The Menlo Knights advanced to the CCS Division III baseball championship game, defeating the No. 1 seed Palma 4-3 Tuesday under the lights of the San Jose Municipal Stadium, where the wind was almost as mercurial as the lead.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Menlo’s Jack Redman stood on the pitcher’s mound with the game in his hand or, rather, his mitt. Menlo was one run ahead, and he had just given up a leadoff double to Palma star Cameron Neff.
“[Redman] has been clutch for us all year. It was his to win or lose,” said Menlo coach Craig Schoof, quipping that Redman wasn’t coming out until “the 10th inning when he had nothing left.”
Unfazed by the previous play and from pitching all game, Redman came through and got the next three hitters out to end the game 4-3.
“I’ve been in those positions before, especially against Carmel and Soquel,” said Redman. “All I do is strike out and battle back.”
This was the most innings Redman had ever pitched.
The loss for the Chieftains was all the more heartbreaking because Kyle Swanson, the lead runner in the seventh inning, had a good chance to score and therefore win the game. Swanson walked and was sacrificed to second, but he was thrown out on Alec Irwin’s ground ball to the shortstop, effectively snuffing out the rally.
As the co-champions of the West Bay Athletic League with a 22-7 overall record, Menlo marked its 10th consecutive win with the victory over Palma (also 22-7). The Knights' winning streak will be challenged by Pacific Grove (30-0), which is looking to finish a perfect season in the championship this Saturday.
The game opened with an early lead for Palma as Anthony Payan drove in Jack Ross for an RBI, but Redman settled down and went up three-up, three-down for the second and third innings.
The game began to turn around in the fourth when Menlo scored three runs, nearly going through its entire lineup. Graham Stratford scored Menlo’s first run, and Austin Marcus hit a two-run single. Just like that, Menlo had seized a 3-1 lead.
However, Menlo only had one hit for the next two innings, forcing Redman to be on his game. He continued to suppress Palma’s offense until the sixth inning when Payan’s RBI double and Amos Strauss’ RBI equalizer brought Palma back into the game.
The Knights couldn’t even touch Austin Wahl in the seventh, but the critical play by Swanson, in turn, gave Menlo a second chance to win. Sure enough, Stratford managed to score in the top of the eighth, giving Menlo the 4-3 lead. Menlo had runners on second and third with two outs, so Palma gave an intentional walk to Mikey Diekroger to load the bases. The decision worked out for the best since Marcus’ ground ball to the third baseman became a force out, which prevented Menlo from scoring again.
After Palma’s scoreless seventh inning, Neff, who had already produced two base hits, hit a leadoff double. BUt Redman induced three consecutive fly balls to end the game.
On the highly anticipated match-up with Pacific Grove, Schoof said, “We’ll see what happens. We’ve won five titles, and this is our fourth year in a row going to championships. We’ll be there to battle.”
