By SAM CATANZARO| As the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels are just getting their seasons started, the Venice High Gondoliers baseball team are wrapping their season up. This past month the Gondoliers played the Palisades High Dolphins for the last two regular-season games of the season.
On Tuesday, May 8, the Venice High School baseball team hosted the Palisades High Dolphins and lost a closely contested 3-2 game.
Palisades got off to a quick start by scoring two runs in the top of the second inning but Venice bounced right back by scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.
The rest of the game was a pitcher’s duel, with both teams posting zeros until Palisades platted one run in the top of the seventh inning.
Only seven innings of baseball are played in high school baseball and therefore Venice’s inability to score in the bottom of the seventh resulted in a 3-2 loss.
Two days later these teams were back at it again as the Dolphins hosted the Gondoliers in the Pacific Palisades in a more one-sided contest.
After scoring single runs in the first and third innings, the Dolphins blew the game open by scoring two runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. Venice failed to score a run throughout the seven innings of play and lost the game 7-0.
With these losses, Venice finishes the season with an 8-4 record in league play and 16-17 overall. Their winning record in league play is good enough to give them a second place finish in the Western League standings.
Despite losing the final two games of the year, Venice’s season has been highlighted by stellar players like Jashia Morrissey and Luke Boulanger. Morrissey, who is a junior, demonstrated versatility throughout the season, crushing 5 home runs while batting .412 as a hitter while simultaneously posting a 1.39 earn run average while finishing the season with an 8-1 record as a pitcher. Boulanger, a freshman, proved to be one of the Gondoliers’ most consistent hitters, batting .394 and driving in 11 runs in his first season of play.
The Gondoliers are now in the midst of the playoffs. On May 22nd they defeated North Hollywood 6-1 to advance to the league quarterfinals where they will play Marshall High School on May 24. If they make it to the finals, the game will be held on June 2nd at Dodger Stadium.
