Sophomore Reid Plamondon struck out nine and allowed just two hits over six innings and sophomore Liam Winder closed it out with a scoreless seventh as Menlo defeated Wilcox 2-0 for its third straight CCS title in the Division 3 final Thursday at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.
All the scoring took place in the first inning on a two-run single by junior Matthew Majayla, driving in senior Jack Freehill who was hit by a pitch and senior Chuck Wynn, who walked. The Knights won despite managing just three hits off Wilcox left-hander Eliah Laureles, who pitched well in a losing effort.
Wilcox finished the season 19-11. The Chargers reached the title game with a 7-0 win over Hollister in the semis.
Menlo, which earned the No. 2 seed in the CIF NorCal Division 3 playoffs, will host James Logan Tuesday. The top-seeded Knights (20-10) needed two rallies to get past Aptos in the semifinals, scoring two runs in the seventh to tie and then two more in the ninth to win 7-6. Renner Barnett hit a walk-off singer to score Winder after a balk allowed the tying run to score.
