COD (4-18; 1-5) played a tough series against the Conference leading Palomar Comets (14-7; 6-0), falling in the last of the three-game series at home, 13-3. 

The top two batters for the Roadrunners comprised the bulk of the offense for the home side as leadoff hitter freshman right fielder Nathanael Tiaga (Indio Shadow Hills) and sophomore short stop Jerred Soriano (Honolulu (HI) Moanalua) went a combined 7 for 10 on the cloudy and sometimes rainy afternoon.

The Comets opened up the scoring in the top of the third, plating three runs and then added three more runs in the top of the fourth, before Desert responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman first baseman Jonathan Mejia (Palm Desert H.S.) led off the inning with a double to left and after an infield lineout and a pop out to center, Mejia stole third base and then eventually scored on error by the Palomar short stop when sophomore designated hitter Julian Gonzalez (Palm Springs H.S.) punched a shot to short.

Palomar would add another run in the top of the fifth and six more runs in the top of the sixth, before Desert would add two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman left fielder Joshua Hernandez (Palm Desert H.S.) would reach on a one out walk and then score on a double to right, beautifully placed just inside the foul line by Soriano. Then Soriano moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single by freshman second baseman Nathaniel Lopez (Palm Desert H.S.).

Next home game for College of the Desert Baseball will be Tuesday, March 13th at 2p, where they will continue Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play by hosting the Southwestern Jaguars of Chula Vista. Hope to see you there.

Photo by Michael Leone Photography (f8leone@yahoo.com)
Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.