Lutz powers Palomar sweep of Marauders

SAN MARCOS (2/16/2024) – With Breanna Lutz providing the power, and Guilianna "Gigi" Clavel and Nevaeh Haywood pitching nothing but zeroes, the Palomar College softball team swept Antelope Valley with a pair of 8-0 victories Friday at Bradley Park.

Lutz, a freshman first baseman out of Ramona High School, homered in each game as the Comets swept the nonconference twinbill to improve to 8-0 on the season. Clavel and Haywood each pitched a complete-game shutout against the Marauders (4-5-1), with the two games shortened to six and five innings, respectively.

"Gigi did a good job of using a little bit of everything in her six innings," said Palomar coach Lacey Craft. "She mixed it up a lot.

And Nevaeh's pitches had good movement. The defense was making plays behind them, so they were able to pitch aggressively."

Clavel, a sophomore out of Bonita Vista High, blanked Antelope Valley on four hits in Game 1 for her second consecutive shutout to improve her record to 5-0. She pitched a no-hitter two days earlier in a 4-0 win against Santiago Canyon.

The Marauders had a pair of two-out singles in the first inning against Clavel, who allowed just two additional singles over the next five frames. She walked one batter, hit a batter and struck out seven. Clavel also helped her own cause at the plate by going 3-for-4, including a leadoff triple to right-center field in the third inning. A two-out infield single to shortstop by sophomore shortstop Tess Altevers-Harris scored Clavel to give the hosts a 4-0 lead.

Palomar initially got on the scoreboard with a three-run second inning fueled by a walk to Altevers-Harris followed by consecutive singles by freshman catcher Kayla Visser, sophomore left fielder Carlee Herrmann and freshman second baseman Josephine Heuberger, and a sacrifice fly to left by Lutz.

Heuberger hit a one-out single in the fourth and came around to score ahead of a home run to deep right by Lutz, her first round-tripper of the season.

"It was nice to see Breanna get around on that inside pitch," Craft said.

The Comets added a run in the fifth when sophomore third baseman Itzell De Los Rios walked, took second on a passed ball and scored on a single to right by Visser. The Comets ended the game in the bottom of the sixth when a one-out single by Clavel, an infield error and an RBI single to left by De Los Rios gave Palomar the eighth run needed for the mercy rule to take effect.

In addition to Clavel's three hits, two hits apiece were provided by Lutz, Heuberger and Visser as the winners collected 12 hits.

It didn't take long for Lutz to continue her power surge in Game 2 as she clouted a solo home run to center with one out in the bottom of the first inning. She added a two-run double to left-center to highlight a five-run second-inning rally by the Comets.

Palomar scored single runs in the third inning on a run-scoring triple to left by Visser and in the fourth on two AVC errors, a bunt single by Altevers-Harris and a bases-loaded walk by Visser.

Lutz, Altevers-Harris and Visser each had two hits for the winners, who had nine hits in the contest.

Haywood allowed a hit in each of the first four innings before striking out the side in the top of the fifth for her third win of the season and her second shutout. She finished with five strikeouts and no walks to combine with Clavel for a pair of four-hit shutouts on the day.  

The Comets are scheduled to visit Chaffey on Feb. 21 for a non-conference road game before returning to Bradley Park on Feb. 24 for a three-way involving top-ranked Mt. San Antonio and Santiago Canyon. The first of the three games matches host Palomar against Mt. SAC at 10 a.m.