A Central Coast Section three-peat for Menlo School baseball

“It was probably the worst game on my career,” Majalya said. “I just really felt like I let my team down, but my teammates had my back and I just felt like I owed something to them.”

Things in Thursday’s Division III championship game at Excite Ballpark against No. 3 Wilcox-Santa Clara didn’t start much better, as he was charged with an error in the top of the first inning after dropping a foul popup.

But Majalya got his chance for a reprieve and didn’t miss it, as the big 6-4 junior first baseman stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first with two on and two outs, and delivered a two-run single to left. The clutch swing of the bat provided the only two runs of the game, as Menlo (20-10) went on to win 2-0 to celebrate a CCS three-peat.

And, yes, Majalya was all smiles afterward.

“These dudes have given me everything,” Majalya said. “Just to be able to play with them another couple days even, another week, that’s huge for me. I love these dudes.”

Menlo rode a brilliant pitching performance by sophomore Reid Plamondon to the win. It was the second consecutive start in the CCS finals for the sturdy and sometimes emotional right-hander. On the 2025 Division V championship stage, he allowed one run through five innings to earn the win.

Plamondon’s return to the ball park formerly known as Municipal Stadium was even better, as he fired six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and walking two, while striking out nine to earn the win.

“Can’t say enough about Reid,” Knights manager David Trujillo said after getting soaked through and through with a bull’s-eye douse of Gatorade. “We knew we had a chance if he could throw strikes. He’s really hard to hit.”

Menlo’s two-headed monster of Jack Freehill and Chuck Wynn set the table early.

Freehill sparked a rally with one out in the bottom of the first by getting hit with a curveball square between the shoulder blades. After Wynn drew a walk, the Knights turned to the running game with Freehill getting a huge jump to front a double steal. 

“We are aggressive on the base paths,” Trujillo said. “[Freehill] is one of our best baserunners, and so is Chuck, and he never runs all year because we have the courtesy (runner) for catchers. But he’s one of our best baserunners, which showed in the semifinal game.”

Then Majalya laced a two-run single to left, with Wynn barreling across the plate with a headlong dive, to stake Menlo to a 2-0 lead.

Menlo had a chance to add on in the second, but Wilcox left-hander Eliah Laureles wriggled out of a jam. Renner Bennett drew a leadoff walk and, after he moved to second on a wild pitch, No. 9 batter Logan Tran reached on a one-out error to put runners at the corners. But Laureles neutralized the top of the Knights’ order, inducing a one-out infield popup. Tran promptly stole second, but Freehill’s soft liner to the left side of the diamond found the glove of third baseman Rylan Jackson to retire the side, stranding both Menlo runners. 

From there, Laureles settled down and settled in, setting down 12 straight batters before Liam Widner singled on a Texas Leaguer to center with one out in the sixth. 

“Great pitcher on the mound,” Majalya said. “He held us down pretty well.”

Plamondon passed his biggest test in the fifth. Rylan Jackson paced the Chargers (19-11) with a 2-for-3 night, and led off the fifth by jumping on a first-pitch fastball to line a frozen-rope single to left. Trey Herrera then reached with a one-out walk and, with two outs, Samuel Martinez reached on an infield error to load the bases.

Then, as if the fates demanded it, Plamondon induced a high popup to the foul side of first base — much like the one Majalya dropped in the first. This time, Majalya’s reprieve came full-circle as he made the catch to get the Knights back into the dugout. 

“It was (in super slow-motion),” Majalya said. “And I lost it in the lights for a second. But it came back down and luckily enough I was able to make the squeeze.”

With Plamondon totaling 104 pitches after six innings of work, Menlo turned to Widner to close it out in the seventh. The sophomore right-hander notched back-to-back strikeouts before issuing a two-out walk to Herrera. Widner bounced back by coaxing a check-swing popup toward second base for Freehill the shortstop to glove to set off the celebration.

That makes two consecutive emotional scenes in the CCS playoffs, after Menlo’s 7-6 win over Aptos in Tuesday’s semifinals. The Knights trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh but scored twice with Freehill crossing the plate with the tying run on a balk. Aptos took a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth, but Wynn was at third and broke for home on a would-be steal, causing the pitcher to balk again. Renner Barnett then singled home Widner with the walk-off run to send Menlo into the CCS finals riding a wave of momentum.

“It definitely galvanizes us,” Trujillo said. “We battled. Last year we played a lot of tight games and had to win different ways, but it was always coming down to the wire. This year was a little up and down, so we didn’t have those tight-knit games during the season that much. So, to get that in a playoff situation, especially against a team that we played earlier in the season that was a little lopsided, we knew it was going to be a battle. We got down early and we just kept fighting and fighting. And special things happen when everyone buys in.”

Menlo now advances to the CIF Northern California regional playoffs set to begin next Tuesday.