Benicia forces Ceres into winner-take-all D-III section softball game

Callie Nunes sat on the dugout bench as the first game of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III softball final crawled to a close, picking at a cuticle on her glove hand.

It was a perplexing start to the final for the third-seeded Bulldogs, who advanced to the championship round by emerging from the winners’ bracket unscathed.

The Bulldogs ran into a familiar opponent Thursday at the Sacramento Softball Complex: the fifth-seeded Benicia Panthers, the same team Ceres beat two days earlier in 10 innings.

The Panthers would get their payback, forcing a winner-take-all second game with a resounding 8-1 victory. The result of the second game wasn’t available by press time.

Pitcher McKenna Gregory shouldered the load on both sides of the ball. Gregory gave herself plenty of run support, smashing two home runs to left field. She had four RBIs.

Chelsea Mari clubbed a solo blast in the third inning, and Elizabeth Sweeney, Olivia Mackey and Nataschia Wibben also drove in a run as Benicia chased Nunes after five innings.

The diminutive junior was virtually unhittable in her last three outings, shutting down Pioneer of Woodland, Oakdale and Benicia to send Ceres to its first section final in 21 years.

The Panthers weren’t fooled the second time around, testing the breakaway fences. Benicia thought it had a fourth home run off the bat of Sweeney, but center fielder Sabrina Baisdon crashed through the fence to make the highlight catch.

On Tuesday, it took both teams 10 innings and the international tiebreaker to produce the only run.

Gregory gave up one run on six hits. She didn’t pitch the seventh inning in preparation for the second game.

Ceres senior Nicole Bates had the most success against Gregory, finishing 3 for 3 with a double. She scored the Bulldogs’ only run on a single by Rayohna Sagapolu.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Benicia forces Ceres into winner-take-all D-III section softball game."