Comets open state tourney against Folsom Lake

WALNUT, CA. (5/15/2023) – Palomar College will begin its quest for a sixth state championship with a first-round matchup against Folsom Lake when the California Community College Athletic Association State Softball Tournament begins Thursday at Mt. San Antonio College. 

The Comets (40-1) are the South's top seed for the eight-team tournament after sweeping a pair of best-of-3 playoff series against Allan Hancock in the Southern California Regionals and Santiago Canyon in the SoCal Super Regionals. Folsom Lake is the No. 4 seed from the North after winning a Super Regional series last weekend as the No. 13 seed against No. 5 San Joaquin Delta. 

While Palomar won its ninth consecutive Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship this season, Folsom Lake (21-24) placed fifth in the Big 8 Conference standings but surprised No. 4 seed Monterey Peninsula in the NorCal Regionals by winning that series two games to one before eliminating Delta with a 6-0 Game 3 victory in the Super Regionals on May 13. 

The Comets and Falcons will clash in the third game of the opening-day matchups at the state tournament with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. The two teams met during the regular season on March 4 at Bakersfield College with Palomar claiming an 8-3 victory. 

In other first-round pairings at the state tournament, South No. 2 seed Mt. San Antonio (39-5) will take on North No. 3 seed San Jose City (26-16) at 11 a.m., North No. 1 seed Sierra (42-3) will face South No. 4 seed Cerritos (31-14) at 2 p.m., and South No. 3 seed Cypress meets defending state champion and North No. 2 seed College of San Mateo at 8 p.m. 

The double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday'schampionship round.