Panthers Hang on for Extra-Inning Victory over Rodriguez

April 1 might be a day for gags but for the Benicia Panther varsity baseball team it was a day for tough, grind-it-out baseball at Laurel Creek Park in Fairfield, where the boys from Benicia grabbed an 11-9  extra-innings victory against Rodriguez High. 

The game started well for Benicia when senior shortstop Ryan Wheat had a lead-off double, moved to third on a single by Tucker Bishop and scored on a single by Andrew McNeece. Bishop scored on a single by sophomore second baseman Willie Calhoun.

Rodriguez got on its first run in the bottom of the second when its shortstop scored on a Benicia throwing error. The third and fourth innings saw both teams put up four runs. The Panthers scored another run in the top of the sixth inning, giving them a two-run cushion going into the bottom of the seventh.

Rodriguez, with its back to the wall, took advantage of a lead-off walk, a triple and a sacrifice fly to send the game into extra innings and tie it up. Neither team was able to score in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings.

The eighth inning was uneventful but in the ninth the Panthers came alive after catcher Hayden Mauch was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.   

With two outs, the Panthers managed to load the bases, courtesy of a couple of walks dealt by the Rodriguez pitching staff, and Ryan Wheat put the Panthers back on top with a two-RBI single.  Another walk and a two-RBI single by McNeece followed that.

Rodriguez didn’t go down without a fight, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning and getting runners in scoring position before being shut down.