Comets scoring their way to No. 5 in state
SAN MARCOS, CA (3/4/22) -- The first polls for the 2022 softball season were released this week and Palomar came in at No. 5 in the state and No. 2 in the southern California region, which makes sense considering they are sitting at 12-2. Half of their games have been won in five innings, thanks to freshmen Allyson Amato and Mackenzie Lefebvre and sophomore Taylor Harrison. Amato leads the team with a .667 batting average while Harrison and Lefebvre sit at .526 and .474, respectively. Amato and Harrison have combined for 13 extra bases this season and Lefebvre has homered four times, including a grand slam against Chaffey College. Harrison has derived in 18 runs and has racked up six stolen bases so far this season.
Freshman India Caldwell has been a force this season for the Comets in the pitching circle. She's sitting at a 6-1 record and through 42 innings pitched, she's struck out 50 batters. She has one no-hitter this season, a 13-0 victory over Saddleback. Farah Steffany, a sophomore bounceback from the University of Pacific, is a perfect 5-0 this season. Like Caldwell, she also has one no-hitter, this time against San Bernardino Valley College. She's allowed just eight walks on the season, while Caldwell has allowed seven. As a team, the Comets have shut out their opponents seven times this season.
Their two losses this season have come at the hands of Cerritos College, the only time Palomar has been shut out this season, and Santa Ana College. They proved they will come back stronger after those losses as they went to defeat El Camino College (2-1), Antelope Valley College (8-0), San Bernardino Valley College twice (12-0, 9-1) and Fullerton College (3-0). Then Palomar faced longtime foe Mt. San Antonio College.
The Comets handed No. 1 ranked Mounties their first loss of the season on Feb. 26 in a 4-2 win, snapping a four-game losing streak, including the CCCAA State Championship game in 2019. In the first matchup this season, the Comets got on the board first thanks to a Harrison single in the top of the first to score freshman Cadee Herrmann on an error by Mt. SAC's left fielder. In the third, the Comets added another run as Lefebvre singled to score Amato. Harrison sacrificed herself to centerfield to bring sophomore Samarah Martinez to score and then, freshman Alexia Terrazas reached first on a fielding error by the shortstop and Amato scored. The Mounties' two runs came in the bottom of the fifth. Caldwell pitched for the Comets and allowed two runs on nine hits and struck out eight batters.
Palomar had their first conference game of the season scheduled against Southwestern on Friday, but it was postponed due to rain. The conference play this season is going to look different for the Pacific Coast, as only four schools have teams: Imperial Valley College, San Diego Mesa College, Southwestern College and Palomar College. To make up for lost conference games, Palomar has against other top-ranked teams scattered throughout the remainder of their schedule.
The Comets have two games on the schedule for Saturday, the first against College of the Desert at 12 p.m. and the second against Citrus College, roughly 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both games will be played at College of the Desert.