Palisades High Baseball Out of City Playoffs

Digging itself a gigantic hole was not the way the Palisades High baseball team envisioned starting Tuesday's City Section Division I first round playoff game at San Fernando. After spotting the home team a six-run lead early, the Dolphins rallied in the middle innings to creep within a run, but the Tigers pulled away for an 11-5 victory.

"We came in on a roll and had a great week of practice... but give them credit--they're obviously a good team and they put pressure on us right away," Palisades Coach Mike Voelkel said. "We weren't able to make pitches at the right time."

Palisades had expected to see David Lira, the Tigers' left-handed ace who had beaten the Dolphins 7-2 in the teams' regular-season meeting March 5. Instead, it was right-hander Jose Reyes who took the hill and he held Palisades hitless in the first two innings.

"Yeah, that was a surprise," Voelkel said. "We had prepared for Lira, but it wasn't as if we relaxed, thinking it would be easy. They're a high-energy team and it was going to be tough no matter who they pitched." 

Meanwhile, Dolphins right-hander Dylan Jeffers got into trouble immediately. In the bottom of the first, two walks and a single loaded the bases, a sacrifice fly to left scored a run and the sixth-seeded Tigers (25-6) got another run on a passed ball.

In the bottom of the second inning, first baseman Phillip Joseph scooped up a hard grounder but threw high and wide of second. The ball rolled into center field, allowing a runner to score from second. A single by Isaac Dominguez scored another run and two more runs scored on a sacrifice fly and a throwing error.

By that time, Jeffers had been lifted for Nick Poulos. Despite several fielding mistakes that gave the Tigers extra outs, Jeffers made no excuses afterwards.

"I threw six walks, so it was all me," he said. "I don't get too excited. I felt good going into the game and I was excited to get the start. I don't get overly-hyped, but obviously it was an important game." 

A lesser team's spirit might have been broken by the six-run deficit, but the 11th-seeded Dolphins were not about to go down quietly. With runners on first and second, Wasserman singled and alertly raced around to third when the ball was misplayed in center field. Spencer Simon singled in the Dolphins' third run, Cary Jacobson reached on a fielder's choice and Joseph grounded out. Jake Green and Elliott Barzilli each walked to load the bases and Palisades was sniffing its first lead.   

"I knew Palisades would come back because they're just too good a team," San Fernando Coach Armando Gomez said. "I wasn't comfortable until the last out. Everyone needs a little hiccup and maybe this was ours. They win their league every year, so that's a strong program."  

Gomez considered lifting Reyes but changed his mind and left his starter in. His faith was rewarded when third baseman Willie Vasquez scooped up Chase Holmes' scorching line drive behind third base and beat Green to the bag for the force out to end Palisades' threat.

"That was the play of the game," Voelkel said later. "The kid made a great play and he made it look easy."

Leaving the bases loaded only strengthened Palisades' resolve. Brad Schaeffer doubled to right field to begin the fourth inning and moved to third on Jason Barnett's sacrifice bunt. After Wasserman was hit by a pitch, Schaeffer scored on a pitch in the dirt. Simon grounded out, then Jacobson hit a line drive through the legs of Vasquez that pulled the Dolphins to within 6-5. Green grounded out to  end the inning, but Palisades was back in the game.

"I was proud of how we fought our way back into it," Voelkel said. "We had some disciplined at-bats and put the ball in play. In high school, more runs are thrown in than batted in and they made some mistakes that led to runs."

Reyes retired the Dolphins in order in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for San Fernando's five-run onslaught in the bottom half that put the game out of reach. 

"Once he got through five I was confident he could finish it off," Gomez said of Reyes. "I was going to go to [David] Lira in the fourth inning, then I came to my senses."

After a lead-off walk and a fly-out to center, Robert Berumen singled and Freddie Flores walked to load the bases. David Garcia hit an RBI single, then a squeeze bunt by Isaac Dominguez scored two runs--the second when Enrique Vega slid around Jacobson's tag. Vasquez hit an RBI single and Reyes' drive to deep left field was dropped, another run scored and suddenly the Tigers had a six-run cushion.  

"Losing always hurts," Joseph said. "Even when we got behind we felt confident at that point. We felt we could win at every point in the game. It just didn't happen."

Palisades (16-13) managed just one hit over the final two innings as Reyes struck out three in picking up his fifth victory. San Fernando threatened to increase its lead in the bottom of the sixth, but Palisades' third pitcher Harrison Simon got out of it with a pick-off at second and a double play.

"I didn't figure anything in terms of winning [this game]," Gomez said. "If you can't count on your No. 2 guy, you're not going to win City. For us, though, we have a 1A and a 1B, one righty and one lefty. Reyes has been pitching the first game of the week for a month now to prepare for this situation."

It was a bittersweet ending for Palisades' seven seniors, who will graduate with the varsity team having gone 54-3 in league games during their four years in the program. Jeffers is going to attend Swarthmore College, Brad Schaeffer is headed for San Luis Obispo, Nick Poulos is off to TCU, Chase Holmes is going to Arizona and Green is bound for San Diego State. Joseph and Adam Levin are undecided.  

"This has been a great class of seniors and we're going to miss them," Voelkel said. 

San Fernando and third-seeded Kennedy tied for the Valley Mission League title and will meet in the quarterfinals Thursday at Kennedy High in Granada Hills.

Here are the scores of Tuesday's other Division I games: 

Chatsworth 15, Westchester 0

Taft 7, Arleta 4

Birmingham 10, San Pedro 3

Granada Hills 4, Banning 2

Kennedy 12, Verdugo Hills 2

Narbonne 10, Cleveland 6

El Camino Real 6, Sylmar 0