Pitcher McKenna Gregory won a pair of complete games on Monday to keep Benicia High’s softball team in the winner’s bracket at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs in Stockton.

Gregory allowed only four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five as No. 5 seed Benicia started the day with a 3-1 victory over No. 4 seed Yuba City. The junior came right back in the evening and scattered six hits and three walks in a 3-2 victory over top-seeded East Union.

Benicia is now 3-0 in the postseason and joins No. 3 seed Ceres as the only unbeaten teams remaining in the double-elimination tournament. The two teams met Tuesday, with the winner having the inside track to the championship.

“You wanna stay in the winner’s bracket as long as possible,” said Benicia manager Kristin Grubbs. “If you get dropped down to the loser’s bracket early, it’s a battle. This isn’t our first rodeo and we understand the consequences of losing early.”

Benicia, which had its game with Yuba City get rained out last Friday and Saturday, started Monday off with a bang when senior Shelby Thompson cracked a solo home run in the first inning. Sophomore Chelea Mari added a two-run blast in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead.

Gregory had a shutout going until giving up a meaningless Yuba City run in the seventh inning.

“That cushion gave us opportunities not to over-react if they got a hit or if errors happened,” Grubbs said. “We were able to sit back, get the outs that were given to us and just play.”

Benicia built another 3-0 lead against East Union. Taylor Martin delivered a two-run single in the fourth inning and Olivia Mackey singled home pinch-runner Grace French in the top of the seventh. East Union (23-2) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback.

If Benicia beats Ceres, the Lady Panthers would need to be beaten twice in a row in Thursday’s championship round to be denied the Section title. Benicia won the SJS championship in 2014 and 2015 but had last year’s title stripped away due to a paperwork mishap.

“Every team we play from here on out is going to be tough and we have to be ready with our ‘A’ game,” Grubbs said.

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