Menlo baseball shuts down Las Lomas

The Knights’ offense staked Flanagan to a quick lead, and he and the defense did the rest as they rode the rising-senior right hander to a 2-0 win over Las Lomas-Walnut Creek in the first round of the CIF Northern California Regional Division IV playoff opener at Acalanes High School in Lafayette Tuesday afternoon.

Not an especially imposing figure on the mound nor possessing overpowering stuff, Flanagan is proof positive that there is still a place in the game for a pitcher who knows how to pitch. Changing speeds and location, Flanagan had Las Lomas (16-12-1) off balance throughout his six innings of work — scattering five hits, striking out six and walking just one.

“I love the tight game. I love … just being a part of any game,” Flanagan said. “I was pretty locked in.”

Despite that, Las Lomas had one last gasp in the bottom of the seventh, only to see a Menlo win an appeal for the second time in three games. In the Central Coast Section semifinals, a 7-5 win over Piedmont Hills, Menlo appealed to third and the umpire ruled a runner had left early on a fly ball to the outfield.

Tuesday, the appeal ended the game. Las Lomas’ Christo Georgiou reached first via a one-out error against Menlo reliever Reid Plamondon. That brought up No. 9 hitter Drew Masasi, who for the first time all game, gave Las Lomas a sense of hope when he launched an 0-1 pitch to deep, straight-away center field.

Menlo centerfielder Fletcher Cahill rushed back, pulling up just short of the warning track to make the catch for the second out.

The Las Lomas base runner had run to, and around, the second base bag prior to the catch, before racing back to first.

But Menlo appealed to second base and the base runner was called out for having missed the second-base bag on his way back to first game.

Game over.

“That was me (calling for the appeal),” said Menlo manager David Trujillo. “It looked like he didn’t touch second. Didn’t hurt to ask. If we lost (the appeal), no problem.”

It was a controversial end to an otherwise great playoff baseball game.

Flanagan was in full command from his first pitch, having been given a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Menlo (22-8) leadoff hitter Jack Freehill did what he has done all season — get a rally going — by singling to left. He stole second and stopped at third on a Liam Widner one-out single to right.

Las Lomas looked to catch a break when Menlo’s KC Chavison was called out for batter’s interference on Widner’s steal of second and in addition to the out, Widner was sent back to first to keep runners on the corners as Zach Roeder came to the plate. He hammered a 2-1 pitch well over the left fielder’s head, who was playing surprising shallow and the ball bounded up off the left-field fence for a two-run double and a 2-0 lead.

“We came out swinging, which was the game plan,” Trujillo said. “Punched them early.”

From there, Flanagan took over. Using mostly a fastball and slider away from the Las Lomas’ lefty-heavy batting order, Flanagan was the definition of efficient. He gave up an infield hit to Las Lomas leadoff hitter Harry May, who was erased by Menlo catcher Chuck Wynn trying to steal second.

Cruz Lopez came up with a two-out single to center that Cahill couldn’t hold on to on a headlong dive, but Flanagan got an easy flyout to Cahill to the end the first inning on just 11 pitches.

He was even more efficient in the second, needing just seven pitches to retire the side in order. It was another 11-pitch inning in the third with a pair of strikeouts. The fourth saw him throw just 10 pitches while giving up his first hit since the first inning — having retired nine batters in a row.

Flanagan said the slider that was so effective against Las Lomas was something of a new pitch for him that he has been working on all season. He admits it’s not alway available every start, but it was humming Tuesday.

“It’s been on and off all year. I had it on had it on today,” Flanagan said.

Meanwhile, the Menlo offense was busy collecting hits off Las Lomas starting pitcher Matt Williams, who lasted just two innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Menlo loaded the bases against Williams in the second inning, but came up empty. And in the third, facing reliever Jimmy Salinas, Menlo loaded the bases again on three more hits, but again could not push across another run.

Salinas settled in after that, limiting Menlo to just one hit over the final four innings.

Flanagan ran into his only big trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Noah Sison led off the inning with a single, followed by a Jack Pardella walk. Flanagan, however, got a foul out to Widner at third base and followed that with a strikeout.

But May came up and beat out an infield hit to load the bases and bring Trujillo out for a mound visit.

It was brief. He gave Flanagan a pat on the shoulder and returned to the dugout. On the next pitch, Flanagan got Jack Foscalina to flyout to center and end the threat.

“No way (was I taking him out),” Trujillo said of his mound visit. “We just smiled at each other and tried to pump him up. That was to stop [Las Lomas’] momentum.

“That’s who he’s been all year,” Trujillo continued, as Flangan improved to 10-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.76. “He’s unfazed. He’s fearless out there. He made a lot of good pitches today. … He’s been our workhorse. He was (the PAL Ocean Division) Pitcher of the Year.”

Despite loading the bases, Flanagan threw only 16 pitches in the inning, the most of any frame. Las Lomas got a leadoff double from Lopez to open the bottom of the sixth, but Flanagan got a tremendous defensive play from Freehill, who ranged far from his shortstop spot to make knee-sliding, over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field for the first out of the inning.

A groundout and a strikeout looking ended the day for Flanagan, who threw 10 more pitches in the sixth to finish with just 65 for his outing.

“I’m really happy (with my performance),” Flanagan said. “The last two (innings) weren’t my strongest, but I was happy to come back and finish strong.”

Up next for fifth-seeded Menlo is a rematch with No. 1-seed Woodland Christian (27-6), which beat No. 8 Durham, 10-0. Woodland beat Menlo 3-2 in the Nor Cal Division V championship game last season.

But Flanagan, for one, doesn’t care about the roughly two-hour bus ride from Atherton to Woodland, which is north of Davis and northwest of Sacramento or the fact his team will face the No. 1 seed and the program that beat Menlo for the Nor Cal title last year.

“We just want to keep playing baseball,” Flanagan said.

Menlo goes into the game on a massive roll. Tuesday’s win was the 10th in the row for Menlo, which has won 19 of its last 20 games.