The Varsity Dons took on the Benicia Panthers on an unusually warm day at Ken Souza field on Tuesday.  The Dons handed the ball to Benjy Braunstein (sr) and when a good hitting Panthers team loaded the bases with one out in the 1^st inning, the game was beginning to look ominous.  However, Benjy settled down and got their 5^th hitter to hit a ball to Luke Souza (sr) at 1^st base who threw home to catcher Jack Cusumano (sr) to force the runner from 3^rd, and then got the next hitter to pop out to center fielder Will Berrien (sr) to end the inning. 

When the Panthers took the field, it became clear runs were going to be hard to come by, as the Panthers’ hard throwing righty set the first seven Dons down in order.  Benjy meanwhile held his own, setting the Panthers down 1-2-3 in the 2^nd inning.  Then with runners at 1^st and 3^rd and 2 outs in the 3^rd, the Panthers’ batter hit a towering shot to center field which Berrien tracked down and made a great diving catch on to end their half of the inning.  The Dons were able to load the bases in the bottom of the 3^rd, but their right fielder was perfectly positioned to catch a hard line-drive by Kyle White (sr) to end the inning.  Dons 0-Benicia 0

Benjy and the Panthers’ pitcher traded blanks in the 4^th and Benjy and his infield set the Panthers down in order in the 5^th.  In the bottom of the 5^th, Sammy Lee (jr) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Andrew Habas (jr) came in to run for Lee and moved to 2^nd on a bunt single by Connor McPhail (sr), which turned out to be the Dons first hit of the game.  However, the Dons couldn’t capitalize on the situation and the score remained 0-0 going into the 6^th inning.

The Dons defense did their job in the top of the 6^th and their bats woke up in the bottom of the 6^th.  Gavin Bender (soph) singled on a hard line-drive to left field, and Nico O’Rourke (jr) crushed a double to left center that put runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with one out.  Cusumano then hit a fly ball to right that looked like it was deep enough to score the go-ahead run, but the right fielder made a perfect throw home to nail Gavin at the plate, and we were onto the 7^th inning still tied 0-0.

Benjy recorded the first two outs in the top of the 7^th inning, before the Panthers put base runners on 1^st and 2^nd.  As he’s done several times already, Benjy then induced the Panthers’ hitter to fly out to Berrien in center field to end the inning.

Luke Souza led off the bottom of the 7^th inning with a hard line-drive single to left field.  Souza then moved to 2^nd on another well-executed McPhail bunt.  With 2 outs and the score still tied 0-0, Miles Bergman (sr) stepped up to the plate.  On a 2-2 count, Bergman hit a fly ball to right field that dropped between the first baseman and right fielder, while Souza raced around 3^rd and crossed the plate for the winning run.

It was the Dons 3^rd walk-off win of the year; 7^th complete game for the Dons pitching staff, and 2^nd consecutive complete game shut-out (Henry Souza (soph) shut out Campo last Thurs).  Benjy (6 hits, 1 BB, 3Ks, 84 pitches, 61% strikes) notched his 2^nd shutout and 4^th complete game of the year.  The Dons travel to Benicia on Thursday for the final game of the series, before returning home next Tuesday for senior night against the team they are currently tied for 1^st with in DFL, Clayton Valley Charter.

LET’S GO DONS!