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ABOVE: Winning pitcher Cody Willingham, who threw four shutout relief innings to close out the game, deals agaionst San Diego City College on Tuesday. -- Photo by Hugh Cox. BELOW LEFT: Brett Clark, who drove in the winning run. BELOW RIGHT: Casey Munoz, whowse RBI single tied the game at 1-1 in the eighth and sent it to extra innings.

PC wins another one in 14th, retains title hopes

SAN MARCOS (4-24-2012) -- For the second straight game, the Palomar baseball team won on a walk-off hit in the 14th inning at Myers Field on Tuesday, this time 2-1 over San Diego City College on a single by Brett Clark.

Clark's hit went to right field and drove in Austin Muehring, in the game as a pinch-runner for Audie Afenir, who had singled to right with one out.

That gave Cody Willingham, Palomar's fourth pitcher of the game, the win and keeps the Comets alive in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference race with one game to play, on Thursday at Southwestern.

The Jaguars, a 14-3 winner over Grossmont and San Diego Mesa, a 14-2 winner over Impeial Valley, are tied for the conference lead, one game ahead of the Comets.

A Palomar win over Southwestern and a Grossmont upset over Mesa on Thursday, with ace pitcher Jack Disbro going for the Griffins, would create a three-way tie for the championship. A Palomar win and a Mesa win would hand the title to the Olympians and leave the Comets and Jaguars tied for second. Disbro (6-2, 1.67 ERA) beat the Olympians 14-1 last week.

A Southwestern win and a Mesa loss would give the championship to the Jaguars, with the Olympians finishing second and the Comets finishing third.

City took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the first inning, but starter D.J. Zapata and relievers Alex Cox, Nick Cunningham and Willingham shut out the Knights over the next 13 innings. Willingham came on with a runner at first and none out in the 11th and blanked City College the rest of the way.

Palomar tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth on Nico Garbella's double to lead off the inning, Reggie Jones' single to right and Casey Munoz' single to left which scored Garbella.

Afenir's hit led off the bottom of the 14th. With Daniel Lack, who normally would pinch-run for the Comets in that situation, in surgery at Sharp Hospital in San Diego after severing a tendfinal outon in a finger on his right hand in a non-baseball accident, Muehring ran for Afenir.

Tommy Cheek grounded back to the pitcher, who threw wildly to second trying to get Muehring. The play went as a fielder's choice and an error, and Clark followed with his walk-off hit.

Danny Hawksley went 2-for-3 with a walk in the game, and Garbella was part of back-to-back big defensive plays which defused a possible San Diego rally in the top of the fourth.

Garbella fielded a well-hit single by Kevn Garcia and, as Garcia tried to stretch his hit into a double,rifled the ball to the cutoff man, second-baseman Jones, who relayed the ball to Johnson at short. Johnson tagged out Garcia. Garbella then ran up the foot of the right-field bank to rob the next batter, Slater Putland, of an extra-base hit.

And Cox, the Comets' second pitcher of the day, picked off the Knights Alex Wick at first base on a first-and-third situation  for the final out in the top of the sixth.

ABOVE: Reggie Jones (2) heads home with the winning run on a walk-off single by Tommy Cheek (4) in the bottom of the 14th innings Saturday vs. Grossmont. BELOW: The Comets celebrate the victory, which keeps them alive in the PCAC championship race wtih two games to play. -- Photos by Deb Hellman. BELOW LEFT: Rusty Edwards, who pitched 4 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings to finish the game and record the win. BELOW RIGHT: Nico Garbella, who went 5-for-7 for the Comets.

Cheek's 14th-inning hit keeps PC alive in race

SAN MARCOS (4-21-2012) -- Nico Garbella went 5-for-7 and drove in two runs, Casey Munoz was 3-for-6 with a key double and a hit-by-pitch and Chris Sanders was 3-for-5 and also was hit by a pitch, Along the way, Palomar stayed alive in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball race Saturday.

Tommy Cheek singled to center with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 14th inning, driving in Reggie Jones with the winning run as the Comets rallied from an early 5-1 deficit at Myers Field to beat Grossmont 7-6.

Freshman left-hander Rusty Edwards pitched 4 1/3 innings of two-hit, shutout relief to record the victory. Edwasrd's dominance -- he struck out five and walked none -- capped a huge day by the Palomar bullpen that also included big performances from Kyle Montiel, Alex Cox and Nick Carmichael.

Palomar remains one game behind co-leaders Southwestern, a 6-2 winner over Imperial Valley, and San Diego Mesa, which beat San Diego City College 7-6 in11 innings. with two games remaining. The Comets host City College on Tuesday and close the regular season at Southwestern on Thursday, both at 2 p.m.

