For the second time in five days, Benicia High’s varsity baseball team was on the wrong side of history.

The Panthers, who lost to American Canyon for the first time ever last Friday, fell 8-6 to the Bethel Jaguars on Wednesday in Vallejo. It was the first time Bethel had ever beaten the Panthers, who dropped to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in the Solano County Athletic Conference.

“We’re young and inconsistent,” said Benicia manager Jim Bowles. “They’re still trying to feel their way against varsity baseball and are finding out that life’s tougher than at other levels.”

Bethel (3-6, 3-2 SCAC) jumped on Benicia ace Cole Eigenhuis with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. An error leading off the inning opened the floodgates for the Jaguars, who got RBI singles from Mark Johnson and Daniel Killingsworth and a two-run single from Ramon Garcia.

Benicia made five errors on the day, which led to five unearned runs.

“Defense is often underappreciated and I think our kids are learning how important it is,” Bowles said. “We’re giving away too many base runners and that’s been our Achilles heel. We’re not taking care of the baseball and that’s something that needs to change real quick.”

The Panthers fought back and eventually took the lead. Caleb Van Blake got things started with a solo home run in the third. Taylor Greene stroked a single with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and Ethan Payne scored on an error to cut Bethel’s lead to 5-3. Van Blake led off the fifth inning with a single and scored on a two-run homer by Xian Covington-Hunt that tied the game. Badger followed with a solo home to center to put Benicia in front.

But another Benicia error opened the door for Bethel. A bases-loaded single by Kenny Quilatan tied the game at 6-6, and a two-run double by Killingsworth put the Jaguars ahead to stay. Benicia went down 1-2-3 in the seventh, with the final two batters striking out swinging.

The Panthers will look to avenge Wednesday’s loss when they host Bethel on Friday.

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