BENICIA HIGH’S softball team kept a smiling face despite coming up a little short in the Sac-Joaquiin Section Division III championship.

Last Thursday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III softball championship round at the Sacramento Softball Complex had more drama than a primetime “reality” show.

Needing to beat Ceres twice in a row for their third straight on-the-field Section title, Benicia High’s Lady Panthers crushed the Lady Bulldogs, 8-1, in Game 1 but fell agonizingly short in Game 2, losing 3-2 as Ceres held on for its first SJS championship since 1995.

For Benicia (23-7), it was a heartbreaking end to a solid season that had championship banners always just a bit out of reach.

“We know we played our butts off and came this far,” said senior catcher Allie Bullock. “We went as far as we could go and we’re proud of ourselves. But it hurts that we didn’t win it.”

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” Benicia manager Kristin Grubbs said. “They fought and battled all season and came together as a team. Every single one of them contributed.”

The Lady Panthers dominated the opening game to force a nightcap. Ceres pitcher Callie Nunes – who threw a 10-inning shutout against Benicia two nights earlier – wasn’t fooling the Lady Panthers in the rematch. McKenna Gregory hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning and added a solo shot in the fifth. Chelsea Mari also homered and Gregory retired 21 of the last 26 batters she faced for her sixth complete game in six postseason starts.

The only setback for Benicia in Game 1 came with two outs in the seventh inning when right fielder Elizabeth Sweeney crashed face first into the fence down the first base line. Despite several bloody scrapes and cuts, the junior came back to play the decisive Game 2.

Benicia picked up right where it left off. Olivia Mackey opened Game 2 with a single and Bullock was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing home a run. Nunes, however, struck out the next batter to get out of the jam.

Ceres (23-5) answered right back. Gregory – who’d already thrown all 44 1/3 innings for Benicia during the playoffs and walked only five – walked three in the bottom of the first and gave up a double to Nicole Bates as Ceres roared back for a 3-1 lead.

It stayed that way until the top of the fifth when controversy erupted. Mackey opened the inning with a double and Annika Johnson followed with a single to put runners at the corners with no one out. Up stepped senior Shelby Thompson, Benicia’s home run leader this season. Thompson crushed the first pitch deep to center for what appeared to be headed for a home run, but Ceres centerfielder Sabrina Baisdon made a last-second leaping catch just before falling over the breakaway fence. Mackey tagged up easily from third, but the umpires called her out for leaving the bag early for a mystifying double play.

Grubbs immediately disputed the call, forcing a lengthy discussion between the umpiring crew. The crowd was perplexed. Was it a double play? Was it a game-changing three-run homer since the ball went over the fence?

Under the CIF’s “catch and carry” rule, when a player catches the ball and carries it out of play, it becomes a dead ball and each runner can move up a base. Though Ceres officially protested the final ruling, Mackey scored on the sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.

“I thought it was gonna be a home run when I hit it,” Thompson said. “It sucks but it’s OK.”

Benicia would get no closer, getting held hitless until Mackey – who went 3-for-4 – led off the seventh with a single. Thompson came up again with one out but grounded into a double play to end the season.

“It hurts because our two seniors (Thompson and Bullock) are my best friends,” Gregory said afterward. “But we still did great. We all really wanted it and we really made a great effort.”

“We shed some tears and it’s sad that it’s over, but we had a good run,” Bullock said.

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