With one out in the bottomj of the 14th, Jones singled to left-center. Munoz banged an -opposite-field double to righ,t and Grossmont walked Audie Afenir intentionally to set up Cheek's game-winning hit.

Palomar also got big performance from catcher Rich Montanez, who threw out three runners tryng to steal, picked off a runner at first for the final out in the fourth inning and went 2-for-6 at the plate with a double and an RBI.

Ditto for Afenir, who was 2-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch and the intentional walk.

Jones also got down a pair of sacrifice bunts and, Christian Johnson got down one and, even though the Comets were hurt by three early errors in the first seven innings, they got some spectacular defensive plays from Johnson at shortstop and Sanders in center field.

Palomar banged out 16 hits.

The Comets overcame five hit-batters, four of them in the first four innings when the Griffins took their early 5-1 lead.

PC's collective backs at wall after loss to Mesa

SAN DIEGO (4-19-2012) -- Palomar's destiny in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball race is no longer in its own hands -- at least against San Diego Mesa.

The Olympians defeated the visiting Comets 4-1 on Thursday, one day after Palomar had beaten Southwestern to move into a three-way tie for first.

Chris Sanders (left) made two outstanding catches in center field, one racing back towards the fence in dead center and one coming in just in back of second base. But the Comets played perhaps their worst game of the season defensively except for that.with four errors coming at the worst possible times, coupled with some non-plays..

Palomar, trailing 4-0, finally got on the board in the top of  the ninth. Sanders led off with a sharp single to leftadvanced to second when Casey Munoz was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Audie Afenir's fielder's choice and scored on Tommy Cheek's sacrifice fly.

Afenir singled in the first inning and Cheek singled in the fourth for the Comets' only other its off two Mesa pitchers.

Starter Julian Esquibel, Callen Dawson and Rusty Edwards (right) all pitched effectively for Palomar, but defense and lack of hitting did the Comets in.

The Comets now trail Southwestern, a 3-2 winner over San Diego City College, and Mesa by one game with three to play.

The Comets don't play Mesa again and lost the teams' season series four games to one.

Palomar leads its season series with the Jaguars 4-0, with one game between the two teams remaining.

Head-to-head tie-breakers to determine ppost-season regionaol pairings aredetermined by  head-to-head results.

ABOVE: Winning pitcher Cody Willingham fires to the plate in Wednesday's 4-3 victory over Southwestern. -- Photo by Deb Hellman. BELOW LEFT: Chris Sanders, who went 2-for-3 and contributed a sacririce bunt. BELOW RIGHT: Closer Nick Carmichael, who notched his sixth save

Comets rally to move into tie for PCAC lead

SAN MARCOS (4-18-2012) -- Palomar, given up for dead late in the season, won again on Wednesday, coming from behind to beat Southwestern 4-3 in a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference make-up game at Myers field.

Tommy Cheek sparked the comeback with the biggest hit of the afternoon, Chris Sanders broke out of a slump by going 2-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. And Nick Carmichael notched save No. 6 with another dominating closing performance. in relief of winning pitcher Cody Willingham.

It was the Comets' fourth straight win and seventh victory in their last nine games. And, coupled with Grossmont's 14-1 upset of San Diego Mesa, the win puts Palomar into a three-way tie for the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference lead with Southwestern and Mesa with four games to play.

That sets up a huge game at Mesa on Thursday at 2 p.m., in which the Comets have an opportunity to knock the Olympians out of their tie for first.

The Comets had their share of heros as they came back from a 3-0 deficit entering the sixth.Palomar, trailing 1-0, tied the game in the bottom of the sixth as Nick Carbella singled to left with one out, moved up on Chris Sanders' ground-ball single through a huge gap on the right side of the infield and scored on Casey Munoz' RBI fielders choice ground-ball to third.

wesern errors and back-to-back singles by Reggie Jones and Christian Johnson, allowed the Comets to score three times in the inning as they wenrt in front 4-3.

Palomar made the lead stand up for the victory as Willingham threw three scoreless, hitless innings to record the pitching win, battling his way through four walks. Carmichael came on to record his second 1-2-3 ninth inning in two days for the save, retiring the top of the Jaguars' order on a ground out, a called third strike and another ground out.

Montanez also had a single for Palomar.

ABOVE: Palomar pinch-runner Matt Silberman steals third base in the sixth inning. -- Photo by Hugh Cox. BELOW LEFT: Nico Garbella, who had two doubles, a single and two RBIs for the Comets. BELOW RIGHT: Nick Carmichael, who struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save -- and third in the last week

Palomar moves to within 1 game of PCAC lead

SAN MARCOS (4-17-2012) -- Palomar's late-charging baseball team moved to within one game of first place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference with five games to play on Tuesday, eating visiting Imperial Valley 6-3 at Myers Field.

