(5/6/08) 

Freshman left-hander Matt Strom pitched a four-hit, complete-game shutout on Tuesday as Palomar downed Santa Barbara City College 3-0 at Myers Field to begin the Southern California Community College baseball regionals.

Strom, who pitched out of the bullpen until late March, struck out 10 and walked none as he lowered his earned run average to 0.91 with 41 strikeouts and only seven walks over 39 2/3 innings.

Along the way, he became the first Palomar pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout since Nick Vincent, now at Long Beach State, beat Rio Hondo 1-0 in a Southern Cal regional game on May 13, 2006.

Mitch Blackburn (3-for-4, RBI) and Eric Rodriguez (3-for-4, stolen base) led the way offensively as Palomar moved on to a best-of-three series against Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo this weekend. The Comets and Cougars will play the first game Friday at 2 p.m., with the second game at 11 a.m. Saturday and a third game, if necessary, to follow.

Jake Onorato broke up a scoreless pitching duel between Strom and 6-foot-6 Vaqueros right-hander Blake McFarland with a sixth-inning sacrifice fly that scored Blackburn, who was aboard on a single.

Jason Laws, the next batter, singled to drive in Guy Willeford, also aboard on a single, with the second Palomar run. Blackburn singled in the Comets' third run in the seventh inning, driving in Rodriguez. Rodriguez had singled, stolen second and advanced to third on Tyler Saladino's second sacrifice  bunt of the game.

Onorato, playing right field, went to the top of the bank in the first inning to catch a long fly ball by Aaron Bauman and rob him of an extra-base hit. Rodriguez made two outstanding catches, going up the bank in straight-away center to take an extra- base hit away from Andrew Leighty in the third inning and making a diving catch coming in on Brendan Pichettoe's blooper in the ninth.

"I don't worry about (the other team's) hitting the ball with our defense," Strom said.

Onorato singled for the Comets' other hit, rounding out an eight-hit attack off three Santa Barbara pitchers.

Palomar advanced to 26-19.

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(5/3/08) 

Kicker Joe Carithers became the 19th Palomar football player to move on to the four-year college level on Friday evening when he accepted a full scholarship to NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan University of the MAC.

Carithers made eight-of-14 field goals and 40-of-42 PAT's for Palomar's 2007 team. The Eagles' 2008 schedule includes games at Michigan State on Sept. 6, Maryland on Sept. 20 and Army on Oct. 11.

(5/1/08) 

Sam Jew pitched eight innings of one-run, six-hit ball Thursday as Palomar closed the regular season with a 4-1 victory over Imperial Valley at Myers Field.

Jew (3-1) struck out seven and walked none as the Comets advanced to 25-19, 18-7 to finish alone in second in the Pacific Coast Conference entering the Southern California playoffs which begin next week.

Tyler Saladino (3-for-5, two doubles, one run scored) and Mitch Blackburn (3-for-3, one walk, two runs scored) paced a 10-hit attack for Palomar. Colby Ho reached base for the 20th and 21st time this season as a hit batter.

Jimmy Hoyt came on to pitch shutout ball in the ninth inning, picking up his first save.

Palomar will either be in the play-in game on Tuesday or will open the postseason with a first-round best-of-three series next weekend (May 9-10). The seeding meeting for the Southern Cal playoffs is slated for Sunday.

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(4/28/08) 

Palomar J.C. Grid-Wire second-team All-America linebacker Mike Bethea has signed with the University of Nevada and will play for the Wolf Pack of the Western Athletic Conference this upcoming Fall.

Bethea, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound La Costa Canyons High School product, led the Comets' 2007 team in tackles (77 in 10 games), solo tackles (38) and tackles for losses (10). He also had an interception and a fumble recovery.

Also, All-Mission Conference center Vic Aquilina signed became the third Comet to sign with Western Carolina.

The signings bring the list of Palomar players moving on to the four-year college level to 18 and counting.

Five additional Comets are close to choosing four-year colleges.

(4/26/08) 

Palomar's men's and women's swim teams both finished second in team scoring in the  Pacific Coast Conference Championships that concluded a three-day run Saturday at Wallace Memorial Pool.

The Comets' men's team of Michael Jordan, David Patel, Shawn Morris and Ryan DeLuna won the men's 400 medley relay in 3:54.72. Ali Karbossi took home the gold medal in the 400 individual medley in 4:41.16.

Palomar's women won eight events, led by Tristan Kennedy who placed first in the 100 IM (1:06.01), the 200 IM (2:24.46) and the 100 backstroke (1:05.64) and also swam on four victorious relay teams. Amie Potter captured the 1,650 freestyle in 20:32.28.

Katelyn Mascoto, Kennedy, Ave Woods and Lauren Brkich won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:45.34. Kennedy, Sam Alderton, Brkich and Woods took first in the 400 medley relay in 4:26.81. Kennedy, Brkich, Alderton and Mascoto won the 200 medley relay in 1:58.71. Brkich, Mascoto, Woods and Kennedy won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:51.47.

