BENICIA HIGH softball players Shelby Thompson (above) and McKenna Gregory were each named to the All-State Underclass Second Team by Cal-Hi Sports.

Benicia High softball players Shelby Thompson and McKenna Gregory were each named to the All-State Underclass Second Team by Cal-Hi Sports.

Thompson, who last spring helped Benicia win its second straight Sac-Joaquin Section championship, made the Second Team as an infielder. She hit .597 with a team-high 10 home runs, 39 runs and 38 RBIs her junior season and was named the Solano County Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Thompson was ranked as the No. 60 high school athlete in the entire Bay area by Star Sports magazine.

“That’s exciting,” Thompson said of being named to the All-State team. “Now I have to keep getting better and keep working.”

Gregory, who made the Second Team as a multipurpose player, was last season’s SCAC’s Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore and went 15-1 overall with a 1.94 earned-run average and 85 strikeouts in 101 innings. She also hit .507 with six homers and 27 RBIs.

“It’s really cool because me and Shelby work out together all the time and we’re best friends,” Gregory said. “It’s really nice.”

“That’s amazing and they deserve it,” said Benicia manager Kristin Grubbs. “The numbers they put up last season were incredible. With Shelby’s hitting and defense at shortstop and McKenna’s pitching and hitting, there was no way they could be overlooked.”

Thompson and Gregory joined Michelle Gascoigne (2009) and Erin Killough (1994) as the only Lady Panther softball players to earn All-State honors. Mallory Barnard, who hit .385 and scored 32 runs last spring as a senior, was an All-State nominee.

“I was elated to know we even had one player considered for All-State, let alone three,” Grubbs said.

Thompson, currently playing with her Bears traveling softball team at the ASA Nationals in Oregon, verbally committed to San Diego State University as a sophomore. Gregory, who plays summer travel ball for the Sorcerers, has verbally committed to Michigan State.

Benicia is ranked No. 90 in the nation and No. 29 in the state by MaxPreps.

“We have a lot of great talent at Benicia High,” Grubbs said. “We just have to play and show we deserve that high ranking. We feel we can beat anybody.”

“We really want to win the Section championship for a third year in a row and I want to win it my senior year,” Thompson said.

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