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ABOVE: Reggie Jones (2) heads to first afs he beats out a perfecty-placed suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth innking,scoring Christian Johnson (3) from third and givilng Palomar a 2-0 lead. -- Photo by Hugh Cox. BELOW LEFT: Catcher Audie Afeni, who had a big day both at the plate and defensively for the Comets. BELOW RIGHT: Casey Munoz, who doubled and singled.

Comets rock Santa Ana 7-0 to open season

SAN MARCOS (2-03-2012) -- Palomar, ranked No. 8 among the nation's community colleges by PerfectGame.org, got six shutout innings from starter Julian Esquibel and three hits from Nico Garella on Friday as the Comets opened their baseball season with a 7-0 victory over Santa Ana.

The Dons came to town ranked No. 1 in California and on the Pacific Coast by the American Baseball Coaches Association and No. 1 in Southern California by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association.

Esquibel, a sophomore right-hander out of Vista High School, who was the Comets' ace starter a year ago, scattered four hits in his six innings, getting nine ground-ball outs and getting strong defensive support. Freshman left-handers Kyle Montiel and Matt Silberman came on in relief to preserve the shutout.

Gabrella, a red-shirt freshman shortstop from Cathedral Catholic High School by way of UC Santa Barbara, led a 14-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored as the Comets' leadoff hitter.

Audie Afenir (2-for-4, double, two runs scored), Casey Munoz (2-for 2-for--4, double, RBI) and Christian Johnson (2-for-3, run scored) also had multiple-hit games.

Danny Hanksley doubled in two runs, .and Tommy Cheek and Austin Muehring each doubled in a run. Reggie Jones beat out a suicide squeeze bunt for an RBI single. Cheek and Josh Sabourin also got down crucial bunts as the Comets forced the Dons into erros with nearly-flawless execution.

Palomar played errorlerss ball in back of its pitchers, and second-generation Comet catcher Audie Afenir had a big day defensively. He picked off a runner, threw out a runner trying to steal and made a good play to get another runner trying to score on a throw from Munoz in left to complee a game-ending double play.

Johnson, playing second base, handled seven chances in the field and turned a double play, taking a throw from Cheek at short and relaying the ball to Hawksley at first.

Sabourin also hit safely.

The Comets go on the road to play Ventura on Saturday at 1 p.m..

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PC pounds ball but early mound meltdown fatal

VENTURA (2-04-2012) -- Palomar continued to pound the ball at lthe plate on Saturday, but early-game pitching problems proved deadly as the Comets dropped a 13-8 non-conference decision to Ventura.

The Comets, coming off a 7-0 victory over highly-regarded Santa Ana to open the season Friday, knocked out 14 more hits against the Pirates, led by Reggie Jones (3-for-4, double, 4 RBIs, sacrifice bunt), Tommy Cheek (3-for-5, double, RBI) and Casey Munoz (3-for-5, double).

Palomar (1-1) couldn't hold early leads of 3-0 after a half-inning and 4-3 after 1 1/2 innings as Ventura (1-0) pushed 10 runs (8 earned) on 9 hits over the first four innings.

The Comets did get a superb relief inning from D.J. Zapata, who spent three seasons as a quarterback in the football programs at the University of Montana and Palomar since last pitching for Mission Hills as a high school senior. Zapata threw a scoreless seventh inning, recording two strikeouts and getting a weak ground out to first base.

Austin Muehring had a double and two walks for the Comets. Audie Afenir singled and drove in two runs. Josh Sabourin singled and walked. Nico Garbella contributed a single.

Comets 4th in SoCal, 6th in state, 8th on Coast

SAN MARCOS (1-10-2012) -- Palomar is ranked No. 4 in the pre-season among Southern California community college baseball teams sixth in the state and No. 8 on the West Coast as the Comets await their 2012 opener Feb. 3 at Myers Field against Santa Ana. The Dons are No. 1 in all three polls.

The Southern Cal poll was released by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association. The American Baseball Coaches Association sponsors the state and Pacific Divisions (California, Oregon, Washington) rankings.

Among teams ranked in the Top 20 in the Southern Cal poll, coach Buck Taylor's Comets will play No. 1 Santa Ana twice, No. 2 Orange Coast twice, No. 5 Cypress once, No. 14 Southwestern five times and No. 17 San Diego Mesa five times during the regular season.

SOUTHERN CAL: 1 Santa Ana, 2 Orange Coast, 3 Rio Hondo, 4 Palomar, 5 Cypress,. 6 Glendale,  7 Cuesta, 8 Chaffey, 9 Riverside CC, 10 Hancock.  ... STATE: 1 Santa Ana, 2 San Joaquin Delta, 3 Orange Coast, 4 Rio Hondo, 5 Cypress, 6 Palomar, 7 Ohlone, 8 Cypress, 9 Sierra, 10 Glendale. ... PACIFIC DIVISIONS (CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON): 1 Santa Ana, 2 San Joaquin Delta, 3 Bellevue (WA), 4 Orange Coast, 5 San Mateo, 6 Rio Hondo, 7 Lower Columbia (WA), 8 Palomar, 9 Ohlone, 10 Cypress

Saladino 3rd-best prospect in Sox system

CHICAGO (1-10-2012) -- Former Palomar shortstop Tyler Saladino will head to Major League spring training with the Chicago White Sox for the second straight season ranked as one of the top prospects in the Sox' organization.

Two web sites, Baseball Instinct.com and Bullpen Banter.com, both rank the former Comet and 2010 Summit League Player of the Year at Oral Roberts University as the third-best prospect at all positions in the White Sox organization.

Saladino sustained a fractured hand in a Major League spring training game for the White Sox a year ago and missed more than a month to begin the season before slugging 16 home runs with 26 doubles, nine triples and a .501 slugging percentage at Double-A Winston-Salem.

He'll report to White Sox Major League spring training camp at Glendale, AZ for the second year in a row as a non-roster player. The other ex-Comet reporting to Major League spring training, pitcher Nick Vincent, is on the San Diego Padres' 40-man roster.

Saladino dominated for the Comets during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, then also dominated Division I pitching during his junior season at Oral Roberts in 2010 before being drafted by the White Sox in the seventh round.

He'd been a 36th-round selection of the Houston Astros coming out of University City High School in 2007.

Saladino credits his two seasons with the Comets so much for his development as a baseball player that he lists "Palomar" instead of "Oral Roberts" as his college on all of his Major League and Minor League bios.

On the fast track to making the Sox' Major League roster, Saladino was one of three ex-Comets who spent the past off-season in the prestigious Arizona Instructional League.

Padres elevate Vincent to their 40-man roster

SAN DIEGO  (11-19-11) -- Right-hander Nick Vincent, who made a quantum jump in his baseball career while pitching at Palomar, was elevated by the San Diego Padres to their 40-man Major League roster on Friday.

Vincent, 25, a Ramona High School product, came into his own as a Comet with 20 career victories, second-best in Palomar history.

After an outstanding junior season at Long Beach State, he was drafted and signed by the Padres in 2008.

Vincent was a finalist for Outstanding Double-A Reliever in Minor League Baseball in 2011, when he was 8-2 with 3 saves, a 2.27 ERA and 54 hits, 89 strikeouts, and 20 walks in 79 1/3 innings in helping lead San Antonio to the Texas League championship and the best record of any minor league team on any level..

The Padres' pitching coach is another former Comet, Darren Balsley.