Manuel overdrive: Cap tops King's

SUNNYVALE – There are no must-win games in March, Matt Wilson will remind you, but few will argue that his Capuchino Mustangs were up against it.

Down 2-1 in the fifth inning, Cap was in the throes of a three-game losing streak and on the verge of loss No. 4. Up to the plate stepped third baseman Anakin Manuel, who had doubled in each of his first two at bats.

This time he had runners on first and third with one out.

Greg Mugg, coach of The King's Academy, went to his bullpen to put in Dominic Myung to replace Thomas Castro, says if he could have relived that moment, he would have simply walked Manuel and taken his chance with Travis Ciardella with the bases loaded.

Instead, Manuel took Myung's fourth pitch – a 2-1 fastball – deep over the fence in left-center field for a three-run homer that gave the Mustangs a much-needed 4-2 victory over the Knights who won on Wednesday to salvage a split in the PAL Bay Division-opening series for both teams.

"It was a good swing," said Manuel, who drove in all four of the Mustangs' runs. "I was looking to drive the baseball, whether it be a fastball or a curveball. It was good that I got to see a few pitches before the big swing, and actually saw his curveball the pitch before, and I was able to read that spin. I knew I was looking fastball next."

That's just what he got.

The 4-2 lead was money in the bank for Declan Mendel, who gave up two runs in the first inning on a run-scoring triple from Nate Plata and a long double off the fence in centerfield by Ethan Johnson but settled down the rest of the way.

Mendel went the distance, allowing just two base runners – on a walk and a base hit – after the first inning. He struck out six and walked just one, while scattering four hits.

Play of the Game

Mendel was at 80 pitches and facing the heart of the Knights' batting order – Plata, Johnson and Toby Trotter – in the sixth inning. He got out of the inning with three long fly balls and just five pitches, which enabled him to pitch the seventh inning.

Three Things We Liked

• Bunting. There were three sacrifice bunts in the game – two by Capuchino – and Mustangs leadoff hitter Andres Gomez added two perfectly placed bunt singles.
• Grass and dirt (and sunshine). There are just a handful of natural surfaces on the Peninsula. None is better than the diamond at The King's Academy. The infield grass is perfectly manicured, and the outfield grass is cut short enough to allow a gapper to roll to the fence. Baseball as it should be.
• Mendel's slow curveball. He said he used to struggle to get it over the plate but worked hard in the offseason to gain control of it. He has never timed it with the radar gun, but figures it crosses the place in the low 60 mph range.

He Said It

"We're not really built to just bang the ball out all over the place. We can play small ball. We can run a little bit. We do try to be as aggressive as possible when we get into those situations. We can do the little things. I don't see us knocking down 27 hits in the ball game. We're just not built that way, and that's fine." – Matt Wilson, Capuchino coach.

Up Next

Capuchino (6-4) will return to the field on Monday when it hosts Palo Alto in a 6:30 p.m. game, while The King's Academy will take the next two weeks off for its student body's annual mission trips.

W: Mendel. L: Castro. 3 hits- Manuel (C). 2 hits- A.Gomez (C). 4 RBI- Manuel (C). HR- Manuel (C). 3B- Plata (TKA). 2B- Manuel (C) 2, Johnson (TKA).

Mills 1, Half Moon Bay 0

Tino Janke had his best pitching performance of the season — a one-hit complete-game shutout – as the Vikings beat host Half Moon Bay to split their PAL Ocean Division-opening series with the Cougars.

Janke threw 98 pitches. He struck out three and walked five but was able to mitigate any scoring threats by making big pitches.

With the game still scoreless in the seventh, Janke led off the top of the inning by being safe on an error. Nate Lafon's infield grounder was booted, too, putting runners on first and second.

A fielder's choice grounder moved Janke to third and he eventually scored on a passed ball.

W: Janke. L: Lemen.

Menlo School 9, Westmont 1

Jackson Flanagan needed just 74 pitches – 50 of them strikes – to record a complete-game victory for Menlo School.

Flanagan scatter four hits and walked one, while striking out just one. Instead, he let his defense play and the Knights responded with an errorless game.

Meanwhile, the Menlo School offense pounded out 14 hits. Flanagan, Chuck Wynn, Renner Barnett, KC Chavinson and Jack Freehill had two hits each. Barnett drove in three runs, while Wynn had two RBI.

W: Flanagan. L: Mareno. 2 hits- Flanagan (M), Wynn (M), Chavinson (M), Barnett (M). Freehill (M). 3 RBI- Barnett (M). 2 RBI- Wynn (M). 2B- Wynn (M), Barnett (M), Doherty (W).

Vacaville 4, Sacred Heart Cathedral 3

The Irish traveled to Vacaville and lost their second straight out-of-area game – this time on a walkoff error.

Rohan Kahns had two hits, including a triple, while Evan Liu also had two hits. Tedford Lewis drove in two runs for the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Sacred Heart will face St. Ignatius Prep in the annual Bruce Mahoney game at Oracle Park on Saturday.

W: Foderaro. L: Bray. 2 hits- Corneliuz (V), Kahns (SHC), Liu (SHC). 2 RBI- Lewis (SHC), Moffett (V). 3B- Kahns, Moffett (V). 2B- Olds (V)