Legends Battle to the Final Out, Fall 5-2 to Blues in Palo Alto
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Menlo Park Legends took one of the California Collegiate League’s toughest opponents down to the wire Wednesday night, but a late push from the San Luis Obispo Blues proved to be the difference in a 5-2 loss at Palo Alto.For most of the evening, the Legends matched the Blues pitch for pitch, thanks in large part to a debut to remember from starter
Connor Murphy. The recent Newark Memorial High School graduate, who is committed to play at Ohlone College next season, was impressive in his first outing of the summer, working five efficient innings and allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking none.
Tyler Toribio followed with 1.2 scoreless frames of relief, striking out two and keeping the game within reach into the late innings. Toribio, fresh off his sophomore season at the College of San Mateo, is uncommitted heading into his junior year — and outings like Wednesday’s should have college coaches taking notice.
The Legends also made life difficult for Blues starter Quincy Winkler, grinding out at-bats and drawing six walks against him while pushing his pitch count to 140 over seven innings. Menlo Park’s aggressiveness on the basepaths was on full display as well, with the team racking up seven stolen bases on the night — including two from leadoff man Jordan Medina, who reached base three times and scored a run.
Medina is expected to be one of the Legends’ brightest stars this summer, and he showed why with another disruptive night at the top of the lineup. He arrives in Menlo Park coming off an all-everything sophomore campaign at Ohlone College, where he posted a stellar .385 batting average, drove in 51 runs, scored 61 times, and swiped 19 bases while boasting an impressive .457 on-base percentage.
Menlo Park struck first in the fourth inning. With Oliver Hogan aboard after a single, Joaquin Stuartdelivered an RBI fielder’s choice to give the Legends a 1-0 lead. After San Luis Obispo edged ahead with two runs in the fifth, the Legends answered right back in the bottom half, with Medina hustling home on a caught stealing play to knot the game at 2-2.
From there, the contest settled into a tense pitchers’ duel that stayed deadlocked into the eighth, when the Blues manufactured a run to take a 3-2 lead. San Luis Obispo added two more in the ninth on a two-run single to close out the scoring, while Blues relievers Brent Gallegos and Chance Jasso combined to pitch two hitless innings to seal the win.
Hogan had a hand in nearly everything the Legends did offensively, singling, scoring Menlo Park’s first run, and adding a stolen base in a steady all-around effort. The 6-foot-2 infielder from Seattle is no stranger to producing at the plate, having just wrapped up a junior season at Menlo College in which he hit .372 with nine home runs, 29 RBI, and a .478 on-base percentage. Now in the transfer portal, Hogan is another Legend worth keeping an eye on this summer. Ryder Kelly doubled and stole a base for the Legends, and Medina’s double rounded out a night in which Menlo Park put plenty of traffic on the bases — the timely hit simply stayed just out of reach.
The result closed out the season series with the Blues, a club that has had Menlo Park’s number early this summer. But with quality starting pitching, disciplined at-bats, and constant pressure on the bases, the Legends showed plenty of signs that the breakthrough is coming.
They won’t have to wait long for the next opportunity. The Legends return to action Thursday, June 11, taking on the Walnut Creek Crawdads at 4 p.m. at Monta Vista High School in Danville.
