Comets set to face No. 2 San Mateo
SAN MARCOS (5/14/2024) – The Palomar College softball team will be making its 23rd appearance in the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship Tournament beginning Thursday at West Valley College in Saratoga.
College of San Mateo will be the Comets' opponent when the two teams square off at 11 a.m. in the first game of the first day of the tournament. Palomar, champion of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, is the No. 3 seeded team from the South Region with a 39-4 record. San Mateo, the Coast Conference champion, is the No. 2 seed from the North Region with a record of 37-5.
The two teams have a history at the state tournament. Palomar defeated the Bulldogs in the finals of the 2015 state finals in Bakersfield for the Comets' fifth and most recent state championship, and the two teams met last year on the second day of the state tourney at Mt. San Antonio College with Palomar prevailing, 2-1.
"I'm glad that we had a tough opponent like Long Beach City in the Super Regionals because that's the caliber of play we needed to prepare for state and opponents like San Mateo," said Comets coach Lacey Craft.
Palomar advanced to the state tourney after eliminating Long Beach City with a two-game sweep of the Vikings in the 3C2A Southern California Super Regionals. Sophomore pitcher Guilianna "GiGi" Clavel pitched back-to-back complete games, including a one-hitter for her 10th shutout of the season in a 1-0 Game 1 victory. Clavel limited LBCC to one run on five hits and hit a two-run single in Game 2, a 5-1 Palomar win.
The winner of the Palomar-San Mateo matchup will play Friday against the winner between Fullerton (South No. 1) and Sierra (North No. 4).
Other first-round pairings for Thursday include San Joaquin Delta (North No. 1) vs. Mt. San Antonio (South No. 4) and defending state champion Cypress (South No. 2) against Consumnes River (North No. 3).
The championship final is scheduled for Sunday.