Woodside High School baseball junior Zakary Sullivan fires complete game shutout against Menlo Knights

None of that mattered to Woodside junior Zakary Sullivan, as the big right-hander whirled a two-hit shutout Tuesday in the Wildcats’ 5-0 win at Menlo School. Sullivan allowed just four base runners throughout — with Menlo getting just one hit out of the infield — while striking out 11.

“It was great,” Sullivan said. “It felt probably the best I’ve had it feel in a while. I had to work for it a bit after the first inning, but after that it was good.”

Woodside (2-3) flipped the script after Saturday’s 8-0 loss to University-San Francisco. Prior to that, the Wildcats had opened the season with three high-scoring affairs. But Sullivan’s brilliance tapped into an old-school baseball feel, giving Woodside its first shutout victory since Sullivan’s last victory — a five-inning complete game in a 16-0 mercy-rule win over Westmoor last season.

“So far, every game, win or loss, has been a good battle,” Woodside manager Dan Rogers said. “Our pitchers, one thing that this delayed season has given us, is the chance to build up arm strength. So, we’ve been throwing bullpens and kind of building up for the past couple months.”

After not scoring a run for nearly a week, the Woodside bats woke up in a hurry. The Wildcats rallied for three runs in the second against Menlo starting pitcher Carson Cleage, fueled by two triples in the frame.

Senior shortstop Julian Knapstad sparked the rally with a one-out triple, shooting a ball up the right-center gap. Jared Lopez Gonzalez followed with a walk. Then, senior Jack Ryan lofted a two-run triple over the right fielder’s head to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

“You don’t see many innings with two triples,” Rogers said. “So, that was nice to see as well.”

Ryan then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

It was all the runs Sullivan would need, as the big, burly right-hander settled in. His whip arm and max effort evoke a throwback, who punctuates every heavy fastball with a grunt. He was living high in the strike zone, which Rogers said is uncharacteristic; his heavy ball is more effective when he works at the knees.

But it was enough to get stronger as the day wore on. And as he got into the late innings, with his velocity dropping a tick, he relied more on his curveball which he was able to locate effectively through the seventh.

“They all saw my fastball early, so it was just to try something different,” Sullivan said. “So, it was just to try something new.”

Menlo (1-3) avoided any chance of getting no-hit early on when sophomore Sudar Kartheepan looped an infield single into the hole between third and shortstop in the third inning. But not until the seventh did the Knights connect for a solid hit, when Colin Dhaliwal shot a double up the right-center gap.

“That was better,” Menlo manager Greg Hart said. “And there’s little victories we’re trying to get this year to build confidence, and to build for the future. And this year we have baseball players playing football, playing basketball, playing water polo. So, we’re doing the best we can.”

The Knights utilized three pitchers — Cleage, Ryan Schnell and Dhaliwal — all of whom are underclassmen. Menlo graduated 12 seniors after last season, relegating the program to a rebuilding year this season.

“Last year we were loaded,” Hart said. “We had a lot of arms. This year it’s a lot of young arms. But they can pitch.”

Woodside added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth.

Christopher Dodge opened the inning with a single through the middle. Then, after Dhaliwal in relief fanned back-to-back batters, the left-hander seemed to have gotten out of the inning when Ryan lifted a fly ball to the outfield. But two Menlo outfielders collided on the play, allowing Dodge to come all the way around to score. Then, after a walk to Nicky Hart put runners at the corners, the Wildcats put on a double steal, with Dodge swiping home amid a botched rundown between first and second.

The only inning Sullivan labored in was the seventh. After Dhaliwal’s one-out double, Jacob Lee drew a walk, and Dhaliwal stole third to put runners at the corners. After a mound visit, Sullivan buckled down to strike out the next two batters to end it.

“Normally at this point of the year, I wouldn’t let a pitcher go that deep in a game,” Rogers said. “But he was throwing strikes. … Sullivan is a competitor on the mound. So, I know he’s definitely going to go out there and give us his best effort when he has the opportunity.”