The Menlo School baseball team raced to a 6-0 lead after two innings of its Central Coast Section Division III opening-round game against visiting Scotts Valley and went on to win 8-0 Wednesday. Junior starter Freddy Avis struck out 17 batters in a dominant effort.

The third-seeded Knights, the Division III defending champions, move on and will face sixth-seeded Sacred Heart Cathedral (18-11) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Sacred Heart Cathedral defeated Soledad 4-2 in its CCS opener after finishing in seventh in the West Catholic Athletic League.

Menlo (23-5) received a complete-game shutout from Avis – his first of the season -- against No. 14 seed Scotts Valley (13-14). Avis also smashed a triple, his third of the season.

The game against Scotts Valley was a rematch of the 2004 CCS Division III championship game which Menlo won 7-6, claiming its third CCS title.

Winning two straight section titles would not be the first time for the school. Menlo claimed back-to-back championships in 1988-89 in CCS 3A and 2A respectively.

Senior Robert Wickers collected three hits and three RBIs on Wednesday to lead a 12-hit attack that included five extra base hits.

The Knights have won nine of their last 10 games and have scored fewer than eight runs only twice in those games.

They have twice faced other WCAL teams, splitting the pair, with the most recent being a 5-2 win at St. Ignatius.

Pitchers Jake Bruml, who has a 2.98 ERA, and Jake Batchelder, who has 60 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings will be well rested for the quarterfinals.