Junior Griff McGarry connects with a pitch.

The Menlo Knights baseball team wins their first championship since 2011, defeating the Carmel Padres 9-4.

Written by Eric Chang.

On May 28, 2016, the Menlo Knights beat the Carmel Padres at San Jose Municipal Stadium to win the Division II CCS Baseball Championship.

Carmel was the top seed going into the CCS tournament and was favored to win the title. This gave third seed Menlo an underdog status, but in a dominating performance by the entire organization, they overcame Carmel in a 9-4 win.

The Knights had an extremely deep lineup heading into the game, and each batter contributed in one way or another. Leading the charge was senior center fielder RJ Babiera, who got on base four times in five at-bats, stole three bases, scored three runs, and started a number of offensive rallies for Menlo.

Another outstanding player who was able to produce key runs for Menlo was senior Jared Lucian. He was involved in four of the team’s nine total runs, by having two RBI singles and scoring twice. He also secured the win by catching a pop-up for the final out. Lucian, who maintained the highest average on the Menlo baseball team in his junior year, batted third in the CCS championship.

Junior Chandler Yu started for Menlo and gave up only two runs in five innings. With four of those innings being shutouts, Menlo was able maintain a steady lead throughout the game. When Yu departed after the fifth inning, the score was a solid 7-2. Yu proved that he was the pitching ace of Menlo by exposing the weakness of Carmel’s inability to score runners who are in scoring position, and by staying in control of the game for five strong innings. Yu started three of the four CCS games the Knights played in, and received the win in all three.

RJ Babiera was the chosen reliever to pitch the sixth and seventh innings. He pitched a shutout sixth inning that included a solo double-play made by senior Davis Rich and an incredible catch by senior Antonio Lopez. In the seventh inning, the game saw a little drama as Babiera let two runs scored, but his team helped him out defensively. For the first two outs of the inning, Menlo turned a clean 6-4-3 (shortstop to second base to first base) double play. At 3:20 P.M., Jared Lucian caught the final popfly that concluded the team’s phenomenal season and earned them the CCS Championship.

The Knights, who were lead this year by twelve seniors, reached their goal that they set on the first day of practice. In a gym classroom in February, coach Ryan Cavan spoke to the players about their aspirations for the season, and winning the CCS Championship was the ultimate goal. Winning this title, the Knights will be able to add another plaque to the back of their dugout, which already features many league championships, CCS runner ups, and five other CCS championships.