The Knights won their eighth section title and denied a Cinderella story.
The Lincoln Lions entered their first CCS Baseball Championship Game in program history with all the momentum in the world and a throng of dedicated supporters that descended on Excite Ballpark.
But the Menlo Knights had their ace on the mound in Ryan Schnell, played flawless defense and scored a pair of unearned runs to beat the Lions 3-1 in the CCS Division VI Championship.
“Our defense is incredible,” Schnell said. “As a strike-thrower, I’d call myself a ground ball pitcher, and to have that defense behind me, I can throw any pitch I want in any count.”
Aside from allowing a first-inning RBI single to Diego Casorla, he was all but flawless, and top-seeded Menlo (21-9) capitalized on a quartet of Lincoln errors to win the eighth section title in program history and the first under head coach David Trujillo.
“We play at a very big field like this, so we’re very comfortable here,” said Trujillo. “Schnell gets a lot of action in the field.”
Garrett Tran scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third when Lincoln’s center fielder booted Chuck Wynn’s single, and Tran crossed the plate again in the fifth when the Lions botched a trick play to try to get a runner at second.
“They found some holes at a timely fashion, and you’ve gotta tip your hat to Schnell,” head coach Stuart Piraro said. “He competed.”
After his team took the lead, Schnell allowed just two more runners to reach base. Joey Telucci singled with one out in the fourth, and Jayden Peters singled off the shortstop’s glove in the fifth, but was quickly erased on a 4-6-3 double play. Schnell retired the final eight as he worked his way through the order for a third time.
“I picked up on some of their swing tendencies,” Schnell said. “I saw which guys were sitting on my fastball and which guys were sitting offspeed.”
Photo: Ethan Kassel
Schnell got eight ground ball outs, all in the first six innings. He froze Telucci on a 3-2 pitch to start the seventh, then got a deep flyout to left off the bat of Jonas Gamez. Ryan Rogers was Lincoln’s last hope, and while he worked the count full, he hit a low liner that second baseman Luke Rogers snared to end the game.
Casorla took a six-inning complete game loss for Lincoln (23-5), allowing five hits and two walks. Just one of the three runs he allowed was earned; sophomore Renner Barnett doubled with one out in the second and scored when his classmate, Jackson Flanagan, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Tran’s run in the third also came off a hit by pitch. He wore a 2-2 pitch to reach with one out, headed to third on Wynn’s single and then kept running when the center fielder booted it.
He scored again in the fifth after a walk and Wynn single put runners on the corners. With Barnett batting, Wynn went to steal second, and Lincoln put a spin on the typical throw to the shortstop to try to bait the runner from third into coming home. The shortstop then tried to make a no-look flip to second with hopes of getting Wynn, but the flip was off the mark, allowing Tran to cross the plate without a throw.
The Lions were received warmly by their fans, who filled up much of the third-base stands, following the defeat.
“It’s a big thing,” Piraro said of the support. “Lincoln is a community with a lot of loyal people. If you attend Lincoln, you usually have a very good experience, so people hold onto their relationships for a long time.”
Division V: Capuchino 1, Santa Cruz 0
The wild roller coaster of a season for the Capuchino Mustangs has continued with an enormous high in the form of the program’s first CCS Championship.
A team that burst onto the scene with wins over Serra and St. Francis that stumbled and finished sixth in the PAL Bay has found itself on top of the world once again after a 1-0 win over the Santa Cruz Cardinals.
Ryan Burton, a third-generation San Bruno resident, threw a three-hit shutout, never allowing a runner past first base, and Capuchino (20-10) finally broke through against Cardinals ace Morgan Toohey in the bottom of the sixth on Anakin Manuel’s RBI single.
Catcher Lucas Zayac and Burton started the sixth with singles before Manuel knocked in the game’s only run.