Posted: May 16, 2026
Huey’s late blast sends Comets to state final
Palomar
(44-2)
1
San Mateo
(43-2)
0
| Final (8) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Palomar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
|
San Mateo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
BAKERSFIELD, CA (5/16/2026) – With one swing of the bat, Alexis Huey lifted the Palomar College softball team back to the state championship game.
The Comets won for the third time without a loss at the 3C2A Softball State Championships, but Saturday's long-awaited matchup against College of San Mateo wasn't decided until Huey delivered a line-drive home run over the fence in right-center field to lead off the top of the eighth inning, breaking a scoreless deadlock at Bakersfield College.
Kiara Flaviani then finished off another masterful pitching performance by retiring the Bulldogs in order in the bottom the eighth to cap a complete-game shutout as Palomar secured a dramatic 1-0 victory. The result between the last remaining unbeaten teams in the tournament left the Comets one win away from their sixth state championship.
Palomar improved to 44-2 on the season and can rest until Sunday's championship game at noon while San Mateo was relegated to play a second game later Saturday night against Saddleback, a 9-2 winner over Santa Rosa in an elimination game. The loss to the Comets was just the second of the season against 43 wins for the defending state champions, who needed to defeat Saddleback for the second time in three days to earn a championship rematch against Palomar.
San Mateo and Palomar met in last year's state final, and the two teams are each the top seeds representing the North and South regions at this year's state tourney. For seven innings, neither squad could score as Flaviani and Bulldogs pitcher Lola Sierra engaged in a classic pitchers' duel matching a pair of All-State selections in the circle.
Each pitcher limited the opposing team to just two hits through seven innings. San Mateo had two runners reach base with one out in the bottom of the first inning on a single and a walk, but Flaviani retired the next two batters on two infield flies and then proceeded to retire the Bulldogs in order over the next five innings.
The Comets failed to score in the top of the third despite loading the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a single by Kailey Dain, and Gisele Gonzalez was left on base after leading off the fourth inning with a single. Taylor Armstrong was stranded at second base in the seventh inning following a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt by Kristina Deal.
San Mateo, meanwhile, could not mount any offense against Flaviani, who retired 19 consecutive batters before allowing a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning. A walk moved the baserunner into scoring position, but Flaviani ended the inning by securing a comebacker to the circle.
Huey already had three home runs in two previous state tournament games, and the NFCA State Player of the Year and 3C2A SoCal Player of the Year picked the right time to add another homer as she went opposite field and sent a 1-1 delivery over the fence for her state-leading 26th home run of the season to lead off the eighth inning.
"I was just trying to hit a line drive and emphasize my simple chop swing," the sophomore first baseman told the Overnght streaming broadcast crew after the game. "I didn't want to do too much."
Huey attributed her increase in power this year to hard work in the batting cages.
"I only had two home runs last year, so I worked on my swing all summer and all fall," she said.
Flaviani backed up Huey's clutch home run by retiring the Bulldogs in the bottom of the eighth on a fly ball to the warning track in left field which was snared by Armstrong, a groundout to Deal at second base and a routine game-ending flyout to Gonzalez in center.
"We knew she could handle the pressure," Huey said of Flaviani. "And she knows her defense has her back."
Flaviani improved her record to 37-1 with her longest scoreless stint of the season as she kept the Bulldogs leashed with seven strikeouts. She surrendered just two hits and two walks over eight innings while spinning Palomar's first shutout of the playoffs and 10th of the season.
Sierra absorbed just her second loss of the year against 28 wins despite limiting the Comets to a season-low three hits. She walked three and struck out nine.