Palisades Baseball Looks to Finish Strong

At first glance, it would appear that the  varsity baseball team is right where it wants to be—atop the Western League standings with two weeks left in the regular season.

According to Coach , however, the way his team is playing is more important than its place in the league and he wants to see more consistency from his club.

"One day we'll play really well, the energy is good and the next game we'll come out flat," he said. "Sometimes it’s the pitching that stands out, sometimes we hit and sometimes it’s the defense. For some reason, we just can't seem to put it all together."

Despite their up-and-down play, the Dolphins (10-11 overall, 5-1 in league) are tied for first place with Hamilton after enduring a grueling stretch in which they had nine games in two weeks. 

Palisades was quite busy over spring break, going 2-2 in the Classic Division at the San Diego Lions Tournament. After suffering a 4-2 defeat to Granada Hills Kennedy in the opening game, the Dolphins routed Madison 8-1 and San Ysidro 10-4 to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to Paramount 10-8 last Thursday.

On Saturday, Palisades was in Palos Verdes to take on Peninsula in the Redondo Tournament. The Dolphins lost 6-3 despite two strong innings in relief by junior .

"I thought we played really well at the Lions Tournament against some very good teams," Voelkel said. "Madison has won it before and San Ysidro is traditionally strong. We've had a tough schedule and we've shown we can play with some of the best teams in the City Section. We've played Birmingham, Kennedy, San Pedro, El Camino Real, San Fernando and Granada Hills—those are all quality teams."

The pitching staff will be stronger with the addition of first team All-Leaguer , who is scheduled to start Monday's home game against University.

"Having him back should help our confidence," Voelkel said of the senior right-hander. "This is a very important week for us and we need to play with the mindset that we won't be denied. We have to stay focused and execute like I know we're capable of."

According to the Freeman ratings used by MaxPreps, the Dolphins are 13th in the City Section Division I rankings right now, but could move up with three victories this week.

The Dolphins travel to sixth-place University to complete the home-and-home series Wednesday and Voelkel said senior righty , who has looked "very sharp" in his last few outings, will get the start.

On Friday, sophomore right-hander  will take the mound against fifth-place Fairfax at . On Saturday, the squad wraps up Redondo Tournament play.

"It could come down to those last two games of the season [against Hamilton], but not unless we take care of business this week," Voelkel said. "We're not consistent right now, but hopefully we can find that consistency before the playoffs."

Tryouts

The baseball program will be holding its annual tryouts on Saturday, May 14, at George Robert Field, The tryouts will be divided into two sessions, the first from 10 a.m. to noon, the second from 1-3 p.m.

Players should arrive ready to play and parents will need to come to sign forms. For more information, call Coach Voelkel at 818-703-3888.