things we’d long forgotten. He rattled off ‘Woodenisms’ faster than my fingers could write them down but some of what he said was so profound that I know I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. One of his favorite sayings has to do with character: ‘Be more concerned with your character than your reputation because your character is what you are while your reputation is merely what others say you are.’ Another gem: ‘Sports is like a passion’it’s temporary. Education is like true love’enduring.’ He has hundreds more of these at the ready, a phrase or quote to fit every situation. The more I listened to him talk, the more respect I gained for him because I could tell what he was saying was sincere. He is a man who not only talks the talk but also walks the walk. Like the old E.F. Hutton commercial’when Coach Wooden speaks, you drop what you’re doing and listen because you know you’re going to learn something. I think what makes his advice so valuable is it’s simplicity. His concepts are not hard to understand and rarely do they require more than a simple change in attitude or action. He talked about one of the obstacles to happiness in today’s society being ‘too much emphasis on material things, when true happiness lies in things that can’t be taken away.’ He was the ultimate winner, yet he never talked to his players about winning. As I sat there observing, two things in particular impressed me. The first was his healthy sense of humor. The man is flat out funny and if laughter is indeed the eternal healer, it’s easy to see why John Wooden has outlived most of his generation. Just as remarkable to me is how humble he remains despite all that he has achieved in his life. Perhaps Jeff said it best when he described John as a teacher without being a preacher. People with that kind of character are a gift to the world. In his bestselling book ‘Wooden’ he defines success as ‘peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.’ His now-famous ‘Pyramid of Success’ is a tool that shapes winners far beyond the basketball court, even beyond the athletic arena. And John Wooden is the living embodiment of that formula. He tells us to ‘make each day a masterpiece’ while he paints a Picasso with his. He says ‘Don’t try to be better than anyone else, just try to be the best you can be’ while he honors young student-athletes for their achievements and pays no attention to his own. Wooden saved perhaps his strongest message for last, quoting from Mother Theresa: ‘A life not lived for others is not a life.’ As those who have met him can attest, John Wooden is a special man living a special life who has a lot left to live for.

Palisades-Malibu YMCA swim team coach Adam Blakis took six swimmers to the YMCA Spring National Swim Meet April 5-8 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex. Over 1,500 swimmers from 208 teams nationwide participated. This year, the meet’s theme was red, white and blue, and the swimmers showed their spirit by dressing in matching patriotic outfits for the opening ceremony. PALY’s team consisted of Cara Davidoff, David Nonberg, Katie Smith, Alexa Merz, Brian Johnson, and Samantha Brill. The YMCA Nationals are the championship meet that culminates the YMCA swimming short course season. Swimmers must qualify by making the national time standard. Merz, a 16-year-old junior at Harvard-Westlake High, took two silver medals in the 50- (23.82 seconds) and 100-yard (51.83 seconds) Freestyle events. She also swam the 200 Freestyle in 1:52.81 seconds (placing sixth) and the 100 Breaststroke (1:10.22 seconds). Davidoff, an 18-year-old Palisades High senior, took ninth in the 50-yard Freestyle (24.07 seconds) and 13th in the 200 Freestyle (1:53.78 seconds). She also swam the 500 Freestyle in 5:07.36, placing 24th out of 101 competitors), and the 100 Butterfly (1:00.00 seconds). Smith, a 17 year old senior at Notre Dame, swam the 100 Breaststroke (1:07.61 seconds), and placed 27th out of 173 swimmers. Nonberg, an 18-year-old junior at PaliHi, swam the 50 Freestyle in 23.12 seconds and later qualified for the YMCA Summer Long Course Nationals in the same event with a time trial of 22.94 seconds. Johnson swam the 200 Backstroke in 2:03.79 seconds. Swimmers Davidoff, Nonberg, Smith, Johnson and Brill also swam a number of best times in time-trial swims in their respective events. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Davidoff, Merz, Smith and Brill finished 19th out of 75 teams in 1:40.14, the 200 Medley Relay was 30th out of 72 teams in 1:52.08, the 400 Freestyle Relay was 39th out of 72 teams in 3:41.01 and the 400 Medley Relay was 61st out of 75 teams in 4:10.99. Overall, the PALY women’s squad was 17th overall in total point standing among the 208 participating teams. The competition marked PALY’s largest team since the 1990s and reflects the commitment and hard work of head coach Adam Blakis and the swimmers, as well as the ongoing support of the YMCA and community. The Summer YMCA Long Course Nationals will be in early August in College Park, Maryland.

