MONTEREY >> Over the course of the baseball season, Carmel High went 2-8 against teams currently in the Central Coast Section Division I or II playoffs.

However, of the programs the Padres faced in the regular season that are in the postseason for Divisions III, IV, V and VI, the Padres put together a 15-2 mark.

“Division III is the spot where we belong,” Carmel baseball coach Mike Kelly said.

And for the second time in three years, the Padres are going back to the Division III finals after blanking Christopher 2-0 Wednesday at Sollecito Park.

“The kids have worked hard and are playing their best ball right now,” Kelly said. “It feels good and it feels right. This is the path we prepared for. We presented them with a plan and the kids have executed it.”

Runner-ups in the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division, the top-seeded Padres (20-10) will face No. 3 seed Willow Glen of San Jose (23-6) on Friday at Santa Clara University at a time yet to be determined.

Co-champions of the Mount Hamilton League, the Rams have won a season high 13 straight games, outslugging Los Altos 10-8 to advance to the finals.

Willow Glen plays in the same division as Christopher, having swept its season series with them by 5-1 and 5-4 scores. Its last loss came on April 18 to Leigh. While it doesn’t pack a lot of power at the plate, it has four hitters hitting over .400.

“We scouted them last weekend,” said Kelly, in anticipation that they might face them. “We will start looking at film and see if we can learn more about them.”

This is the second time in three years that Carmel has knocked Christopher out of the playoffs, beating them 3-2 in 2023 en route to capturing the CCS Division III title.

“We were pretty good last year as well,” Kelly said. “But we got moved into Division I.”

Through two playoff games, Kelly has turned to a pair of underclassmen to shut down the opposition as freshman Kenny Sanchez hurled five-plus scoreless innings against Christopher. Sophomore Lucas Rocha tossed a complete game last Saturday.

“It’s a combination of being mature beyond their years and working at their craft,” Kelly said. “It’s not like they are athletes that pitch. They have dedicated themselves to a pitching training program. Matt Maxon is a great leader of the group.”

Maxon will likely draw the assignment in the title game, having gone 8-1 in the regular season, with 73 strikeouts, compiling an 0.92 earned run average.

While Sanchez got into a little trouble in the sixth when Christopher put a pair of baserunners on, Ty Arnold came in and put the fire out, then tossed a hitless seventh for the save.

Sanchez was staked to all the runs he would need in the first inning when Sean Carr tripled home Maxon, who doubled earlier in the inning. Carmel added insurance in the fifth inning when pinch hitter Michael Melnick singled home Skyler Brown

“It helps pitching with a lead,” Kelly said. “Our strikeout numbers are not high. But these guys don’t do stuff to hurt themselves. And our defense has done a great job all season.”

The Padres will be one of five Pacific Coast Athletic League teams playing for a section title, joining Hollister (DI), St. Francis (DIV), Monterey (DV) and Stevenson (DIV).