Palomar captures third
State title in softball with 1-0 win over
Long Beach
|
Palomar College
gave coach Mark Eldridge his third State
fastpitch softball championship since 1989 by
beating Long Beach City College, 1-0, in the
final game of the California Community College
tournament May 14 in Fresno.
The Comets battled
out of the losers' bracket to down West Valley,
6-2, in the semifinals,then beat Long Beach, 2-1,
in 11 innings to force an extra game.
Melissa Martinez
pitched a two-hit shutout kn the final game.
Martha Serrato, the Comets' sophomore shortstop
from Orange Glen, doubled in the seventh inning
and scored the winning run on Angela Blackmon's
game-winning hit.
Jessica Jenkins
recorded three tournament victories, including
1-0 shutouts over Merced and West Valley, to
raise her win-loss record to 29-5.
Jenkins and
Martinez were voted Co-Outstanding Pitcher honors
in the tournament.
Heather Allister,
Brandy Chavez and Jenkins all were voted to the
Community College All-America softball team
selected by the National Softball Coaches
Association.
The Comets, who
won their 15th straight Pacific Coast Conference
championship, were making their 13th consecutive
appearance in the State Final Eight. They
finished the season 48-7-1 and gave Eldridge his
800th victory as Palomar coach along the way.
Eldridge is
818-206-5 as coach of the Comets.
Palomar previously
won State championships in 1989 and 1993.
|