The Comets have closed to a game behind Southwestern and San Diego Mesa, who are tied for the conference lead for the conference lead after the Jaguars defeated the Olympians 1-0. Palomar hosts Southwestern in a rain make-up on Wednesday and will play a regularly-sched game against Mesa on Thursday in San Diego,

Right fielder Nico Garbella was the offensive star for Palomar, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Casey Munoz and Christian Johnson both were 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Clayton Voechting, the first of five Palomar pitchers, threw seven-plus innings to pick up the victory, while Nick Carmichael, who is coming on strong at the end of the season, struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save.

Danny Hawksley, Brett Clark, Tommy Cheek and Reggie Jones also hit safely for the Clomets.

Palomar's execution in the sixth allowed the Comets to score three times in the inning and break open a 2-1 game.

The Comets bunted successfully four times in the inning, including consecutive squeeze bunts by Jones, Johnson and Garbella that drove in the three runs. Jones' and Johnson's squeeze's both went for singles when IVC failed to cover first base on back-to-back plays.

Munoz and Cheek both singled iln the fourth inning, when the Comets tied the game at 1-1 after trailing early.

And Palomar added its final run in the bottom of lthe eighthon an error, another sacrifice bunt by Jones, a ground out and an RBI double by Garbella that drove in pinch-runner Daniel Lack.

Audie Afenir also got down a straight sacrifice unt furing the sixth-inning rally, giving the Comets six succesful sacrifrices for the afternoon.

 Comets move within 1 game of 2nd, 2 of 1st

CHULA VISTA (4-12-2012) -- Palomar, which came on late in the season to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Association baseball championship last season, may be getting hot at the right time again.

The Comets, who have lost 10 one-run games and have encountered  frustration at almost every turn all season long, defeated Southwestern for the second time in three days, 3-2 on Thursday afternoon.

Tommy Cheek (left) drove in pinch-runner Daniel Lack from second with the winning run with one out in the top of the ninth. That gave reliever Austin Muehring, who faced two batters,  the pitching win and Nick Carmichael (right), who retired the side in the bottom of the inning, his fourth save.

Lack was running for Audie Afenir, who had singled and alertly advanced to second when Southwestern's right fielder bobbled the ball. Afenir went 2-for-4 and so did Casey Munoz, who drove in Nick Garbella, who doubled on the first pitch of the game to give Palomar an early 1-0 lead.

Starter Julian Esquibel pitched seven strong innings to put the Comets in a position to win the game. Clayton Voechting relieved him to begin the eighth. Voechting surrendered the tying run before being relieved by Muehring later in the inning -- but picked Southwestern's James Bilburg off second base in what turned out to be one of the biggest plays of the afternoon.

It was only Palomar's third road win of the year, but it moved the Comets to within one game of the second-place Jaguars and two games of first-place San Diego Mesa, a 6-1 loser at Grossmont, in the PCAC race with six games remaining.

The Comets lead their five-game series with the Jaguars three games to none, which clinches the teams' season series and gives Palomar the tie-breaker entering the post-season if the teams finish in a tie in the standings.

With another game remaining Saturday at Myers Field, weather permitting, it's been a good week for Palomar and a bad week for Southwestern.

On Wednesday, the Comets beat the Jaguars 4-1. 

ABOVE: University of Kansas transfer Alex Cox, who earned the win by throwing 2 1/3 no-hit, scoreless relief innings, delivers a pitch.in the top of the seventh. BELOW LEFT: Center fielder Chris Sanders comes all the way in to catch a pop-up by the Jaguars' Andres Enriquez in the second inning. -- Photos by Hugh Cox. BELOW RIGHT: Danny Hawksley, who matched Southwestern's hit total for the game by going 3-for-4.

Pitchers, Afenir help PC knock Jags out of first

SAN MARCOS (4-10-2012) -- Starter D.J. Zapata, Alex Cox, Rusty Edwards, Austin Muehring and closer Nck Carmichael pitched a combined three-hitter on Tuesday at Myers Field as Palomar's baseball team knocked off Southwestern 4-1.

The loss bounced the Jaguars out of a tie for first-place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference with San Diego Mesa, which  leads Southwestern by a game after defeating Grossmont 3-2. Palomar is now alone in third, two games behind the Jaguars and three behind the Olympians with seven games remaining. The two teams are scheduled to play again on Thursday at Southwestern and on Saturday back at Myers field.

On a day Danny Hawksley matched the Jaguars' hit total by going 3-for-4, Audie Afenir returned to the line-up and was the Comets' hitting star for the afteroon. He went 2-for-3 with two doubles to right-center, the first one to break a 1-1 tiei in the sixth inning. Hawksley, who had singled, scored on the play.

Sidlined for a game after being hit in the head with a pitch last week, Afenir also reached base as a hit batter -- and played a big defensive role as he gunned down Southwestern's Stephen Johnson trying to steal in the second inning.

