Palisades Charter baseball in search of home field as school rebuilds from wildfires

While LAUSD looks to rebuild Palisades Charter High after the devastating wildfires, it leaves the baseball team homeless for an indefinite period of time.

Bulldozers plow through Palisades Charter High's baseball field to create a flat surface where temporary classrooms can be placed while are rebuild of the campus takes place from the wildfires. / Courtesy of Palisades baseball

Palisades Charter baseball coach Mike Voelkel has been at the helm of the program for 18 years.

"In my time here, we've raised millions of dollars for this field. The fencing, the netting, the equipment, ball machines, batting cages, maintenance, dugouts — it took 250 bags of clay to build our mound," Voelkel said.

"It was all gone in one day."

After the devastating Palisades fire that decimated surrounding houses, and parts of the school grounds in January, the baseball field has been uprooted by bulldozers and large machinery alike to make way for temporary classrooms (bungalows) for Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) rebuild plan.

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced on February 4 that the district intends to spend $725 million to rebuild Palisades Charter High School, Palisades Charter Elementary and Marquez Charter Elementary after they were left devastated by the deadly fire, according to a report from LAist's Mariana Dal.

Certainly, a plan forward is pivotal, but it leaves the Palisades baseball team without a home field for a range of 5 to 7 years, according to Voelkel.

"I have current players that are looking to play somewhere else next season, and I'm even helping them if they ask because I completely understand," Voelkel said. "Playing baseball here with no home field — on or off campus — would be like living out of a suitcase."

Team parents, especially ones with underclassmen, have been advocating for their student-athletes in an attempt to ensure an interim field the Dolphins can call home while the rebuild takes place. A baseball program like Palisades' isn't just alive in the spring, its a program that uses its field year around for off-season activities.

The Palisades Charter High School baseball field is being demolished and flattened to create space for the school's rebuild after wildfires. / Courtesy of Palisades baseball

"It has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. On January 7, we thought we lost the school and the baseball field ... only to find out the next day it had been miraculously saved. That relief gave way to total sadness when we learned the administration planned to take the field for temporary bungalows. It is hard to comprehend," team parent Cathy Veisel said.

With so many unknowns, freshman Sam Buchta seems to think there's a high school experience at Palisades without baseball at all.

"It is very stressful. I love Pali High, my team, and playing baseball. I just want to be able to keep doing that. I don't know what I would do if I could not play. I would be devastated," he said.

High School On SI reached out to LAUSD for comment regarding the situation.

"Regarding an interim baseball field, the Palisades Charter High School Administration is actively working on this and should be able to provide an update," said the Los Angeles Unified spokesperson via email, though a timetable for an update was not provided.

However, the Los Angeles Unified spokesperson did provide a three-page document for Palisades Charter High's rebuild plan:

Los Angeles Unified School District's rebuilding plan for Palisades Charter High School after the wildfires in January 2025. / LAUSD

Los Angeles Unified School District's rebuilding plan for Palisades Charter High School after the wildfires in January 2025. / LAUSD

Los Angeles Unified School District's rebuilding plan for Palisades Charter High School after the wildfires in January 2025. / LAUSD

The plan was recently shared at the April 9 Palisades Community Town Hall Meeting which covered topics including the location of the rebuild and the temporary portables on the baseball field..

"The design process is in the early stages and the community will continue to receive updates as the design progresses," the LAUSD spokesperson said.

Despite Palisades' challenges this baseball season, the Dolphins are 15-9 and 12-4 in the Western League with three games left on the regular season schedule. But it's not been easy.

"Not including true road games, we've probably played at 15 different ball parks this season," Voelkel said with a chuckle. "It's been wild. But we've embraced a road warrior mentality and it was important to me to give these seniors a season.

Palisades baseball players lock arms for a huddle, some with shirts that say 'Pali Strong'. / Courtesy of Palisades baseball

Since the fires, students were online learning until this past week. Palisades Charter has a new location in Santa Monica where the old Sears used to be — it's being called 'Pali South'.

Voelkel, with the help of school and athletic administration, has been able to scramble this spring to find fields to practice and play games under impromptu circumstances. However, the program and its parents are hoping school admin and LAUSD can help to lockdown one of two sites: Memorial Park in Santa Monica for as long the students are at the Sears location and/or Palisades Recreation Center, which would be ideal when life on campus resumes.

There are rumblings that class might resume on campus in Pacific Palisades this August for the 2025 Fall semester. Other rumbles claim it's too soon, and a Spring 2026 return is more likely.

"These are tough young men, but I wonder how much they can take? COVID, the fires, and now the loss of their field without any guarantee of a new place to play," Veisel said. "I just feel like they deserve a chance to go to school and play the game they love so dearly. We owe them that much."

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