PaliHi Baseball Falls to 2-2 After Losses to Westchester

Two straight Western League losses to Westchester has the Palisades High baseball team looking up at much of the division.
Last Tuesday, the Dolphins unraveled during a seven-run fifth inning by the Comets in a 10-6 loss. Two days later, they were done in by a three-run sixth by Westchester in a 5-3 defeat. Two league losses is almost unheard of in head coach Mike Voelkel’s tenure; PaliHi entered last week 68-3 against Western League foes under Voelkel.
Now, the coach says, there are no more excuses.
“We just need to step up and start grinding it out the rest of the season,” Voelkel said. “We’ve got to catch fire in a short period of time, because our backs are against the wall right now.”
Voelkel has tinkered with his lineup during a bit of a power surge, though it seems both pitching and hitting have hit the skids in the past week. Junior pitcher Cade Hulse turned in a solid outing in Thursday’s loss, allowing four runs in five innings while striking out five, but the Dolphins’ sixth-inning, three-run rally ultimately was not enough to bail him out.
At 2-2 in Western League, the Dolphins (6-12 overall) currently sit in fifth place, two games out of first but just one in the loss column. Hamilton (5-1) sits atop the standings, followed by Westchester (3-1), Venice (4-2) and University (4-2).
PaliHi hosted LACES both on Tuesday and yesterday, with yesterday’s game being moved to Palisades because LACES did not have a home field available. The Dolphins visit Santa Monica on Saturday in the ongoing Redondo Tournament, then return to Western League play with a home game against Venice on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and a road game against Venice on Thursday.

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Softball Improves to 6-3

The Palisades High softball team picked up where it left off after spring break, beating Westchester twice by a combined score of 20-7 last week.
The Dolphins beat the Comets, 11-5, last Tuesday on the road, and 9-2 last Thursday at home, moving to 6-3 overall and 4-0 in Western League play.
Senior center fielder Amber Flores leads the offense with a .600 batting average, while junior left fielder Lily Lack is first on the team with 11 RBI. Senior Alexis Muir has pitched 25 innings on the season, earning three wins with an 2.52 ERA.