Palomar, geating up for a stretch run, played perhaps its best all-around game of the season. Zapata, Cox and Carmichael made a series of big defensive plays on the mound. The Comets got two huge extra-base hits late in the game that helped put Southwestern away -- Afenir's seventh-inning double to drive in Hawksley, aboard on his third single, and another booming double by Christian Johnson to right-center in the seventh.

Johnson advanced to third and then scored on key back-to-back sacrifice bunts by Nico Garbella and Chris Sanders. Sanders got down a perfect push bunt to the right side of the infield on a suicide squeeze that drove in the Conets' fourth run.

Zapata sarted and breezed through the first five innings, allowing only one hit. Southwestern got the first two runners on in the sixth on a single and an infield error. Palomar coach Buck Taylor went to his bullpen for transfer reliever Alex Cox.

The Jaguars scored an unearned run to tie the game in the inning. But Cox, who was the University of Kansas' Sunday starter a year ago, threw 2 1/3 dominant no-hit, shutout innings to record the pitching win.

Cox, Edwards, Muehring and Carmichael, who notched the save with a 1-2-3 ninth,combined on four hitless, scoreless innings.

Garbella, Tommy Cheek and Reggie Jones also hit safely for Palomar.

 Comets tagged with 10th one-run loss of year

SAN DIEGO (4-6-2012) -- Palomar, which has made repeated unsuccesful efforts to jump-start a stretch run, still remains unable to string together  more than two straight victories as the wild Pacific Coast Athletic Conference race winds down.

On Friday at Morley Field, right-handed pitcher Clayton Voechting (left) handcuffed San Diego City College for almost the entire afternoon only to lose a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Knights.

It was Palomar's 10th one-run loss of the season as the Comets again find themselves a game under .500 in conference and back in a tie for Grossmont, a 5-1 winner over Southwestern, in third place.

The Jaguars and San Diego Mesa, which avenged a Thursday toss bvy holding off Imperial Valley 4-3, are again tied for first place, with the Comets and Griffins three games back with just eight ames to play.

San Diego put together three of its six hits off Voeching and Nick Carmichael to score both of its runs in the second inning.,

Playing without leading season hitter Audie Afenir, who was hit in the head by a pitch in Thursday's win over the Knights, Palomar managed only four hits Friday off two City College pitchers.

Reggie Jones (right) got the Comets their only run when he doubled in the fifth inning to drive in Nico Garbella, who had walked.

Tommy Cheek had two of the four Palomar hits, singling in  the seventh inning and doubling in  the ninth.

Chris Sanders doubled in the sixth for the other Palomar hit.

Carmichael relieved Voechting with one out and one runner on in the eighth inning. The first batter he faced got on via an infield lthrowing error, putting runners at first and third.

Carmichael got Justin Atterbury to hit a ground ball back to the mlound for a double-play that gave the Comets an opportunity to win or tie the game in the top of the ninth, still trailing by only one run.

Cheek doubled to left with one out, but San Diego reliever Cole Chandler got Garbella to fly out to right and Jones to ground out to short, stranding pinch-runner Brett Clark at third.

The Comets will play co-leader Southwestern in a three-game series next week, beginning on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Myers Field.

ABOVE: Starter and winner Julian Esquibel pitches against San Diego City College in Palomar's 8-4 victory on Thursday at Myers Field. -- Photo by Hugh Gerhardt. BELOW LEFT: Nico Garbella, who  had two hits, drove in two runs and made a spectacular catch in right field. BELOW RIGHT: Alex Cox, who finished the game with four shutout relief innings.

Cox' 4 relief innings, Garbella's catch lead way

SAN MARCOS (4-05-2012) -- Nico Garbella left his feet to make a spectacular catch in right field and Alex Cox threw four shutout relief innings to record his first save at Myers Field on Thursiday as Palomar held off San Diego City College 8-4.

The win,coupled with Imperial Valley's 7-5 upset of San Diego Mesa and Southwestern's 6-0 victory over Grossmont, puts the Comets alone in third place in the PCAC, two games behind second-place Mesa.

Garbella's catch for the final out of the fifth inning robbed City College's Slater Putland of an extra-base hit and prevented the Knights, who had battled back from 5-0 and 6-1 deficits to close to 6-4, from tying the game.

Danny Hawksley (2-for-3, two doubles, hit-by-pitch, RBI), Rich Martinez (2-for-4, double, RBI), Garbella (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, steal) and Casey Munoz (2-for-5, hit-by-pitch) led an 11-hit attack for the Comets off three City pitchers. Reggie Jones and Tommy Cheek each doubled and drove in two runs.

Christian Johnson added a single and made two 360-degree fielding plays. On the first play, he threw to first base to get an out. On the second one, he stepped on second for an out, then threw to first to complete a double play.

