Menlo School making another run at CIF Northern California baseball crown

“We’re pretty good coming from behind,” Menlo senior Chuck Wynn said. “It doesn’t even make a difference in our game. We’ve come from behind a lot in these playoffs, so we’re kind of used to it by now.”

Wynn was hit by pitches in consecutive at-bats. And the second time around, cleanup hitter Liam Widner made James Logan pay.

Trailing 4-2 in the fifth, the No. 2-seed Knights (21-10) sent 10 batters to the plate amid a go-ahead four-run outburst. Zach Roeder reached on a one-out error, and senior Jack Freehill followed with a gapper into left-center to score Roeder all the way from first. Then, after Wynn had gotten drilled in his previous at-bat in the third inning, he wore another one to put runners at first and second.

Widner then stepped to the plate on a mission.

“Honestly, it’s kind of always been like that,” Widner said. “Whenever they’re throwing at my teammate, he’s getting hit, it’s a free base, but I’ve got to get ’em back for that. Every single time I just try to put my best swing on it, and try to get ’em back.”

The sophomore third baseman cashed in with his best Pablo Sandoval impersonation, catching up with a high two-strike fastball to line an RBI single to center to drive home Freehill with the trying run, capping a 2-for-3, two-RBI day.

“I did foul off the one probably a little bit higher than that the pitch before,” Widner said. “But, honestly, I just knew two strikes, I had to protect, I knew I had to put a good enough swing on that pitch to maybe help my team out, and got the outcome I wanted.”

The Knights didn’t stop there, though. William Larson followed with an RBI single to right to drive home Wynn with the go-ahead run. Then the James Logan bullpen uncorked a wild pitch that, initially, looked to be recovered off the backstop by Colts catcher Colton Stevens, but was ruled as having gotten wedged briefly in the backstop, rendering it a dead ball and allowing Widner to score from third.

“I thought I saw the ball kind of bounce out,” James Logan manager Luis Soto said. “But the rules are different; every playing field is different. So, he just mentioned it got lodged in there. So, if it did, then it did. We just have to respect that.”

The two-run cushion was all Menlo reliever Reid Plamondon needed to ride into the sunset with the win. The sophomore right-hander took over for starting pitcher Jackson Flanagan in the fifth inning, and recovered from surrendering an unearned run in the fifth to work three innings, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out four, to earn the win.

Plamondon’s record improves to 7-0 on the year, and 14-1 in his two-year varsity career.

“Obviously, would have preferred to save him (for later in the tournament),” Knights manager David Trujillo said of Plamondon, who won two games as a starting pitcher in the CCS Division III tournament. “Yeah, we made a quick move, and it worked out, for sure.”

Trujillo’s move to the bullpen followed an abrupt exit for Flanagan, after the senior right-hander was on cruise control through the first three innings. Flanagan set down the first nine batters he faced, needing just 25 pitches to do so.

He got some help from his defense through the three perfect frames. Freehill opened the game with a tough backhand play at short and a long one-hop throw across the diamond to start the game. Right fielder Renner Barnett then ran down a line drive toward the right-center gap to end the first. Then in the third, junior center fielder Logan Tran made the play of the day, charging a sinking liner off the bat of Lester Miranda to glove it with an all-out headlong dive.

After Menlo jumped ahead 2-0 in the first on an RBI single from Widner, and an RBI double from junior Matthew Majalya, the No. 7-seed Colts (18-11) answered with a 3-spot in the fourth.

“This is nothing new to us,” Soto said, recounting the Colts’ 10-7 comeback win over Ukiah in the North Coast Section Division III quarterfinals after trailing 7-2. “Unfortunately, for Menlo, it’s nothing new for them as well, and they got the upper hand. But that’s just how we are. We just grind.”

All-Mission Valley League senior slugger Wesly Vega provided the big swing with a booming three-run home run to left, staking James Logan to a 3-2 lead.

“Hands down our best player,” Soto said. “Pitching, hitting, he’s been our core guy for the last three years. He’s our captain, our leader, and there’s no one else we’d want out there.”

Flanagan finished the inning for Menlo, but departed after four innings, allowing three runs on four hits.

“Flanny was pitching great,” Trujillo said. “He just left one pitch up, and it was a big one. But he was early contact, early outs, pitch count was super low. He doesn’t throw hard, so when it’s up, it gets hit. So, we got out of the inning, made a change, and we followed our sophomore stud.”

Plamondon was dialed in though, riding the wave of his six innings of shutout ball in the CCS Division III finals to finish with a flourish. The big headband-clad sophomore with the heavy fastball continued to torque his cap off his head more and more as he closed in on the final out, doing just that to earn the final strike call of the day to notch his fourth strikeout.

“Reid’s been pinpoint all playoffs,” Wynn said. “We’re just so lucky to have him, to be able to start and close, and lean on him whenever.”

With the win, Menlo advances to the Nor Cal regional semifinals to host No. 3 Alameda Thursday at 4 p.m. The Knights have now won four straight Nor Cal games, dating back to last season’s CIF Division IV championship run.

“Just not lose a game for the rest of the season,” Widner said of Menlo’s goal. “We want back-to-back Nor Cal championships.”