LAFAYETTE – Menlo School junior Jackson Flanagan’s best pitch often touched the top of the zone, usually looking like a high, slow and easy-to-hit fastball for a Las Lomas batter. 

Then gravity and backspin took over, violently pulling the ball downward as it knifed through the strike zone.

Teammate Jack Freehill called it a curveball, Flanagan considered it a slider and his coach David Trujillo deemed the pitch a hybrid of the two. 

Regardless of what its title was, the junior righthander’s breaking ball was nearly unhittable in the fifth-seeded Knights’ 2-0 victory over No. 4 seed Las Lomas at Acalanes High to open the NorCal Division IV baseball playoffs. 

“The slider was there for the most part,” Flanagan said after he struck out six, walked just one and allowed five hits in six sterling innings. “Some of the best ones, they didn’t swing at though, which was kind of annoying.” 

Menlo School’s Jackson Flanagan (8) celebrates the final out of the sixth inning against Las Lomas during their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

KC Chavinson went 2 for 4 as the only Knight with multiple knocks, and Las Lomas’ Cruz Lopez was 2 for 3. 

Despite the lack of scoring, there was no shortage of drama in the close game between Bay Area foes. 

Las Lomas’ season ended when officials determined that its baserunner failed to touch second base on the way back to first after Menlo School snagged a fly ball with two outs, and was tagged out. 

Las Lomas coach Yogi Yneed and his team vehemently disagreed with the call, but the first-year coach mostly focused on his team’s accomplishments when asked about it postgame. 

“We’re positive he touched it,” Yneed said, before adding, “This season was about the boys, and the work they put in, and the fact that they were able to go win a NCS (Division IV) championship, something that had only been done one other time this school.”

Las Lomas reacts following their 2-0 loss tot Menlo School for their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

The Knights gave their ace all the run support he would need or get in the top of the first inning, when the CCS Division V champions scored two on a double to left by freshman Jack Roeder. 

Flanagan was not the only pitcher to have his best stuff.

Jimmy Salinas was impeccable in five innings of relief for the Walnut Creek program, striking out five and working out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning. 

Flanagan also found a way to navigate with traffic on the basepaths in the fifth inning, forcing a flyout to left fielder Roeder after Harrison May, Jack Pardella and Noah Sison got on base. 

He also received major defensive support by two-sport star Freehill, the dual-threat quarterback who showed that his athleticism translated to shortstop for the Atherton school.

Menlo School’s Jack Freehill (3) heads to third base on a single hit by Menlo School’s Liam Widner (17) against Las Lomas in the first inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

Freehill went full extension and was briefly parallel to the ground as he snagged a lineout in the second inning. Then, in the sixth inning with a runner on second, the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division co-player of the year tracked the ball over his shoulder in the shallow outfield and pulled off the basket catch. 

“I’ve had a couple of those this year,” the Columbia commit said as he remembered the basket catch. “When you’re playing defense and you have Jackson Flanagan attacking the zone, then the whole defense is going to be alive and that’s when great plays all over the field happen.”

With exceptional defensive catcher Chuck Wynn behind the plate, Menlo School freshman Reid Plamondon closed out the game and punched Menlo School’s ticket to the second round.

Las Lomas finished the season 16-12-1, and Menlo School improved to 22-8.

The Knights will travel to No. 1 seed Woodland Christian, the same Davis-area school that defeated Menlo 3-2 in last season’s NorCal Division V final. 

The Peninsula school is ready for revenge. 

“We’ve had that game circled, and we’re excited for that one,” Freehill said.

Menlo School’s Reid Plamondon (19) throws against Las Lomas in the seventh inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 
Menlo School’s Zach Roeder (13) hits a two-run double against Las Lomas in the first inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 
Las Lomas’ Jimmy Salinas (10) throws against Menlo School in the fifth inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 
Menlo School’s Jack Freehill (3) steals second base against Las Lomas’ Jimmy Salinas (10) in the first inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 
Menlo School’s Jack Freehill (3) and Menlo School’s Liam Widner (17) celebrate their runs off of a double hit by Menlo School’s Zach Roeder (13) against Las Lomas in the first inning of their NorCal Division IV baseball playoff game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)