Chris Sanders was robbed of a line-driver single to right when the Knights' Alex Wick, taking advantage of how quickly the hard-hit ball got to him, threw the ball to first to get Sanders by a step.

Starter Julian Esquibel picked up the pitching win for Palomar, advancing to 5-3 on the season.

The Comets and Knights will play the rubber game of their three game series on Friday at Morley Field in Balboa Park, beginning at 2 p.m.

Afenir 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs but PC can't hold lead

SAN DIEGO (4-3-2012) -- Palomar couldn't keep a good thing going on Tuesday as the Comets surrendered a three-run seventh inning to lose both the lead and the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball game to San Diego City College 5-4 at Morley Field.

It was Palomar's ninth one-run loss of the season.

Audie Afenir (left) went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs in the loss, while Austin Muehring (rifght)  threw 1 1/3 hitless innings to finish the game for the Comets. But, by the time Muehring came into the game, the damage had been done.

The Comets made a futile effort to come back in the top of the ninth, when Chris Sandersdoubled  with one out and Danny Hawksley doubled with two out to drive him in. But Daniel Lack, pinch-running for Hawksley, was left stranded at second.

Palomar wasted an 11-hit attack off three City College pitchers and was unable to hold starter D.J. Zapata's 3-2 lead through five innings.

Christian Johnson and Reggie Jones each went 2-for-4 for the Comets, who again dipped under .500 in the PCAC race at 7-8 with 10 conference games to play. Nico Garbella and Casey Munoz each contributed an RBI single.

The same two teams will play again on Thursday at Myers Field and on Friday back at Morley Field, both days at 2 p.m.

Voechting stops Grossmont with a 6-hitter

EL CAJON (3-31-2012) -- Right-hander Clayton Voechting (left) pitched a complete-game six-hitter and Tommy Cheek (right) homered, giving Palomar its second win in three days over Grossmont on Saturday 8-1.

Voechting dominated the Griffins from beginning to end, and finished with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth. The sophomore from Chaparral High School in Temecula retired Grossmont's batters in the inning with a strikeout, pop-up and another strikeout.

Cheek (2-for-5, two RBIs), Nico Garbella (2-for-4, two RBIs) and Audie Afenir (2-for-4, RBI) also had multiple hits as Palomar got to three Grossmnt pitchers for seven hits to even its conference record at 7-7.

Dan Hawksley contributed a double and an RBI. Chris Sanders had a single and an RBI. Rich Montanez and Reggie Jones also singled.

The Comets, still tied for third place and two games behind conference co-leaders Southwestern and San Diego Mesa, have a three-game series with San Diego College coming up this week.

They'll face City at Morley Field in Balboa Park on Tuesday and Friday, sandwiched around a home game with the Knights on Thursday, all at 2 p.m.

Zapata will become 3rd Comet at Santa Clara

SAN MARCOS (3-30-2012) -- Right-handed pitcher D.J. Zapata has committed to Santa Clara University and will become the third Palomar baseball product on scholarship on next year's Broncos team.

Zapata, who also was recruited by Virginia Tech, will join ex-Comets Casey Husband,, who his currently at Santa Clara, and current Palomar teammate Casey Munoz, who signed early with the Broncos, on the 2013 Santa Clara team.

Zapata, who spent two seasons as a football quarterback at the University of Montana, one as a red-shirt, and this past Fall as a QB at Palomar, is pitching this season for the first time since his senior season at Mission Hills High School  in 2009. He has a 2.25 ERA on the season (1.37 with a 1-1 record in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference).

Esquibel halts PC slide, beats G-House 7-2

SAN MARCOS (3-29-2012) -- Julian Esquibel (left) pitched a complete-game victory and Rich Montanez (right) led the way offensively by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk as Palomar rebounded into the baseball victory column on Thursday, beating Grossmont 7-2 at Myers Field.

The victory ended two weeks of frustration for the Comets, who suffered their eighth one-run loss of the season on Wednesday at Grossmont, 5-4 in 10 innings. Palomar hadn't won since it downed Imperial Valley 10-4 at Myers Field on March 13.

Esquibel overcame one bad inning, when the Griffins scored both their runs in a two-run, three-hit fourth, in the complete-game win as he advanced to 4-3 on the year.

Montanez, the Comets' catcher, ended the Griffins' rally when he gunned down Grossmont's Lauren Greenwood attmpting to steal second base with two outs.

Danny Hawksley doubled in a run and walked, Reggie Jones doubled and walked, Bico Garbella had a single and sacrifice fly, Chris Sanders singled and walked, and Audie Afenir singled as the Comets made the most of a seven-hit attack off four G-Housae pitchers.

The Comets remain two games behind PCAC co-leaders Southwestern, a 9-1 winner of Imperial Valley, and San Diego Mesa, which held off San Diego City College 3-2.

