Comets 2nd in
State
Palomar
College became the first San Diego County
baseball team to reach the State Community
College championship game in 31 years by winning
its first two games in the State Final Four May
28-29 in Fresno.
But
the Comets (34-11) came up just short in their
State title bid when Santa Rosa (32-15) swept two
games from the Comets 5-1 and 13-4 on Monday, May
30, at Fresno City College's John Euless Ballpark
to capture its first State title since 1952.
"There
are 88 community college baseball teams in
California and we were one of the final two left
standing," retiring coach Bob Vetter said.
"We've can't let what happened today detract
from what this group of players accomplished.
They had a great season."
Palomar
10, Santa Rosa 5 — The Comets
opened play in the Final Four by beating the Bear
Cubs on Friday 10-5. Erich
Kemp went 3-for-5 with a first-inning
home run and a double. Tristan
Gale went 2-for-2 with two doubles and
two RBIs, and Konoli
Fonseca was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two
stolen bases. Cameron
Penney also had
two hits. Brandon
Adams pitched the first eight innings to
record his 10th victory in 14 decisions, and Takane
Suzuki
came on in the ninth inning and retired all three
batters he faced.
Palomar
12, Fresno City College 9 — Dylan
Parzyk slugged a three-run home run and
drove in another run with a sacrifice fly,
helping lead the way as the Comets knocked off
the host Rams before an overflow crowd in the
winners' bracket finals on Sunday. Parzyk also
gunned down a runner trying to steal after a
Suzuki strikeout in the seventh inning. Gale went
4-for-5 with an RBI for the Comets. Brendan
McNamara pitched the first 5 1/3 innings to
record the win.
Santa
Rosa 5, Palomar 1 — The Comets had
a chance to lock up the State title in Monday
morning's game, but the Bear Cubs from North of
San Francisco forced an extra game behind the
one-hit pitching of Eric Keithley. Penney
singled in the
ninth inning for the lone Palomar hit. The Comets
wasted 1 1/3 hitless, scoreless relief innings
from Kevin Wilson, who
struck out 2 and walked 0.
Santa
Rosa 13, Palomar 4 — Kemp and Jose
Hernandez each went 2-for-4 but Santa Rosa
jumped in front early and won its first State
championship since Harry Truman was President of
the United States.
Goset transfers to Sac
State
Former
Palomar College pitcher Travis
Goset has transferred from the University
of Kansas to Sacramento State. The 6-foot,
3-inch, 190-pound left-hander had a 2.57 earned
run average in a limited role for the Jayhawks as
a junior this past season, striking out 7 batters
in 7 innings.
Goset
is 2-0 with a 4.11 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 15
2/3 innings for the San Diego Stars wood-bat team
this summer. The Western Wood Bat League champion
Stars will open play in the 71st National
Baseball Congress World Series Thursday, Aug. 4,
against the Oklahoma City A's at Wichita, Kan.
Goset threw a hitless, scoreless inning against
the Chinese Tapaei National Team on Monday at USC
as the Stars warmed up for the trip to Wichita.
Sac
State, a Division I independent since leaving the
Big West Conference, will play baseball in the
Western Athletic Conference next season.
Ex-Comets who have played for the Hornets include
outfielder Jesse Schmidt, a 10th-round pick of
the Giants in the 2003 draft who is playing in
the Cubs' organization, and pitcher Pat Edwards.
14 Comets are moving on
Palomar
College, second-place finisher to Santa Rosa in
the 2005 State Community College Baseball
Tournament, is sending 14 players from the squad
on to the four-year college level.
Center
fielder Tristan
Gale, an offensive and defensive
standout for the Comets in the State Final Four
over Memorial Day weekend in Fresno, this week
became the 14th member of the 2005 team to
commit. Gale will play at Sacramento State.
The
other Comets who have signed with Division I
schools are catcher Dylan
Parzyk (Kansas), right-handed pitcher Brandon
Adams (Oklahoma State), third baseman Erich
Kemp (Utah) and right-handed pitcher Brendan
McNamara (Oklahoma State).
Comets
headed to Division II schools are second baseman Joey
Burke (Chico State), catcher Scott
Clement (UC San Diego), shortstop Derek
Simper (San Francisco State), designated
hitter Justin
Lehr (Chico State, walk-on) and
right-handed pitcher Takane
Suzuki (San Francisco State).
Headed
to NAIA schools: outfielder Kenoli
Fonseca (Eastern Oregon), outfielder Terry
Moritz (Eastern Oregon), first baseman Chris
Poirier (Fresno Pacific) and right-handed
pitcher Ryohi
Tsukamoto (Eastern Oregon next spring).
Ex-Comet Ramos
All-American
Ex-Palomar
College baseball standout Joe Ramos, a senior
third baseman at Chico State, has been named to
the NCAA Division II All-America first team by
the American Baseball Coaches Association. Ramos
batted .380 and had a .973 fielding percentage
for the Wildcats, who advanced to the Division II
World Series. He has the seventh best career
average, .363, in Chico State history.
18 alums finish 4-year
season
Kansas
catcher Sean
Richardson and Chico State third baseman Joe
Ramos highlighted 2005 showings by 18 Palomar
alums in 4-year college baseball.
NCAA
D-I
Sean
Richardson, C, Kansas — Batted
.302 with 19 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs and
45 RBIs and was named All-Big 12 honorable
mention. Signed with the Twins after being
drafted in the 19th round.
