Players who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire cut the ribbon before their first game at Cheviot Hills last week. This will be the home field until the campus field is restored.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
By STEVE GALLUZZO
CTN Contributor
Starter Jett Teegardin throws a strike in the first inning of the Dolphins’ 10-8 loss to Taft.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
Two weeks into the season the Palisades High varsity baseball team is still searching for its first win, but the program achieved a big victory on February 25 when the Dolphins christened their new home field before their nonleague game against Taft at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center.
“In so many ways it feels like the fire was yesterday… at other times it feels like it’s been 10 years,” said Caren Gitlin, President of Palisades Baseball Team, Inc., the parent-run organization that supports the Pali High baseball program. “It’s been a rollercoaster since last spring and dealing with so many entities to make this happen. It’s hard to put into words all the stress this last year. Thank you to Cheviot Hills Pony for partnering with us, to Pali High for your support and to Councilwoman [Katy] Yaroslavsky for moving this renovation project across the finish line. Seeing the boys’ smiling faces makes it all worth it.”
Field 4 at Cheviot has been upgraded to high school standards, with outfield fences at 310 feet down the lines and 350 feet to straightaway center, new dugouts and bleachers, a scorer’s table with a PA system and grass infield (it used to be all dirt).
The team practiced at the same facility last year and played its games on the road or at neutral sites.
“It’s a five-year lease,” Gitlin said. “If we get a field on campus before then, great, but if not we know we have a home here.”
Athletic Director Rocky Montz spoke next and had plenty of people to thank: “Thirteen months ago I got a call from someone at Cheviot who said ‘we’re gonna get you a field to practice on, so I first thank them. I thank LA Parks and Recs who had to say yes to this, I thank our swim coach Maggie Nance who said ‘I won City [championships] without a pool, so you can make this work.”
Then, the four team captains held the blue ribbon up while five players who lost their homes in the fire last January 7 (Tribe Edwards, Hawkie Idelson, Carter Branch, Ethan Davis and Jett Teegardin) used a giant pair of gold scissors to cut it in front of home plate. After the ritual was performed it was time to play ball, but one last detail remained.
“I was warming up this morning—and I got pointers from a few of the dads,” Gitlin joked before tossing the ceremonial first pitch to her son Caleb, a varsity captain and pitcher. “I’m so proud of these boys who persevered and reunited. Nearly every single player returned despite not knowing where they’d play or who would coach them.”
Bungalows now sit where George Robert Field used to be on the Pali High campus and players are reminded of what used to be each time they walk by.
“I’m very content, very satisfied,” said first-year coach Jordan Myrow, whose parents both attended Pali High and whose dad played on the Dolphins’ 1989 squad that made the City 4A finals at Dodger Stadium. “We’ve been all over the place… Bad News Bears Field, North Venice Little League, Memorial Park, in the Valley… anyplace we could find.”
Andreas Konnari (left) low fives Hudson Ramberg at home plate as the Dolphins score another run.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
When the game got underway, Teegardin walked in a run but pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to minimize the damage in the first inning. Gitlin drove in the Dolphins’ first run with a single to right and Joseph Levy scored from third on a botched pickle play to make it 2-1 in the bottom of the second. In the fourth, Mikko Melendez hit a solo homer over the left field fence and Colton McNulty blasted a two-run shot to center in the fifth to increase Palisades’ lead to 5-1.
Teegardin got relieved in the top of the sixth after throwing a two-hitter with seven strikeouts, but the bullpen could not hold the four-run lead. Aided by four Palisades errors, Taft scored three runs in the sixth and six more in the seventh to take a 10-5 lead.
The Dolphins staged their own rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs on back-to-back fielding errors by the Toreadors and loading the bases with two outs, but a grounder to shortstop ended the game.
“I was super excited to get the ball today, it’s something I was looking forward to,” Teegardin said. “I’m disgusted we lost. There’s a lot we’ll look at.”
Colton McNulty (right) is congratulated by his teammates after belting a two-run homer in the fifth inning the game against Taft.
Photo: STEVE GALLUZZO
The 10-8 defeat dropped the Dolphins to 0-2. They lost at Windward (8-4) and Calabasas (4-1) to fall to 0-4. Palisades will be back at Cheviot next Friday when it hosts Bell, the City Open Division champion two years ago.
“We’re grateful to be playing here but nothing compares to our school field,” Teegardin added. “We put our blood, sweat and tears into that.”
Palisades opens Western League play March 18 against Hamilton at Cheviot and travels to San Diego for the annual Lions Tournament at the end of the month.