Palomar will travel to Grossmont for the rubber game of this week's three-game series on Saturday at noon. 

Palomar falls in 10 despite Zapata's pitching

EL CAJON (3-28-2012) -- Palomar got an outstanding starting pitching performance from D.J. Zapata (left) on Wednesday but he was long gone by the 10th inning, when the Comets lost another Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball decision, this one 5-4 to Grossmont.

Zapata threw two-hit, shutout ball over the first five innings and departed at that point with the Comets on top of the Griffins 2-0.

Palomar would eventually make five errors, still take a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th but see Grossmont score the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the inning.

Alex Cox eventually took the loss, allowing one earned run in 4 1/3 relief innings.

The Comets managed only five hits, all singles. Christian Johnson (right) went 2-for-4  Audie Afenir, Danny Hawksley and Tommy Cheek also hit safely.

It was Palomar's eighth one-run loss of what has been a frustrating season.

The two teams will play again on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Palomar.

Sanders is 5-for-9 with 4 steals but IVC sweeps

Palomar, which was tied with Grossmnt for first place entering the game and now is alone in second, one-half game behind the Griffins, will be off until Wednesday when the Comets host San Diego Mesa at 3 p.m. to begin a three-game series. The game was postponed from Tuesday due to wet grounds.

Zapata (5 shutout innings) gets win; Cheek 3-5

With storm on way, Comets set double-header

SAN MARCOS (3-14-2012) -- With an expected storm projected to dump at least 2 inches of rain on the area over the weekend, Palomar and Imperial Valley have moved Saturday's scheduled game at Myers Field to Thursday at Imperial.

The Comets, originally slated to play the Arabs in a single game at 2 p.m., now will play a double-header at IVC, starting at noon.

To prevent an inbalance in the teams' home and away games, the Tuesday, April 17 game with the Arabs, scheduled to be played at IVC, now will be played at Palomar.

Vincent records first save for Padres vs. Indians

GOODYEAR, Atizona (3-10-2012) -- Former Palomar all-state pitcher Nick Vincent still has yet to allow either a run or a hit in Major League spring training after picking up his first save on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians.

The right-handed Vincent, elevated to the Padres' 40-man roster in the off-season, threw a hitless, scoreless ninth inning as the Padres won 5-2.

At Glendale, Arizona, ex-Comet Tyler Saladino came into the game at shortstop against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Saladeino went 0-for-1.

ABOVE: Shortstop Reggie Jones throws to second to begin a double play that got the Comets out of the eighth inning. The play went to Nico Garbella at second to get Southwestern's lead runner Justin DiStefano, then to first baseman Danny Hawksley to get the batter, Stephen Johnson. -- Photo by Hugh Cox. BELOW LEFT: Winning pitcher Julian Esquibel. BELOW RIGHT: Nick Carmichael, who got the save

Esquibel wins, Carmichael K's three for save

 Esquibel is named PCAC's Athlete of the Week

Comets blank Knights on road, in tie for 1st

Vincent: 1 inning, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts for Padres

Comets fall, miss chance to take over 1st place

ABOVE: Palomar's Julian Esquibel, who beat Mesa on a complee-game four-hitter, strikes out Kevin Meriwether, the Olympians' leadoff batter in the ninth, on this pitch. Esquibel finished the game by retiring Mesa in order. BELOW LEFT: Second baseman Nico Garbella throws out Tyler Timmer for out No. 2 in the seventh inning. Timmer was the 15th of 18 straight batters Esquibel retired. -- Photos by Hugh Cox. BELOW RIGHT: Chris Sanders, who made a key diving catch in right field

Esquibel beats Mesa in 1-hour, 50-minutes

SAN MARCOS (3-01-2012) -- Julian Esquibel is back, and so are Palomar's defending Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball champions.

The Comets, who broke a four-game losing streak by beating Imperial Valley on Wednesday, downed San Diego Mesa 3-1 to advance to 2-0 in conference Thursday at Myers Field as Esquibel pitched a complete-game four-hitter.

The sophomore right-hander out of Vista High School -- whose brother Andres pitched for the Comets, for the University of Kansas and in the Seattle Mariners farm system -- took just 1-hour, 50-minutes to dispose of the Olympians.

Esquibel, a first-team All-PCAC selection last year as a freshman, returned to the form he'd demonstrated in beating state No. 1-ranked Santa Ana 7-0 in the Comets' opener, then pitching 7 2/3 shuutout innings vs. College of the Desert in his second start.

Esquibel, helped by a spectacular diving catch by right fielder Chris Sanders, gave up three straight hits in the top of the third after Sanders' inning-opening catch.

He got out of the inning when Mesa's Garrett Gallaher lined out to first baseman Danny Hawksley, who was playing in with the bases full but got back to the bag to double off the runner for the third out of the inning.

