Softball Gives Extra Effort to Upset Verdugo Hills

The situation was grim for the Palisades High varsity softball team heading into the seventh inning of Friday afternoon's City Section Invitational second-round contest against host Verdugo Hills.

The Dolphins trailed 4-1 and were down to their final three outs, in danger of losing their playoff opener for the third year in a row. Instead, they rallied to tie the game and eventually won 6-5 in eight innings to gain a measure of respect after they were seeded No. 11 despite being Western League champions.

"Between innings I was thinking of all the little things we were doing wrong in the game and what I might have to address going into next year, but the girls kept fighting," Coach Ray Marsden said. "We really hadn't been in a close game all season. This is the first game to go the distance with our backs to the wall and the girls came through. I'm super proud of them."

Marsden calls junior Elizabeth Torres the "best No. 9 hitter in the City," and her performance Friday backed up that claim. She has batted over .500 in the second half of the season and reached base in three of her four at bats against the Dons--including a base hit to lead off the seventh. First-pitch swinging, captain Amber Flores followed with a single and suddenly the Dolphins had hope.

"The girls just refused to give up, even though seemingly everything was against us," Marsden said. "We drove way out there [to Tujunga], we didn't know the umpires, didn't know their field, we had to start early, we couldn't get a call, we were missing signals, our two-three-four hitters struggled, and yet we found a way to win."

After Shannon Dunn lined to shortstop for the first out, Selma Cortez doubled high off the 40-foot wall in left field to score Torres and move Flores to third. Then, on a soft grounder to shortstop, Flores slid under the tag at home to pull the Dolphins within 4-3.

"I honestly thought she was out at the plate, but we hadn't gotten a call all game, so we were due," Marsden said. "I thought they made a mistake throwing home instead of taking the sure out [at first] because that run didn't mean anything."

Palisades (14-7-3) took advantage of the extra out when Prudence Brando hit a fly ball deep enough for pinch-runner Justine Liebenson to tag up and score from third base to tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore pitcher Alexis Muir showed why she was named Player of the Year in the Western League. She induced a ground ball out, a line drive out, gave up an eight-pitch walk, and ended the frame with a strikeout to send the game into extra innings.

"Alexis pitched great except for one inning," Marsden said. "She walked the bases loaded to start the fifth, which is really unusual for her. They ended up with four runs, but it could've been much worse."

Ashley Ellul hit a two-run double to get the Dons on the scoreboard in the their half of the fifth and back-to-back singles put runners on first and second with no outs. With his ace pitcher seemingly running out of steam, Marsden told back-ups Mei Mei Freedman and Liebenson to start warming up in case Muir couldn't get through the inning. However, instead of rattling at the possibility of being lifted, Muir buckled down to strike out the next two batters, then induced a grounder to keep the deficit at 4-1. 

Palisades took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Brando singled, moved to second on a walk and scored on a two-out single by Torres.

The dramatic victory was particularly gratifying for sophomore second baseman Jenna Paul, who had hit in the No. 2 spot all season before a cruel twist of fate in the Dolphins' league finale against Hamilton on April 27. During the celebration after the final out she accidentally stepped on a bat, rolled her ankle and went to the hospital. She was in a boot on crutches for the team's last three games and it was uncertain if she would be ready for Friday's game.

"I asked her if she wanted to go and she said 'Bat me in the bottom of the order,'" Marsden said. "She couldn't run, but she did what she could to help the team."

Paul went hitless her first three at-bats but singled to lead off the eighth inning. After a strikeout and a foul out to first, pinch-runner Erin Ryan stole second and Flores followed with a single to left on a full count. Ryan scored the go-ahead run and Flores took second on the throw to the plate. Dunn hit one off the left field wall to score Flores and give the Dolphins a 6-4 lead.

"They had the bottom of the order coming up so it would've been wise to get the first three batters and go home," Marsden said. "Of course, in a game like that I should've known it wasn't going to be that easy."

The No. 7 hitter singled, the No. 8 hitter grounded into a fielder's choice, the No. 9 hitter singled and sixth-seeded Verdugo Hills (14-7-1) had runners on first and third with one out and the top of the order coming up. The lead-off batter hit a grounder and, rather than throw home, Palisades took the sure out and allowed the runner on third to score to make the score 6-5. 

"In that situation, you trade a run for an out and the girls made the right play," Marsden said. "We go over situational stuff all the time, every day we practice certain scenarios so in a real game they just react on instinct without having to think about it."

A walk gave Verdugo Hills runners on first and second with two outs and junior Nicole Vandenberg,  .650 hitter, coming to the plate. After fouling off the first pitch, Vandenberg hit a one-hopper back to Muir, who scooped it up and flipped to Brando at first for the final out.

"It was so exciting and we had a great turnout--we had almost as many fans as Verdugo and given how far it was that means something," Marsden said. "This was such a big win. When I found out our seeding I told the team 'Now the pressure [to win a home game] is off, let's take a road trip.' There's no pedigree [for winning] here so we'll always be [seeded] low until we prove otherwise."

The Dolphins hit the road again for Tuesday's 3 p.m. quarterfinal against third-seeded Franklin (11-7), which beat No. 19 Hamilton 12-9 Friday. Palisades beat the Panthers 7-6 in the Lincoln Classic last spring, but that was then, this is now.

"They finished third in the Northern [League] and the teams that tied for first [Lincoln and Marshall] both got seeded pretty high in the City Championship [playoffs]," Marsden said. "I expect another tough game." 

Should Palisades pull off another upset, its reward would be yet another road game Thursday at either second-seeded Sylmar or No. 10 Woodland Hills Taft.