Benicia High’s softball team had its playoff game Friday against Yuba City get postponed after pouring rain at the Sacramento Softball Complex put a sudden stop to the game in the bottom of the third inning.

Benicia, seeded No. 5 in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III Tournament, had a 2-0 lead when the game was postponed. Benicia and No. 4 seed Yuba City returned to Sacramento on Saturday and picked up where they left off.

“It was pouring and it hailed and it was pretty intense,” Benicia manager Kristin Grubbs said of Friday’s sudden downpour. “It rained so hard that it flooded the complex. It was a lot of rain. The sky just opened up.”

Benicia, which scored only one run in a first-round victory over No. 12 seed El Capitan last Tuesday, scored twice in the top of the second inning against Yuba City. Taylor Martin’s ground out brought home the first run and senior catcher Allie Bullock lashed a single to center that made it 2-0.

Bullock came into the game hitting only .146 but her three years of playoff experience make her a valuable player offensively and defensively for the Lady Panthers.

“She’s solid and has done a phenomenal job behind the plate,” Grubbs said of Bullock. “There’s no way I’m not gonna have her back behind the plate.”

The Lady Panthers were happy to return to Sacramento knowing they had an early 2-0 lead. “After we scored only one run in our first playoff game, we kind of refocused in practice the past couple of days,” Grubbs said. “For us to come out and score some runs early really gave us the confidence that we needed. We got our swag back.”

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