Beginning with Gallaher, Esquibel retired 18 straight batters before he walked Gallaher on a 3-2 count with two out in the eighth. Patrick De La Garza doubled to right center to drive in Gallaher, but Esquibel struck out pinch-hitter A.C. Herrera looking to end the inning. He then retired the Olympians in order in the top of the ninth.

Esquibel (2-0) got 15 ground-ball outs.

The Comets took a 2-0 lead in the second, after Audie Afenir drew a four-pitch walk, Tommy Cheek got down a sacrifice bunt that the Mesa pitcher mishandled for an error and Hawksley singled to left.

That loaded the bases with none out, With one down, Rich Montanez singled to right to drive in Afenir and Austin Muehring scored Cheek with a sacrifice fly to center.

Palomar added an insurance run in the fifth when Reggie Jones led off the inning with a walk and, with two out, Cheek drove him in by singling up the middle.

Muehring beat out an infield single to short in the foiurth inning and bith Sanders and Casey Munoz singled in the seventh for the Comets' other hits.

Palomar will try to advance to 6-8 overall, 3-0 in conference when the Comets visit Grossmont on Saturday, beginning at noon. Mesa is 5-7, 0-2 in conference.

ABOVE: Palomar's Tommy Cheek bunts for a base hit to load the bases with none out in what turned out to be a three-run fiourth inning. -- Photo by Hugh Cox. BELOW LEFT: Reggie Jones, who went 3-for-4 and made a big defensive play at shortstop. BELOW RIGHT: Nick Carmichael, who notched a save --Photo by Hugh Cox

Jones goes 3-for-4; Comets win PCAC opener

SAN MARCOS (2-29-2012) -- Reggie Jones went 3-for-4 and made one of two huge defensive plays for Palomar at Myers Field on Wednesday as the Comets opened their Pacific Coast Athletic Conference baseball lseason with a 7-5 win over Imperial Valley.

Coach Buck Taylor's Comets, trailing 5-4, scored three runs off IVC ace pitcher and current PCAC Athlete of the Week Esau Madrigal in the bottom of the fifth inning to win it.

Jones, a transfer from the University of Washington, singled with one out to get the rally untracked. After Casey Munoz was safe on an error by the shortstop, Audie Afenir tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center.

Tommy Cheek worked Madrigal for a walk, and Danny Hawksley and Nico Grabella followed with back-to-back RBI singles.

D.J. Zapata, who came out late after football season and is just now trying to extend, started and pitched 2 2/3 strong innings, striking out three, beforel suddenly tiring.

Rusty Edwards and Kyle Montiel both were effective in relief, with Edwards picking up the win, Palomar's ace closer Nick Carmichael, the Baltimore Orioles' 17th-round pick in the June draft, threw 1 2/3 shutout innings to record the save.

Right fielder Chris Sanders made the first huge defensive play with two out in the fourth inning after he fielded a fly ball that dropped in for an apparent hit. Sanders alertly rifled the ball to Hawksley at first to get IVC's Bobby Moreno who let up getting down the line.

Jones' defensive gem came in the top of the seventh when Jacinto Garcia, hit a slow ground ball in his direction at shortstop. Jones fielded the ball bare-handed and threw the ball to first go get Garcia by a step.

Garbella and Mooney each went 2-for-4 for the Comets, while Afenir drove in two runs with a fourth-inning double and the sacrifice fly.

Cheek also singled for the Comets, rounding out a 10-hit attack, and Austin Muehring also contributed a sacrifice fly.

Much-improved Imperial Valley brought a 5-4 record, its best start since a conference-championship season in the 1990s, into the game.

Palomar will try to go 2-0 in the PCAC when the Comets host San Diego Mesa on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Myers Field. The Olympians dropped their conference opener to Southwestern 9-2 on Wednesday. In the other PCAC game, Grossmont defeated San Diego City College 5-1.

PC remains so-near, so-far with 4th 1-run loss

VAN NUYS (2-25-2012) -- Palomar lost its fourth one-run decision of the 2012 baseball season on Saturday, dropping a 2-1 non-conference decision to host Los Angeles Valley despite a bvrilliant pitching effort by sophomore left-hander Clayton Voechting (left).

The defending Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champions, who entered the season ranked No.  8 in the nation and started the year with a 7-0 victory over state No. 1-ranked Santa Ana, remained so-near but yet so-far from reaching their soaring pre-season expectations.

When the Comets have gotten excellent pitching, as they did on Saturday, they've been unable to score runs. When they've banged the ball around offensively, they've encountered pitching problems. Consequently, they'll take a 3-8 record into their conference opener, against Imperial Valley on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Myers Field.

