Menlo School’s Jackson Flanagan fires gem in NorCal D-IV playoff shutout

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...