Travis
Goset, LHP, Kansas — Compiled
2.57 earned run average in limited action. Struck
out 7 batters in 7 IP and was clocked at 90 miles
per hour.
Jon
Fleming, RHP, Cal Poly — Pitched
only 3 innings due to an injury, striking out 6
and finishing with a 3.00 ERA.
Chris
Sweeney, 1B, Oral Roberts —
Appeared in only 7 games due to an injury and
batted .200.
Cliff
Hinkle, INF, Sacramento St. —
Batted .226 in limited action.
NCAA
D-II — Joe Ramos
batted .380 for Chico St. and was a first-team
All-American. ... LHP Robert Anaya
notched 8 wins for Chico St. ... CF Carlos
Medina batted .322 with 7 doubles, 5
triples, 9 homers and 47 HRs for San Francisco
St., making All-California Collegiate Athletic
Association second team. ... SS Aaron
Garcia hit .312 with 16 RBIs for San
Francisco St. and was All-CCAA honorblable
mention. ... 1B Brian Robinson
hit .283 with 12 doubles, 5 HRs and 31 RBIs for
UC San Diego. ... OF Tyler Whiteman
(Stanisluas St.), P Mike Kearney
(UC San Diego) and INF Nobu Hishinumna
(San Francisco St.) red-shirted.
NAIA
— RHP Charlie Watson
(Biola) was 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and 15 strikeouts
in 15 2/3 innings. ... C Mike Cerda
(Cal Lutheran) hit .250 and drove in 13 runs. ...
RHP Brad Clipp (Point Loma
Nazarene) had a 5.85 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 20
innings. ... INF Brad Miller (Oklahoma
Baptist) hit .152 with 6 RBIs. ... LHP
Bobby Meyers (Point Loma Nazarene)
red-shirted.
Twins sign former Comet
Former
Palomar College catcher Sean
Richardson, a senior at the University of
Kansas who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in
the 19th round of the June 2005 draft, signed
with the Twins on Saturday, June 11.
Richardson,
a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award as the
nation's best collegiate catcher, will first
report to the Twins' Ft. Meyers, Fla., complex on
Wednesday, June 15, and then to the Elizabethton,
Tenn., Twins of the Class A short-season
Appalachian League, who will open the season June
21 against the Bluefield Orioles at home. The
21-year-old 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was signed by
scout Gregg Miller. In two seasons for the
Jayhawks, Richardson batted .317 with 34 doubles,
18 home runs and 114 runs batted in.
Richardson
and current Comet Clint
Preinsendorfer both
were selected in the draft on Wednesday, June 8.
Preisendorfer,
a Palomar freshman pitcher during the recently
concluded season, was taken by the New York
Yankees in the 31st round.
2 Palomar products
drafted
Former
Palomar College baseball standout Sean
Richardson and current
Comet pitcher Clint
Preinsendorfer both
were selected in the June 2005 draft on
Wednesday, June 8. Richardson,
a
senior catcher at the University of Kansas, was
drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 19th round.
Preisendorfer, a Palomar freshman during the
recently concluded season, was taken by the New
York Yankees in the 31st round.
In
two seasons for the Jayhawks, Richardson batted
.317 with 34 doubles, 18 home runs and 114 runs
batted in. Preisendorfer, a 6-foot-5 left-hander,
was 0-0 with a 4.82 earned run average over 18
1/3 innings for Palomar as a freshman during the
2005 season
Preisendorfer
also was drafted by the Yankees, in the 32nd
round, in 2004 after his senior season at La
Jolla Country Day School. Richardson prviously
was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 43rd
round in 2001, after his senior season at Vista
High School, and the 44th round in 2002, after
his freshman season at Palomar.
8
Comets, Vetter honored
Palomar
College landed eight players on the All-Pacific
Coast Confernece baseball first team selected
Tuesday, May 10, by conference coaches. Bob
Vetter was named conference Coach of the Year.
Comets
named to the first team were pitchers Brandon
Adams and Brendan McNamara, catcher Dylan Parzyk,
first baseman Cameron Penney, infielders Erich
Kemp and Joey Burke, and outfielders Kenoli
Fonseca and Terry Moritz.
Pitcher
Takane Suzuki, shortstop Derek Simper and center
fielder Tristan Gale were honorable mention
selections.
Comets: 5th title in 8
yrs.
Palomar College
finished the regular season 26-8, went 21-4 to
win its fifth Pacific Coast Conference
championship in the last eight seasons and will
enter the Southern California Regionals ranked
No.2 in Southern California by the California
Community College Baseball Coaches Association.
The regional pairings will be announced Monday,
May 9.
The Comets gave
coach Bob Vetter his 600th coaching victory and
500th win at Palomar during the 2004 season.
Comets' Terry
Moritz is safe at home in Super Regional action
vs. Southwestern.
 Bob Vetter
Buck Taylor
|
Vetter
retires;
Taylor
named
Bob
Vetter, who has guided Palomar College to
eight Pacific Coast Conference
championships and a 531-390-5 record in
24 seasons, will step down as head
baseball coach after the current season.
Associate
head coach Buck Taylor will be the
Comets' new head coach.
"I
feel comfortable retiring because I feel
I'm turning the program over to someone
who is ready to take it over,"
Vetter said. "Buck's young and
enthusiastic and has established a good
reputationin the community."
|
| CLICK
HERE
to view the North County Times' May 1
profile of retiring coach Bob Vetter CLICK
HERE
to view the North County Times' May 1
profile of new coach Buck Taylor
|
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