SAN MARCOS- Guilianna “GiGi” Clavel, pitcher for the Palomar College softball team, threw a no hitter on February 14th against Santiago Canyon defeating the Hawks 4-0.
Clavel mentioned that her love for softball began at a young age. “When I was really little, I enjoyed playing the sport, I loved playing with the girls and all the friends that I’ve made it much more fun.”
Throughout Clavel’s career, her biggest challenge has been the amount of pressure she puts on herself. Clavel said, “Probably just trying to stay confident and consistent, when you do bad just put it aside, focus on what you know how to do and what you’re good at.” During her challenging times, being around the team has helped her stay motivated and focus on the positives.
While on the mound, Clavel has been successful by learning from her mistakes. Clavel said, “Just going on and being told that I can do better and bigger things has really boosted me and that’s motivated me to move on and practice and get good at my sport.”
When asked about her no hitter, Clavel stated that it was a neat accomplishment. She said, “I was super stoked, I didn’t even know until the end of the game when one of my teammates was telling me that nobody had hit off of me and I was like wow, I didn’t even notice, I was just throwing and it’s pretty cool and hope to get more.”
For this season, Clavel is looking forward to being on the field with hopes of making it to the playoffs.
Shelbie Van Slyke, catcher for the Comets, described Clavel as determined and a light on the team. “She is a very positive person, she is one of the happiest people I know, she works super hard, stays focused, and is determined on the mound.”
Van Slyke mentioned that Clavels no hitter was a great accomplishment for her and was honored to witness it as a teammate. “When the announcer said that there were no hits by the end of this game, I was like there’s no way, I was like are you serious like that’s insane. I’m super proud of her, that was a crazy moment and she really worked hard in that game and honestly deserved it.”
Head coach of the softball team Lacey Craft stated that Clavel is a hard working player that is always wanting to improve. “Last season she worked very hard to focus on her pitching, so she wasn’t able to contribute as much on offense. This year she is playing both sides, but clearly very dominant with her pitching in the state.”
Clavel’s no-hitter was not surprising to Craft with how hard she works on the mound. She said, “I knew GiGi would be dominant this season, she pitched very well in our off-season scrimmages against 4-year schools we played so I knew she would get continued success as we went into season.”
Currently, the Comets are 13-1 so far this season and ranked number one in the Pacific Coast League. This week, the Comets have a games on Tuesday March 5th against EL Camino Wednesday March 6th against San Diego Mesa, and Saturday March 9th against Santa Anna.
Corrections: A previous version of the story misspelled a source’s name as “Lacy Craft.” It has been updated to “Lacey Craft.”
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