Benicia High Varsity Softball Take NCS Title In Game Against Marin Catholic

By Emily Davis and Stanley Bui

The Benicia High girls varsity softball team played hard all the way through the league season, and then secured the win in the North Coast Section championship game. The game started off with Braxton Brown pitching for Benicia and holding Marin Catholic back from scoring barely any runs up to the fourth inning where they scored one.

In the first inning, Benicia scored three runs from hits ranging from a ground ball to center field, a ground ball to the third basemen, and Lorenzza Marcacci hitting a double out to left field.

During the second inning, there were a lot of strikeouts from both teams and the Panthers along with the Wildcats were unable to get on any bases.

Going into the bottom of the third, Kyra Mason hit a triple with a line drive to center field, Denise Paultich hit a double with a line drive to center field, and Hailey Weddington hit a single to left field for an RBI.

Things began to heat up in the fourth inning, where the Marin Catholic Wildcats totaled two base hits to score the only run for their team for the rest of the game.

Rolling into the bottom of the fifth, Mason hit a triple to the left fielder, and Marcacci hit a sacrifice fly ball to center to score Mason into home.

In the sixth, Brown hit a solo home run to left field and scored the Panthers the final run of the game.

Last up is the seventh, where the Panthers were able to get the three final outs to secure the win for the North Coast Section championship title.

Robynn Balmediano says, “Winning NCS was a big goal of mine since freshman year and actually winning it, especially my senior year, is something I would never forget!”. The legacy that she plans to leave for future Panther softball players is that even though Benicia is a small town, the Panthers still won the section championship, and anything is possible.

During the entire game, the Panthers defense was locked down entirely. Their ace pitcher, Brown, pitched many strikeouts and forced the Wild Cats to hit ground balls that then turned into easy outs.