ISIAH SAGUAR (21) gets congratulated by Benicia teammate Riley Pitkin after scoring a run against Bethel. Saguar went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs and also threw out a runner at first base from his centerfield position.

Taylor Greene pitched a complete-game shutout and teammate Isiah Saguar shined offensively and defensively as Benicia High’s varsity baseball team blanked visiting Bethel on Friday, 8-0.

It was a great bounce-back victory for the Panthers, who lost to Bethel two days earlier but rebounded to win the season series with the Jaguars. It was also a pleasant comeback for Greene, who got roughed up in his previous start against American Canyon but held Bethel to only four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

“I focused all week in practice on what I was doing wrong and worked on my mechanics,” Greene said.

“We needed that from him and the team fed off his confidence,” said Benicia manager Jim Bowles.

Saguar fed off the Jaguars all day, going 3-for-4 with two runs and five RBIs. Three of those RBIs came on a two-out homer to left in the fourth inning that gave Benicia a commanding 5-0 lead.

But it was Saguar’s incredible defensive play in centerfield that broke Bethel’s will. After Bethel’s Mark Johnson miraculously survived a lengthy pickle by sliding safely back into first base, slugger Kenny Quilatan lined what looked like a routine single to center. In raced Saguar, who fielded the ball cleanly and threw a rocket to first that beat Quilatan in a bang-bang play.

“I’ve never seen that,” Bowles said of the center-to-first throw out. “He was playing shallow and has a good arm, but still. You’ll probably never see that again.”

“I took a look at second and saw that I had no play there, so it was just natural to throw to first,” Saguar said. “(Quilatan) came out of the box pretty slow and I saw that I had a chance to get him.”

“That was a helluva play,” Greene said. “When guys are making plays like that behind you, you feel like you can do anything.”

Benicia’s first four hitters in the lineup combined to go 7-for-11 with seven runs and six RBIs. Caleb Van Blake got hit twice, walked once and scored three times. Jack Bowles went 2-for-4 with two runs, Justin Badger added two hits and a RBI, and Frank Tom had a RBI single that scored Steve Urias.

“We came out with a lot of intensity and we need to come out strong like that every game,” Saguar said.

“I was confident we’d come out and play well because this team responds well,” coach Bowles said. “We’ve done a good job of avoiding losing streaks.”

The Panthers improved to 8-6 overall and 4-3 in the Solano County Athletic Conference. Benicia hosts Wood on Saturday and hosts Rodriguez on Monday.

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