Benicia High’s varsity baseball team closed out the regular season with a convincing 14-4 victory over host American Canyon in six innings on Wednesday.

It was the fourth straight win for the Panthers (15-12), who clinched sole possession of first place in the Solano County Athletic Conference at 12-3. Benicia has won seven of its past eight games and is 12-4 over its past 16 games after getting off to a 3-8 start.

“We seem to be getting better and better with every game,” said Benicia manager Jim Bowles. “It’s been quite a turnaround and we’ve gotten contributions from all 26 guys on our roster. It’s been a definite team effort.”

Eleven different Panthers scored Wednesday as Benicia completed a season sweep of American Canyon (9-14, 5-10 SCAC). Jonathan Holmes went 2-for-2 with a two-run triple while teammates Jared Jackson and Maurice Calhoun each drove in a pair. Steve Urias, Xian Covington-Hunt and Kyle Hanson-Regalado each scored twice, and Zach Taugher went 2-for-2.

Riley Pitkin pitched the first 4 1/3 innings and picked up his sixth win of the year, matching Cole Eigenhuis for the team lead. Anthony Lopez didn’t allow a run in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

The Panthers scored nine runs in the top of the second inning and had a 10-0 lead after three innings.

“Everybody seems to be getting hot at the same time,” Bowles said. “We’re hitting up and down the lineup and guys are coming off the bench and getting hits. We’re getting the big hits we weren’t able to get early in the year. We’re scoring early and we’re scoring more often.”

The Panthers went only 3-9 in non-league play but essentially owned the SCAC, winning the season series against every team in the conference except Bethel. Benicia, Vanden, Bethel and Fairfield each made it to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs, with the No. 3 seeded Panthers taking on No. 6 seed Oakmont on Tuesday at American River College.

“We were very optimistic and firmly believed that we would win the league championship,” Bowles said. “We sure went about it a lot differently than we thought we would, but in the end we got there. They never gave up and never let their frustrations get to them.”

Benicia has been battered by injuries all season long and had outfielder Anthony Altman suffer a separated shoulder during practice last Tuesday. The Panthers hope to have outfielders Isiah Saguar and Alex Osterholt available next week.

“If we can get everybody healthy, I like our chances,” Bowles said of the postseason. “There’s something special about these kids. They’re starting to believe in themselves and feel they have as good a shot at winning the Section championship as anybody.”

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