(4/23/08) 

Palomar went on the road and stunned Pacific Coast Conference champion Southwestern 3-1 on Thursday, beating conference pitching leader Daniel Stenavich.

The Comets' Sam Jew (left, 2-1) won a pitchers' duel from Stenavich, who came into the game with a 7-1 record and ERAs of 1.64 (overall) and 1.45 (conference).

Jew, a freshman right-hander from Kalamunda, Perth, Australia, stopped the Jaguars (30-10, 20-2) on eight hits and one run over the first eighth innings.

Sophomore right-hander Kegan Sharp pitched the ninth for save No. 7, moving to second on the all-time Palomar single-season list. The save also was Sharp's seventh in conference play, breaking the Palomar record of six that he had tied against Grossmont on April 19.

Jerry Stafford, who went on to pitch for San Diego State and in the Florida Marlins organization, had set the old mark in 1990. Chris Adams, who later pitched for the University of New Mexico, first tied it a year later.

After a lead-off walk, Sharp retired the final three Southwestern batters on a strikeout looking and two ground balls.

The Comets, trailing 1-0, scored three runs in the top of the sixth on Eric Rodriguez' triple to right field, Mitch Blackburn's sacrifice fly to center, Guy Willeford's fifth home run of the season over the rightfield fence and a Southwestern error. Willeford and Anthony Renteria each went 2-for-4. Rodriguez went 2-for-5.

Mitch Ferguson, normally a relief pitcher, and Jason Laws, the Comets'  regular catcher, both made their first appearances of the season as infielders.

Ferguson played the whole game at second base and had the Comets' first hit of the game off Stenavich, an opposite-field single with two out in the third inning. Ferguson had two putouts and seven assists. He made a diving stop to throw out Southwestern clean-up hitter Edgar Molina in the third inning and turned a line drive by Taylor Comford into a fourth-inning double play -- throwing to first to double off the Jaguars' Ryan Feriss. Laws played the entire game at third and had a putout and three assists.

The Comets (23-18, 16-6) locked up undisputed second place with the victory. The two teams will play again on Saturday at noon at Myers Field.

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(4/22/08) 

Tyler Saladino went 3-for-4, slugged his fourth home run, doubled and reached base as a hit batter on Tuesday, but second-place Palomar dropped a 5-2 Pacific Coast Conference decision to third-place Grossmont at Myers Field.

The Comets had only two runs to show for 12 hits as they dropped to 22-18 on the season, 15-6 in conference going into a two-game series with newly-crowned PCC champion Southwestern on Thursday at Southwestern and Saturday at home.

Palomar leads Grossmont by four games with four to play, so the Comets' "magic number" remains at one -- one Palomar victory or one Grossmont loss -- to clinch second place outright. The Comets have already wrapped up the conference's No. 2 playoff berth by winning their season series from Grossmont four games to one.

Kellen Lee went 2-for-4 with a double and a single for Palomar. The Comets, trailing 5-0, scored their first run in the eighth inning on a walk to Colby Ho, pinch-hitter Jake Onorato's fielder's choice and pinch-hitter Reece Alnas' RBI single to up the middle. Saladino's solo homer over the rightfield fence to lead off the bottom of the ninth made the final score 5-2.

The Comets got effective relief pitching from Tyler Hamilton (2 2/3 innings, two hits, one run), Andrew Jenkins (1 2/3 innings, 0 runs) and Jimmy Hoyt (one inning, no hits, no runs).

Eric Rodriguez went up the bank in center field to make two spectacular catches against the fence for Palomar.

Over Palomar's last three games -- victories over San Diego Mesa and Grossmont and Tuesday's loss to the Griffins -- Saladino is 6-for-9 with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs, five runs scored, three walks and a hit-by-pitch.

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(4/19/08) 

Cypress' softball team is 45-0 against everyone else this season but is 1-2 vs. Palomar.

The Comets, who earlier snapped the Chargers' 36-game win streak on April 5 at Cypress, beat them again Saturday, this time 5-3 at home. That sent the Chargers "tumbling" to 46-2.

Andi Anti (left) went 3-for-3 with a double and Alex Hutchinson (right) threw a seven-hitter. The Comets, trailing 2-1, scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by  Christy Kearney's two-run single, to take a 5-2 lead. A run in the top of the seventh left Cypress a run short. Brenda Gill was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Shawna Barrow went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

(4/19/08) 

Matt Strom (left), Palomar's most effective relief pitcher, finally got a start on Saturday. You can bet the farm it will not be his last.

