For more than a year, the Palisades Charter High School baseball team lived out of duffel bags and borrowed diamonds. This past Wednesday afternoon in Cheviot Hills, that season of wandering ended with a ribbon cutting, a first pitch, and for the first time in months, the Dolphins will stand on a field they can finally call home.
The Dolphins opened the season Wednesday at their new permanent home field at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center; a newly updated facility that will serve as the team’s “home away from home” for the next three to five years while reconstruction continues at the Palisades High main campus.
The opening ceremony and ribbon cutting, followed by first pitch marked more than just a moment kicking off the season. For players, families, and a community still navigating loss and rebuilding, it represents stability, continuity, and a long awaited exhale.
“We’ve really been nomads for the past year,” said head coach Jordan Myrow, who joined the program last August. “We lost our home field, and so many organizations stepped up to give us space and time from PFA in Van Nuys, West LA Little League, Memorial Park in Santa Monica, Venice Little League, Cali Rec, and Pali Rec during construction. It’s been quite the journey, and to finally have a home again for these boys after everything they’ve faced means a lot.”
The team’s displacement followed the loss of their original baseball field to temporary bungalow construction under LAUSD - the same field where they practiced, competed, and built memories.
For Myrow, the journey is deeply personal.
A Palisades High legacy, Myrow’s roots run through the program. His parents were prom king and queen in 1989, his father played baseball at Pali for four years. “I grew up rollerblading around campus,” he said. “This place has always felt like home.”
Myrow's mother, Tiffani shared her personal Palisades story, "It's surreal, walking up brought tears to my eyes as I spent some of the most special days of my life there and met my husband. We took Jordan to Pali High where he learned how to walk, rollerblade and bike, and I used to cheerlead there and watch his dad play baseball. To see my son standing there in a coach's uniform teaching baseball was a moment I will cherish all my life."
After being drafted by the Dodgers in 2018 and playing professionally in the Pioneer and Mavericks leagues, Myrow retired from baseball and began exploring a future in finance. A conversation with a childhood friend led him back to the dugout, and to a role he says felt meant to be.
“When this opportunity came up, it never hurts to interview,” he said. “But once I stepped into it, I realized how much this mattered.”
That perspective is shaping a new vision for the program - one rooted less in pressure and more in people.
The baseball roster currently includes 45 players across Junior Varsity and Varsity. Myrow’s coaching staff blends young former professionals and current players with a veteran coach of more than 20 years, creating a relatable and balanced environment for student athletes.
“There is so much pressure on high school athletes right now,” Myrow said. “College recruiting, drafts, expectations. I care more about who these kids are as people. How are they doing mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. I want them pushing themselves, but not in ways that cause long term damage. This should still be fun.”
Players, he says, are energized by finally having a consistent place to train and compete; and by a coaching staff that understands where they are, both on and off the field. “They’re excited to have a field again,” Myrow said. “They’re excited for something new; something that feels supportive and free.”
The move to Cheviot Hills also opens the door to broader community collaboration. During recent discussions, opportunities surfaced for public private partnerships; including potential support from former athletes and professional organizations like the Dodgers to help fund practice facilities, batting cages, or even a future permanent field. “If there are athletes or organizations willing to step in and help, we’re open,” Myrow said. “This is an all hands on deck moment. It’s about restoring a community, not just restoring a baseball program.”
As Los Angeles prepares for a decade defined by rebuilding and global events from wildfire recovery to LA28, Pali High's baseball story offers a smaller, but resonant example of resilience in action.