Comets host Cougars again for SoCal Regionals

SAN MARCOS, CA (4/27/2025) – The Palomar College softball team will have a sense of déjà vu when it comes time to start postseason play.

 

The Comets are seeded No. 3 and will be hosting No. 14 seed College of the Canyons for the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regionals, which begin with two play-in games on April 29, followed by first-round matchups May 2-3 with a best-of-three series format.

 

Palomar and Canyons just met on April 19 in the final non-conference matchup of the season, with the Comets sweeping a doubleheader by scores of 9-1 and 12-4. The stakes will be higher when the two teams meet again May 2 at 2 p.m. for Game 1 of their Regional series. Game 2 will be played May 3 at 12 noon, and Game 3, if necessary, will follow Game 2.

 

Paced by state batting champion Breanna Lutz, the Comets claimed their 11th consecutive Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship this year with a 15-0 record, marking the third straight season Palomar has finished unbeaten in conference play. Lutz, a sophomore third baseman, batted .571 during the regular season.

 

The Comets finished the regular season with a 36-3 record, while the Cougars are 20-20 going into the playoffs following a fourth-place finish in the Western State Conference South. Palomar has won 32 of its last 33 games, including the last 11 straight. The Comets were voted the No. 1-ranked team in the state in the final regular-season 3CFCA poll, trading places for the third time this season with No. 2 West Valley.

 

The top two seeds for the SoCal Regionals are the co-champions of the Orange Empire Conference. Orange Coast is seeded No. 1 with a 28-7 record, and Cypress is the No. 2 seed at 31-9. The Comets split two games with Orange Coast this season and swept a doubleheader against Cypress.

 

Orange Coast will host the lowest remaining seed of the play-in games matching No. 15 Ventura (26-8) against No. 18 Chaffey (22-28) and No. 16 Mt. San Jacinto (29-10) against No. 17 Moorpark (21-13). Cypress will host the highest remaining seed from the play-in matchups.

 

Other first-round pairings for the SoCal Regionals include No. 4 seed and South Coast Conference champion Long Beach City (36-4) hosting No. 13 Bakersfield (21-19), No. 5 El Camino (33-7) hosting No. 12 seed and PCAC runner-up San Diego Mesa (24-15), No. 6 Cerritos (29-10) hosting No. 11 seed and WSC South champion Citrus (24-16), No. 7 Mt. San Antonio (26-13) hosting No. 10 seed and defending state champion Fullerton (17-21), and No. 8 Saddleback (23-14) hosting No. 9 Antelope Valley (27-9).

 

In the North Region, the top-seeded team is West Valley College (37-3), co-champion of the Coast Conference along with No. 2 seed College of San Mateo (35-3). Central Valley Conference co-champion College of the Sequoias (28-9) is the No. 3 seed, and Golden Valley Conference champion Yuba (33-6-1) is the No. 4 seed and is bringing a 21-game win streak into the playoffs.

 

West Valley is hosting the CCCAA eight-team state championship tournament May 15-18.