Menlo baseball into Central Coast Section Division III final after wild walk-off win over Aptos Tuesday night

After playing in a semifinal that lasted 3 hours, 41 minutes with the game on the verge of breaking town curfew, defending CCS Division V champion and NorCal Division IV champion Menlo welcomed not having to continue the game the next day, which happened last year in the NorCal semifinals.  

“We had a great rally going in the ninth. I had a feeling I was going to come up in the same situation I was in before and I told myself I wasn’t going to miss it this time,” said Barnett, who struck out in his previous at-bat, but also had a triple in the second on a full count, then came in to score on Battle Scott’s sac fly.

“I was very happy with how the team did as a whole. That was an amazing joint effort to win.”

The top-seeded Knights will play No. 3 Wilcox, a 7-0 winner over Hollister, in the final Thursday.

The Mariners led 6-5 heading into the ninth. Knights catcher Chuck Wynn came in on a balk after reaching base on a walk and advancing on Liam Widner’s base hit to tie the score 6-6.

Menlo took advantage of a walk to Widner and balk in the seventh as well, tying the score at 5.

“I was trying to enjoy every single second because any time could be my last game out here,” said Wynn, who is set to continue his football and baseball career  while studying at Chapman University.

“We were struggling at the plate with runners in scoring position, and coach (David Trujillo) said, ‘Just go, and see what happens.’ We had trust on Renner to get the job done and now we’re on to the next game.”

Knights sophomore second baseman Zach Roeder went 2 for 3 with a triple that scored three runs, senior shortstop Jack Freehill had two hits, including a double. Widner posted two hits, an RBI and a run, as did Barnett, who had two hits and the RBI. 

Senior ace Jackson Flanagan came on in relief, and allowed eight hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking one.  Widner came in in the ninth, and allowed a hit and a walk before striking out three consecutive to end the half of the inning. 

“Honestly, I felt comfortable going out there,” Widner said. “I knew I just had to go out there and throw strikes. That whole last inning, I felt locked in and I’m happy my coaches put me in that situation and trusted me.”