Snake charmers finish first round perfect

SAN MARCOS, CA (3/19/2024) -- The Palomar College Comets swept the San Diego City College Knights to complete the first round of conference play with a perfect 10-0 record. 

Palomar attacked and chipped away at a 9-1 win on Tuesday in San Diego but a 5-spot in the sixth inning propelled them to the win. Luke Matthews opened up the scoring with an RBI single to give the Comets a 4-1 lead. Colby Rafail then singled and advanced to third on a throwing error, allowing Matthews and Ian Halverson to score two unearned runs. Noah Lazuka then doubled to right center to score Rafail. Anthony Pacino finished up the scoring frenzy when he had a bunt single and advanced to second on yet another error by the Knights to score Lazuka. Palomar then added on another run in the seventh to make it 9-1. 

Ian Mowad started on the mound for the Comets and pitched six solid innings, striking out four, and allowed one run on three hits to move to 3-2 on the season. Holden Carpenter was dominant in his two innings of work with four strikeouts and one hit against eight batters. Noah Waldeck closed it out with one strikeout. 

In game two, the two heavyweights for both teams started on the mound. San Diego City's Avery Laine and Palomar's Eric Van Valkenburg locked the two teams in a pitcher's battle going scoreless through four innings. After a brief delay due to a rattlesnake making an appearance in right field, the two teams' offenses came to life. 

The Knights were held to two hits coming into the fifth inning while the Comets were held to four. The Knights got on the board first scoring five runs on three hits and two Comet errors. But the Comets weren't going to sweat it.

Lazuka had an RBI single to score the first run. Makana Olaso then hit a three-run bomb to make it a one-run game. After the Knights were held scoreless in the top of the sixth, the Comets decided to keep their bats hot. Patrick McLellan had a lead-off single and then advanced on a wild pitch. He then advanced to third on a fly-out. Luke Matthews reached on an error and McLellan scored. Rafail was then hit by a pitch and it was off to the races. Lazuka had a two-run double, followed by an Olaso RBI triple to send the Knights' ace to the bench. Ryan Rivera then had an RBI single to bring in the final run of the inning.

The Comets made sure to add on two insurance runs in the seventh, a solo home run by Halverson and then a throwing error by the catcher allowed Matthews to score. 

Van Valkenburg ended the day with 4.2 innings pitched and allowed five runs on five hits and struck out one. Nathaniel Helton was the winning pitcher and pitched 1.1 innings. Evan Langer pitched two innings and allowed on run on four hits and struck our four and Lucas Smith closed it out. 

Palomar advances to 16-7 overall and 10-0 in conference play. They will face Imperial Valley College next week for a three-game series.