The future of Benicia High baseball appears to be bright after a stellar 2014 season by the junior varsity team.

Justin Badger led the offense with 21 RBI and a .612 batting average.

The JV Panthers went 15-0 in the Solano County Athletic Conference and outscored their SCAC opponents 194-15. Benicia went 19-5 overall, with three of those five losses coming against Vacaville.

“It was a satisfying season for sure,” said Benicia JV manager Cliff Nelson. “They’re just a great group of kids and it was a pleasure to coach them. They all struggled at some point but they were a resilient bunch of kids.”

Collectively the Panthers hardly struggled at all. Benicia hit .372 as a team and the pitching staff sported a 1.24 earned-run average with 161 strikeouts in 146 2/3 innings.

“We have some superstars but we really were a team that got contributions from a lot of different guys,” Nelson noted.

Isiah Saguar was so good he got called up to the varsity in mid-April. Saguar hit .485 while with the JVs and even saw some time on the mound, striking out 10 in 6 1/3 innings.

“He’s a good hitter and a very aggressive base runner,” Nelson said of Saguar.

Justin Badger also received a varsity call-up after leading the JVs in batting average (.612), RBI (21) and home runs (two). Clean-up hitter Xion Covington-Hunt (6-foot-4) and outfielder Alex Osterholt were called up to varsity at the end of the season. Covington-Hunt hit .447 with a team-leading five triples while Osterholt led the team in runs scored (25).

EVAN PHILLIPS was stellar on the mound, going 6-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 40 innings.

Evan Phillips was the ace of the JV pitching staff, going 6-0 with a 0.87 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. Anthony Lopez threw a no-hitter against Vallejo and Cole Eigenhuis finished second on the team in victories and innings pitched. Steve Urias was solid all around, having a 0.81 ERA as a pitcher and finishing third offensively with 18 runs.

Lefty hitter Josiah Peterson used his speed to reach base at will and finished second on the team with a .500 batting average. Frank Tom was a steady catcher, and Riley Pitkin won the starting job at shortstop. Maurice Calhoun came on strong late in year, and Jonathon Holmes was excellent defensively.

“They all learned to be patient at the plate,” Nelson said. “Everybody was hitting hard line drives.

“I’m real proud of the guys who were called up to varsity for the playoffs. They had a great year for us.”

Other key contributors to Benicia’s offense included Kyle Hanson (.389) and Kyle Sinclair (.375). Sinclair and Pitkin each earned a victory as a pitcher.

The varsity team is still carrying the flag for Benicia as the Panthers are currently battling Oakmont in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs at American River College. If the right situation presents itself, a JV standout could give the varsity a boost toward the pennant.

“I would love to see them get a chance to contribute to the varsity’s success,” Nelson said. “I think the guys who got called up are ready.”

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