Errors send Merced softball into losers’ bracket in Division II

Merced’s safety net is gone.

The Bears’ next loss will be their last after they couldn’t close out a win against top-seeded Benicia on Saturday in the winners’ bracket semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs at the Sacramento Softball Complex.

Madilyn Nickles appeared to have pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning when she got the Panthers’ Bri Schlattman to hit an infield grounder. Merced shortstop Missy Lalisan didn’t field the grounder cleanly, and when she went to pick it up, she kicked the ball away, allowing two runs to score to give Benicia a one-run lead.

Allie Bullock drove in another run with a single up the middle, and Benicia defeated Merced 5-3. The fifth-seeded Bears (22-7) will face No. 6 Vintage on Monday at 4 p.m.

“The game wasn’t frustrating. There was just a lot of anxiety,” Merced senior Megan Kravec said. “We fought through it. We just made mistakes we shouldn’t have.”

Nickles gave Merced a 2-0 lead when she hit her second home run of the playoffs, a two-run shot to center field off Benicia starter McKenna Gregory in the first inning.

Nickles has been on fire in the playoffs, going 7 for 9 with nine RBIs.

Nickles struggled in the circle early, as her plant leg kept sliding after landing in a hole created by Gregory.

Nickles walked the leadoff batter in the first and then allowed three straight singles that cut the Merced lead to 2-1.

“I just kept slipping all over the place,” Nickles said. “I finally had to shorten my stride and pitch like that the whole game. Surprisingly, it helped a lot. It forced me not to overthrow.”

Nickles struck out the final three hitters in the first to keep Merced in front, but the Panthers (26-4) kept the pressure on the entire game. Benicia worked at least one runner into scoring position every inning and finished with nine hits.

Benicia tied the score 2-2 on a Bullock single in the third.

Meanwhile, Gregory retired 12 Merced batters in a row until Rheanne Lewis led off the sixth with a single.

“She was a good pitcher,” Kravec said. “She had a decent riseball, dropball and a good curveball. She also was quick. She got a lot of us on her curveball.”

Katelynn Gietler followed Lewis’ hit with a single to put runners at the corners with no outs for Nickles, who drove in Lewis with a groundout to give the Bears a 3-2 lead, and Merced was five outs away from advancing to the winners’ bracket final.

The defense fell apart in the sixth. With one out, Shelbee Ward made a wild throw to first that resulted in Mallory Barnard reaching third base.

With the infield in, Lewis threw out Barnard at home on a grounder to second to keep Merced in front. However, the Panthers loaded the bases with two outs on a single and walk.

The Bears’ third error of the game on the grounder to short led to Benicia’s three-run sixth.

“At this point in our season, we can’t make errors and win,” coach Bart McAfee said. “Even with all the mistakes we made, we still almost won. But at this point in the season, if you make mistakes, it’s going to cost you.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Errors send Merced softball into losers’ bracket in Division II."