Menlo News May 30, 2025

Baseball back-to-back CCS champions

Salama provides fireworks as Menlo holds off Monterey to repeat, this time in Div. V

Menlo celebrates its CCS Div. V title at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.

CCS Div. V champions

Menlo School baseball made it back-to-back Central Coast Section Championships, this time taking the Div. V title with a 5-4 win over Monterey at Excite Stadium in San Jose on Thursday.

The Knights improved to 21-8 overall and head to the NorCal Championships, which begin Tuesday. Menlo finds out its matchup on Sunday.

Senior Ben Salama came on in the seventh after Monterey narrowed the gap to a run. Salama, who hasn’t pitched for a month due to elbow issues, threw two strikeouts, and fellow senior Kc Chavinson plucked a fly ball to right-center for the final out.

“He wanted the ball. He wanted the ball last game, and then he definitely wanted it today,” Menlo coach David Trujillo said. “So we just had to find that moment where it was right for him. He did what he could have done the majority of this year if he didn’t get a little banged up.”

While he hasn’t pitched for some time, Salama hasn’t missed time at the plate, picking up first team, all-league honors as a DH. Against Monterey with a 0-2 count, Salama sent a booming hit to center for a triple to lead off the fourth inning. Freshman Fletcher Cahill followed with a double, scoring Salama for the eventual winning run.

The Knights (21-8) built a four-run lead at the end of three innings before the Toreadors started a late run, picking up a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

With the bases loaded, first baseman Nikhil Pathak scored on a wild pitch and Chavinson advances on an error, which plated Renner Barnett for a 4-1 advantage. Liam Widner drove in fellow freshman Fletcher Cahill, who singled to put the Knights ahead 2-1. Leadoff Jack Freehill got Menlo on the scoreboard, touching home with a double-steal. Monterey tied the score at 1 with Luke Miramontes RBI single.

Though the path to NorCals appeared similar to that of last season, the Knights have a lot of changes this year with graduations. Chavinson came back to baseball for his senior season after a couple of years on the track and field team to start at second. At times, the Knights have four or five freshmen starting, including Reid Plamondon (7-1), who took the mound in the final and picked up the win, allowing two runs on three hits through five innings of work. Trujillo brought in ace Jackson Flanagan in relief to tag team.

“At the start I was pretty nervous especially with runner on first,” Plamondon said. “I went in the dugout and talked with my pitching coach Berto (alum Roberto Alarcon) and Ben, they talked to me and said you’ve just got to breathe, and I was good.”

Now, with CCS and Peninsula Athletic League-Ocean titles in tow, the Knights return to the NorCal Championships. Menlo followed a similar path last season with a strong league run and win streak to end the season, then won the CCS Div. VI crown and advanced to the NorCal Div. V title game.