Voeching (2-2)  threw a five-hitter at the Monarchs, striking out seven and walking none in eight innings, but lost a pitching duel to L.A. Valley's Travis Cassidy, a freshman left-hander who pitched a six-hitter who continued to coax the Comets into putting the ball into play early in the count, usually in the air and, although continually itting the ball hard -- usually right at people.

The Monarchs tallied an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning to lead 1-0. The Comets tied the game in the top of  the second when Tommy Cheek singled with one out and Danny Hawksley doubled to left-center field to drive him in.

L.A. Valley tallied the deciding run in the third, after Travis Soto hit a bloop single to short left to lead off the inning. Casey Ryan, who went 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and scored both of the Monarch's runs, got on via a fielder's choice when Voeching fielded a tapper back to the mound and threw out Soto at second.

Ryan, who had five stolen bases on the afternoon, then stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch.

Hawksley went 2-for-4 with two doubles and the RBI. Audie Afenir had a third straight multiple-hit day when he also went 2-for-4. Austin Muehring singled for the other Palomar hit.

ABOVE: Palomar second baseman Christian Johnson steps on the second-base bag after making a diving stop in the seventh inning. He easily got the batter on a 4-3 double play. BELOW LEFT: Josh Sabourin doubles to left field to lead off the Palomar fifth. -- Photos by Hugh Cox. BELOW RIGHT: Audie Afenir, who went 5-for-5.

Afenir goes 5-for-5 but Dons avenge early loss

SANTA ANA (2-23-2012) -- Palomar stunned state No. 1-ranked Santa Ana 7-0 in the opening game of the season three weeks ago, but Thursday's rematch between the two teams was a different story.

The Dons (8-2), this time playing at home at Don Snedden Field, overcame a 5-for-5 performance at the plate by Audie Afenir and avenged the Feb. 3 loss, beating the Comets 11-6.

Afenir singled in the first, third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, drove in a run and scored a run as the Comets banged out 15 hits off three Santa Ana pitchers.

Reggie Jones (2-for-3, double, run scored, hit-by-pitch, walk, stolen base), Josh Sabourin (2-for-5, double) and Casey Munoz (2-for-6, run scored, two RBIs) also had multiple-it performances for Palomar (3-7).

But Santa Ana, led by Konnor Armijo's 4-for-5 day, got to six Palomar pitchers for 17 hits.

Relievers Kyle Montiel, Jake Brosemer, R.J. Shanks and Ashton Schaffer allowed on one run in four innings of relief for the Comets.

Palomar will play at Los Angeles Valley on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Comets try to get back in to the win column prior to Tuesday's PCAC opener againt Imperial Valley at 2 p.m. at Myers Field.

Comets waste 10 hits as OCC stays unbeaten

SAN MARCOS (2-21-2012) -- Christian Johnson (left) went 4-for-4 and Nico Garbella's drove in Palomar's only run with aneighth-innng single on Tuesday as the Comets dropped a 6-1 non-conference baseball decision to undefeated Orange Coast at Myers Field.

Casey Munopz (right) was 2-for 4 with a hit-by-pitch and scored the run. Reggie Jones, Audie Afenir and Tommy Cheeks aoso hit safely.

Austin Guzzon and Rusty Edward each pitched two scoreless relief innings for the Comets (3-6). Ashton Ashaffer also threw a scoreless inning.

The Pirates advanced to 9-0-1,

ABOVE: Austin Muehring delivers a piitch in the ninth inning in Saturday's 5-3 victory over Fullerton at Myers Field. He recorded a save. -- Photo by Deb Hellman. BELOW LEFT: Reggie Jones, who went 2-for-4 and drove in the game's first run.

1st triple play since '95 in loss to unbeaten OCC

COSTA MESA (2-14-2012) -- Palomar dropped another pitchers' dual, 3-2 on the road to unbeaten (7-0-1) Orange Coast, on Tuesday.

But the Comets turned their first triple play since 1995 in the bottom of the first with runners on first and second, two outs, a full count and the runners going.

The batter hit a liner to shortstop Reggie Jones, who threw to second baseman Christian Johnson to double off the lead runner. Johnson relayed the ball to first baseman Brad Clark before the other runner could get back to first, compleing the triple play..

Casey Munoz stayed hot at the plate for Palomar, going 2-for-4 with a double. Chris Sanders (above left) singled in both of the Comets' runs in the fifth inning and made a diving catch in center. Jones and Tommy Cheek also had singles.

 Relievers Austin Muehring, D.J. Zapata (above right) and Alex Cox stopped Coast on one run and one hit over the last five innings. Zapata retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh, striking out two.

ABOVE: Palomar's Casey Munoz looks toward home plate after sliding in at second base on one of his three doubles in Saturday's 8-3 victory over COD. --  Photo by Deb Hellman. BELOW LEFT: Winning pitcher Clayton Voechting.