Power surge carries Comets past Compton in Game 1

SAN MARCOS (5/3/2024) – Three was the magic number Friday for the Palomar College softball team with three players hitting home runs and three pitchers combining on a three-hit shutout as the Comets claimed Game 1 of a best-of-3 playoff series against Compton with a 13-0 romp over the Tartars.

Adding to the list of trios, sophomore third baseman Itzell De Los Rios was 3-for-3 at the plate, including a towering blast well over the fence in left field in the third inning for her fourth home run of the season as the hosts took a 1-0 series lead in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regionals.

Freshman first baseman Breanna Lutz and sophomore shortstop Tess Altevers-Harris also homered for No. 3 seed Palomar to support the combined shutout pitching of sophomore Guilianna "Gigi" Clavel and freshmen Nevaeh Haywood and Maddie Bedolla.

"I liked our early attack at the plate, and I liked how Gigi came out sharp," said Comets coach Lacey Craft, whose team scored two runs in the first inning and added five more in the second, four in the third and two in the fourth while improving to 36-4 on the season with the mercy-run rule win.

"I also liked how we were able to use three pitchers," Craft added.

Clavel started in the circle and retired nine of the 10 batters she faced in three innings of work to pick up the win, lifting her record to 24-4. Clavel fanned two batters in each inning to finish with six strikeouts, with a one-out single in the second inning being the only baserunner allowed. Haywood pitched the fourth inning, allowing two singles with one strikeout, and Bedolla struck out the side in the fifth to secure Palomar's 20^th shutout of the season.

A walk and an outfield error led to a pair of Palomar runs in the top of the first inning against No. 14 seed Compton, with RBIs produced by sophomore center fielder Maddie Scott on a groundout to second base and by De Los Rios on a single to left field.

Palomar took a 7-0 lead with a five-run second inning, when the Comets sent 10 batters to the plate. The rally began with a single to right by Altevers-Harris, who stole second base and scored on a single to left by freshman catcher Kayla Visser. A run-scoring single by Lutz, an outfield error on a fly ball by Scott, a two-run double down the left-field line by De Los Rios and an RBI single to left by Steffany added up to a seven-run lead for the Pacific Coast Athletic Association champions.

The Comets flexed their muscles in the third inning when Lutz lined a three-run homer off the top of the fence in right-center for her sixth round-tripper of the season, and one out later De Los Rios launched her fourth four-bagger of the year to the batting cages beyond the left-field fence, increasing the Palomar advantage to 11-0.

A leadoff home run to left in the fourth by Altevers-Harris, her second homer of the season, and an RBI single to left by Scott which scored freshman catcher Shelbie Van Slyke capped off the scoring for the Comets, who collected 12 hits off three Tartars pitchers. De Los Rios and Lutz drove in four runs apiece for the hosts, who can clinch the series Saturday with a win in Game 2 which begins at 12 noon. Game 3 if necessary will follow immediately after Game 2, with the winner advancing to the second round of the 3C2A SoCal Regionals beginning May 10.