The freshman left-hander, working ahead of almost every hitter he faced, pitched seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball, striking out five and walking none, in an 11-6 Pacific Coast Conference victory over host Grossmont. He threw 87 pitches

The Griffins, battling back from an 8-0 deficit after Strom left the game, scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull to within two runs at 8-6. But freshman shortstop Tyler Saladino (right) slugged a three-run home run over the rightfield fence in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Palomar had stretched a 4-0 lead to 8-0 in the top of the eighth, when Guy Willeford slugged a three-run home run to right. Mitch Blackburn preceded Willeford's HR with an RBI single earlier in the inning. Willeford had four RBIs for the day.

Kegan Sharp came on to get the Comets out of the eighth inning, tacked on a scoreless ninth and notched his sixth save.

Strom, pitching this season for the first time since he threw two no-hitters for Temecula Valley High School in 2003, now has an ERA of 0.73 on the season, with 26 strikeouts and six walks in 24 2/3 innings. In conference, he's 1-1 with an ERA of 0.50, and 17 strikeouts and four walks in 16 innings.

His previous 13 appearances had all been in relief.

The second-place Comets (22-17, 15-5) now lead the third-place Griffins (17-18, 10-10) by five games with five to play.

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(4/17/08) 

Tyler Saladino's (left) bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Palomar to a come-from-behind, 8-4 Pacific Coast Conference baseball win over San Diego Mesa on Thursday at Myers Field.

The Comets, who trailed early 4-0, scored five times in the inning to give freshman right-handed Australian Sam Jew (lright), who threw 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball, the pitching win in relief.

With Palomar down 4-3, Jason Laws led off the inning with a single to left and pinch-runner beat the throw to second on Matt Frankfurth's sacrifice fielder's choice. Eric Rodriguez singled on a picture-perfect bunt just inside the third-base line, when Mesa pitcher Blake Gallacher had no chance to throw out Rodriguez and had to eat the ball.

Saladino followed with his three-run double, giving the Comets a 6-4 lead. Saladino scored when Mitch Blackburn was safe at second on a sacrifice bunt an an error. Guy Willeford bunted Blackburn to third, he came home on Colby Ho's suicide squeeze bunt.

Kegan Sharp then came on to shut out the Olympians in the top of  the ninth.

Saladino went 2-for-3 with the double, a walk, two runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base. He also was hit by a pitch.

Palomar advances to 14-5 in conference, 21-17 on the season, and solidified its hold on second place when Grossmont lost to San Diego City College in extra  innings.

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(4/14/08) 

Tyler Schmuckle (left) carded a 3-under par 69 on Monday at Twin Oaks Golf Club as Palomar closed its regular season 12-4 and captured an Orange Empire Conference regular-season championship by winning a four-way match.

The Comets 362 easily outdistanced Irvine Valley's 393, Orange Coast's 396 and Riverside Community College's 426.

Ryan Card shot a 71 for Palomar. Scott Wyers had a 72, Steve Steilen 73 and Thomas Chu 77.

(4/10/08) 

Jake Onorato's (left) two-run double on a 3-2 count in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday drove in the tying and winning runs and gave Palomar a wild 10-9 victory over San Diego City College at Myers Field.

The Knights, taking advantage of seven Palomar errors in possibly the most sloppy game the Comets have played all season, rallied from an 8-2 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the top of the eighth,.

Guy Willeford then led off the bottom of the ninth by drawing a walk.

Jared Jones bunted pinch-runner Reece Alnas to second and Anthony Renteria (right), working City College reliever Matt Veltmann deep into the count, was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second.

That brought up Onorato, who hit a towering drive into the right-centerfield gap to score Alnas and Renteria and win the game.

Renteria hit a long, high two-run home run over the rightfield fence in the fifth inning for the Comets (20-16, 13-4 Pacific Coast Conference). On the day, he also had a sacrifice bunt and scored three runs.

Eric Rodriguez (2-for-4, double) and Mitch Blackburn (2-for-3, RBI) had multiple-hit games.

Kegan Sharp, the fifth Palomar pitcher of the afternoon, came on with two outs in the eighth inning and picked up the victory after Palomar's ninth-inning rally.

Palomar starter Joe Cates got shaky defensive support as he pitched five-hit ball over the first six innings and allowed two runs, both unearned. He left the game with an 8-2 lead that the Knights (14-15, 6-11) erased with a six-run eighth inning.

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(4/9/08) 

Palomar got 12 kills from Casey Sawyer (left) and stunned defending state community college champion Irvine Valley in a three-game sweep Wednesday evening in Irvine.

The Comets broke the Lasers' 13-match win streak 33-31, 30-22, 30-27. Irvine Valley came into the match 15-1 on the season (10-0 in the Pacific Coast Conference) and hadn't lost in almost two months, since falling to Los Angeles Pierce  on Feb. 15.

Steve Schleicher added 11 kills as the Comets kept their postseason playoff hopes alive. Palomar is 8-8 on the season, 6-4 in the Pacific Coast Conference.