Pali High baseball team overcomes adversity in aftermath of Palisade Fire

The Palisades Charter High School baseball field, home to the Dolphins baseball program, was coach Mike Voelkel's pride and joy.

When Voelkel became head coach of the team in 2007, he, the players and their families helped turn what he described as a "dirt patch" into one of the most remarkable high school athletic fields in Los Angeles.

Then the Palisades Fire ripped through the area.

"By some miracle, that fire went around on the hillside there and didn't touch the field itself," Voelkel said in a recent interview. "So I was actually pretty optimistic that there was a way that we would be able to get some games on there."

The optimism didn't last... the space was needed for academic buildings during the rebuilding process. The Dolphins had to scramble to find a place to practice and play

"Trying to find fields was really hard," Asher Cohen, a member of the team, told ABC7. "We had to play some games in Griffith Park for a few games. And they had a rule where you had to be off the field by 2:30 or 3, so we'd be playing games at 12. It really made me realize how nice it was to have a field."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts surprised the team at one of their practices, inviting them to Dodger Stadium.

"Dave Roberts is as genuine, as high-integrity of a person that I've ever come across," Voelkel said. "There's a lot of posers in this world and a lot of people that said, 'Oh, we'll, help you,' and then they were like Casper the ghost -- and Dave was not."

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That's when Voelkel was honored with the California Interscholastic Federation's Model Coach Award.

The Dolphins finished out a strong season, making it to the second round of the playoffs.