With the next day’s game against defending Western League champion Venice foremost on their minds, Palisades High baseball players showed up at practice Monday eager to get back in the swing of things after a week off for spring break. There to help the Dolphins do just that was former Los Angeles Dodger Reggie Smith, who told his attentive audience what it takes to be a good hitter. ‘According to [Boston Red Sox hall of famer] Ted Williams, being a good hitter requires three things,’ said Smith, who is now President of his own instructional center in Encino. ‘First is proper thinking. You have to go up to the plate with a plan as to what you want to do. Second, you have to be patient and get a good ball to hit. And third, you have to be quick when you get the pitch you want.’ Smith, a switch hitter whose 17-year major league career included stints with Boston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and San Francisco, played on the Dodgers’ World Series championship team in 1981 and served as the team’s hitting coach for two years upon his retirement in 1982. With a career batting average of .287, Smith had 2,020 hits and scored 1,123 runs. After addressing the Dolphins, Smith worked individually with PaliHi players in the batting cage, critiquing each player on his batting stance and swing. ‘We’re thrilled to have Reggie here helping us before a big game like this,’ Pali co-coach Tom Seyler said. ‘Hopefully, some of the kids can apply what Reggie has taught them here today against Venice.’ Asked what the hardest pitch to hit was, Smith answered any pitch that is changing planes. He had the team repeat a visualization drill in which he would hold up his hand like he was going to throw, then see if the players knew what pitch to anticipate. This eye-switch technique is aimed at getting hitters to recognize a pitcher’s release point. ‘As a batter, you’re constantly fighting for more time,’ Smith said. ‘You’re looking for any little edge you can find to give you more time to see the ball and swing. If you see the pitcher’s hand below the ball, you can anticipate a curve. If his hand is behind the ball when he releases it, expect the fastball.’ Short stop Dylan Cohen asked Smith about positioning in the batter’s box and how far apart his feet should be. When Smith suggested Cohen crowd the plate, the way he instructed his major leaguers to crowd Atlanta Braves ace Tom Glavine, Seyler expounded on Smith’s wisdom: ‘Remember what Reggie just said. Stand closer to the plate against these guys [Venice pitchers]. Make them throw it over the plate to get a strike.’

When Palisades High short stop Dylan Cohen was intentionally walked with two outs in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Western League baseball game against Venice, Adam Franks stepped to the plate with one objective: make the Gondos pay. The Dolphins’ catcher did just that, lining a two-strike pitch to right field to score Alex Thompson from second base with the only run in a battle for first place at George Robert Field. ‘I can understand why they walked Dylan’he’s our best hitter,’ Franks said. ‘But it is a little personal, yeah. By doing that, they were basically saying they didn’t think I could come through with a man in scoring position. Even though I was behind in the count, my approach was the same’stay aggressive and look for a fastball I could drive.’ The 1-0 victory kept Palisades (10-3 overall, 5-0 in league) undefeated in league play and dropped defending champion Venice (3-2 in league) into second place. The teams meet again today at Venice. ‘That’s the way it’s meant to be,’ Pali co-coach Kelly Loftus said. ‘This was just a great game between two good teams. When both teams combine for only eight hits, you know there’s some good pitching going on. This was a true test of character for our team and we passed.’ Pali’s ace right-hander Geoff Schwartz pitched a three-hitter and retired the Gondos in order in each of the last two innings to earn his third win of the season. ‘We owed them from last year,’ Schwartz said. ‘We had to come out and prove we are the better team and we did.’ Thompson’s pinch-hit single with one out started the Dolphins’ last-inning rally. After a groundout, he stole second and, with a base open, Venice walked Cohen to set up Franks’ winning hit. Thompson slid past the catcher’s tag at home plate then was mobbed by his teammates in the dugout.