May 17, 2008

Knights' depth shows in quarterfinal win

Menlo School within two victories of CCS championship

By Glenn Reeves / Bay Area News Group

SANTA CLARA - The Menlo School baseball team got production from up and down its batting order and a combined shutout from two pitchers. And that's pretty much been the story of the season for the PAL Bay Division champions.

The Knights had no trouble Friday night in a 7-0 win over Soquel in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Div. III playoffs at Washington Park in Santa Clara.

Menlo (23-8) will play the winner of today's Live Oak-Stevenson game in a semifinal Tuesday at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

The Knights had two players (Danny Diekroeger and Chris Ryan) with three hits and three players (Trevor Williams, Jack Mosbacher and Kenny Diekroeger) with two. Matt Corley and Kenny Diekroeger combined on a five-hit shutout.

"We're tough to pitch to one through nine,'' Menlo coach Craig Schoof said. "This is the deepest team I've had in my 21 years at Menlo.''

While the tean's depth is a great strength, Schoof was also wary of a potential pitfall.

"If the eight or nine guys on the bench complain about not getting playing time, it can really bring the team down,'' Schoof said. "But this is just an incredible group of guys. From the first inning on, our bench was really into the game.''

The depth can also dictate some difficult decisions.

"I didn't decide on my starting pitcher until 2 o'clock,'' Schoof said. "I was going back and forth between Matt and Gabe (Adelman).''

Schoof decided on Corley, who wasn't in Menlo's rotation for most of the PAL season, and Corley rewarded the judgment with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless work. He allowed four hits, walked four, struck out three and was able to rise to the occasion with runners on base.

"Matt Corley was just unbelievable,'' said Mosbacher, the Knights' center fielder. "He stepped up. In big games, he's always solid.''

Kenny Diekroeger came in from shortstop to take over on the mound after Corley hit two batters in the fifth. He pitched out of that jam and held Soquel scoreless the final two innings. Diekroeger gave up one hit and one walk and struck out two.

Menlo scored two runs in each of the first three innings as 14 of its first 20 batters reached base. There were two sacrifice flies and one sacrifice bunt among the six batters who didn't reach base.

It was a dominant performance.

The win silenced some ghosts.

"This was just a great win, especially with the memories of walking off this field after a loss (in last year's CCS quarterfinals),'' said Mosbacher, the Stanford signee who went 2-for-2 with a double, single, hit by pitch and sacrifice bunt out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup. "This is my fourth year. Losing in CCS left a terrible taste in my mouth. It would have been tough to leave without a victory.''

Now the Knights get a chance to win two more games and capture their first CCS title since 2004.