Palomar Comets Baseball 2008

MITCH BLACKBURN

NO. 4 / INF, SO, 5-8, 175; BATS: Left; THROWS: Right

HOMETOWN: Temecula, CA

HIGH SCHOOL: Temecula Valley (Class of 2006)

NCAA DIVISION I COLLEGE: Has committed to San Diego State  University.

PERSONAL: Born Dec. 21, 1987, in Anaheim. ... Son of Mark and Anne Blackburn. ... Has two brothers, Mark (23) and Matt (16), and one sister, Jenese (14).

2008 SEASON: First-team All-Pacific Coast Conference selection for the second straight year and being heavily recruited by NAIA World Series-bound Jamestown College of North Dakota. ... Batted .354, second-best on the club, with 11 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 26 RBIs as the Comets' regular second baseman. ... Also was outstanding at shortstop, the position he played in high school, and third base, where he was an All-PCC selection as a freshman. ... Hit .462 (6-for-13) and doubled three times in three post season games ... Hit .352 in conference games. ... Normally batted second in the order, but also both led off and batted in the No. 3 hole. ...  Reached base 23 times on walks, second on the club, and 11 times as a hit batter. ... Led the team with 16 successful sacrifice bunts and was particularly dangerous in suicide squeeze situations. ... Had seven stolen bases in eight attempts. ... Started 46 of the Comets' 47 games. ... Started 85 times in his two Palomar seasons. ... Went 2-for-4 in an 8-4 victory over Chaffey on Feb. 2. ... Slugged a home run over the rightfield fence at Myers Field as he went 3-for-4 with two RBIs against San Bernardino Valley on Feb. 8. ...Was 2-for-4, doubled and drove in a run against Mt. San Jacinto on Feb. 14. ... Went 2-for-5 in a 9-4 win at Mt. SAC on Feb.15. ... Was 2-for-5 with an RBI against Orange Coast on Feb. 19. ... Went 2-for-4 in a 5-2 win over San Diego Mesa on Feb. 26 .... Helped lead the Comets to a 15-6 win over San Diego City College on the road on Feb.27 by going 2-for-4, tripling, driving in two runs and scoring three. Also walked twice and was on base four times in the game. ...Tripled in a 7-4 win over San Diego City on March 6. ...Was 2-for-4 in a 4-2 win over the Knights on March 8. ... Had a two-run double to help ignite a 13-4 road win against Mesa on March 11. ... Went 3-for-5 and doubled twice, driving din three runs and scoring three, as the Comets beat San Joaquin Delta 10-4 on March 20. ... Went 3-for-5 with an RBI in a 7-5 victory over Grossmont on March 25. ... Was 2-for-4 and stole a base in a 7-2 victory at Imperial Valley on April 3. ... Singled to drive in a run in the Comets' four-run eighth inning on April 19. Also reached base twice as a hit batter in a game Palomar eventually won 11-6 to stay alive in the conference race and clinch at least a tie for second place. ... His sacrifice fly in the sixth inning on April 24 drove in the tying run as the Comets went on to knock off conference champion Southwestern 3-1. ... Went 3-for-4, doubled, walked, and drove in a run in a rematch against the Jaguars on April 26. ... Homered in a 13-2 win over Imperial Valley on April 29. ... Was 3-for-3, walked and scored two runs as the Comets beat the Arabs 4-1 on May 1. Singled and scored what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the first inning. ... Went 3-for-4, scored what turned out to be the winning run in the sixth inning and singled to drive in the Comets' third run in the seventh in a 3-0 victory over Santa Barbara City College on May 6 to begin Southern California Regional play. ... Got down a successful sacrifice bunt in the first inning as Palomar took a 2-0 lead in its Regional series at Southern California No. 2 seed Cuesta on May 9. Also singled in the seventh inning in a game the Comets eventually lost. ... Was 2-for-5 with two doubles as the Comets extended the Cougars to 10 innings in a 6-5 loss on May 10 that ended Palomar's season.

2007 SEASON: Was a first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference selection as a true freshman as the Comets' primary starter at third base. ... Hit .339 for Pacific Coast Conference games. ... Batted .286 on the season with eight doubles (third on the team). ... Wecond on the club with 20 walks and reached base seven times as a hit batter. ... Had a .432 on-base percentage and was third on the team with Nine sacrifice bunts. ... Singled to drive in a run and also walked twice in an 18-10 victory at Mt. San Jacinto on Feb. 6. ... Drove in two runs with a double and also had a sacrifice and a walk against nationally No. 2-ranked Riverside Community College on Feb. 9. ... Lined a single to left field with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to break up Orange Coast's Ryan Shopshire's no-hitter on Feb. 22. ...Went 2-for-2, walked twice, was hit by a pitch, got down a sacrifice bunt and drove in a run as the Comets beat Southwestern 11-6 in 12 innings on March 8. ... Was 2-for-4 with three RBIs in an 8-3 win over the Jaguars on March 10. ... His two-run double into the right-field corner in the eighth inning broke open a close game as the Comets beat Grossmont  9-5 on the road on March 13. ... Went 3-for-4 with an RBI on the road against San Diego City College on March 29. ... Was 2-for-4 and doubled in a run as the Comets beat the Knights 9-2 on March 31. ... Went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in an 11-3 win at Imperial Valley on April 21. ... Was 2-for-3, tripled and drove in three runs in a 6-0 victory at conference champion San Diego Mesa on April 26.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Batted .325 playing for coach David Barrett at Temecula Valley High School. ... Had a .400-plus on-base percentage for the Golden Bears. ... Was honored with team's Most Consistent Player award.

(Updated as of Summer 2008)