De La Salle pulls off another comeback win for CIF D1 NorCal baseball title
Niko Baumgartner, a scholarship football player headed to Fresno State, completed a three-run uprising with a two-out chopped infield single, scoring Antonio Castro who had doubled home Tyler Spangler, who had doubled home Ethan Sullivan, who started the rally with a one-out single.
2025 Final Chronicle Baseball and Softball Rankings
Final 2025 Baseball Rankings
Rank
Team
W-L
Last Week
1.
De La Salle
29-4
1
2.
Serra
28-7
2
3.
Valley Christian
25-8-1
3
4.
Granada
22-6
4
5.
Los Gatos
25-6
6
6.
Foothill
21-8
5
7.
St. Francis
22-11
9
8.
St. Ignatius
17-10-2
7
9.
Acalanes
18-11-1
NR
10.
Bellarmine
17-14
NR
11.
Menlo
24-8
NR
12.
Santa Clara
29-4
NR
13.
College Park
17-12
NR
14.
Cardinal Newman
18-11
13
15.
Rancho Cotate
19-13
NR
Final 2025 Softball Rankings
Rank
Team
W-L
Last Week
1.
St. Francis
28-4
1
2.
Liberty
25-5
8
3.
Hillsdale
21-9-1
NR
4.
Casa Grande
22-7-1
2
5.
King's Academy
22-8
NR
6.
Cardinal Newman
24-7
NR
7.
Capuchino
21-8
9
8.
Valley Christian
21-7
3
9.
Mills
21-4-1
5
10
Notre Dame-Belmont
20-5-1
7
11
Castro Valley
17-5
4
12.
San Ramon Valley
16-8-2
10
13.
California
19-9
11
14.
Livermore
19-10
12
15.
Saratoga
20-3
NR
In the top of the seventh, Serra (28-7) had secured the insurance run it thought needed to go up 4-2 on a one-out RBI double from Evan Bradshaw, his third hit of the game. But right fielder Baumgartner set up his own heroics by throwing out Ian Josephson at the plate on Davis Minton's fly ball that appeared to be plenty deep enough.
Josephson, nursing a sore hamstring, stumbled slightly and Baumgartner's throw and catcher Zach Tchejeyan's tag gave De La Salle all the momentum needed to continue the seventh-inning magic that occurred in 2022 to beat St. Francis 7-6 (scored four in the bottom half) and in 2023 to defeat Valley Christian 11-8 (scoring six in the top half).
The Spartans were held scoreless and hitless for five straight frames by Riley Lim and reliever Minton before Saturday's latest blockbuster rally.
After Baumgartner easily beat shortstop Josephson's throw to the bag, he just kept sprinting toward the right-field corner where his teammates sprinted after him and dog-piled in a wild celebration, a far cry from two painful defeats last season to Granada-Livermore in the NCS finals and NorCal semifinals.
The speedy 6-foot-3, 195-pound Baumgartner, who plays linebacker on the football team, said he had never had either a walk-off hit or assist at the plate as a Spartan.
'Perfect timing,' Baumgartner said for the firsts. 'Best timing. … Walk-off. Last game. Tie game. That's the best it could get.'
De La Salle center fielder Alec Blair, headed to Oklahoma on a baseball and basketball scholarship, said his team never flinched despite the early hole they found themselves in.
'We always find a way,' Blair said. 'I honestly wasn't worried. … How many times do you have to watch the same movie to know how it's going to end?'
Sullivan, who led off the first with a double and scored immediately on a double by the Stanford-bound Spangler, said the late rally came down to something more basic.
'Honestly, it's because we're just playing for each other,' Sullivan said. 'We're a good team, we're talented and we work really hard, but our bond, our relationship, at the end of the day is what won us the game, why we weren't nervous. Everyone on our team knew we had it.'
De La Salle coach David Jeans wasn't quite as sure, noting that Serra coach Mat Keplinger 'has been in big games at USF and San Jose State, and he knows the emotions of it. And they play with emotion and fire and grit. We just happened to get 'em this time.'
Baseball title games roundup: Despite RBIs from Gino Cappellazzo and Henry Dommer, St. Francis (22-11) dropped a 3-2 Division 2 title matchup at No. 1 seed Yuba City of Sutter County (31-5), which won its 14th straight game. Both teams scored two runs in the first before Max Guth singled home the game-winner in the seventh. … In Division 3, Camden Henington and Jett Derammelaere combined on a two-hitter with seven strikeouts, leading third seed Rancho Cotate-Rohert Park (19-13) to a 2-1 win at top seed Roseville (23-11). Cotate advanced from the North Coast Section bracket as the 15th seed. … In Division 4, Ben Salama and Fletcher Cahill drove in runs in the fourth inning and four pitchers made it stand up as fifth seed Menlo School-Atherton (24-8) edged host and third seed Santa Clara, 2-1. Drew Diffenderfer's RBI single gave Santa Clara (29-4) a 1-0 lead, but the fourth-inning rally was all Menlo needed. Santa Clara's Jaxton Chao and John Kepner pitched well for Santa Clara, allowing just five hits and striking out five.
Softball title games roundup: In Division 2, the hot-hitting Liberty-Brentwood Lions were cooled off by Salinas senior pitcher Abi Jones, who fired a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the Cowboys' 4-1 home win. Liberty had scored 31 runs in two NorCal playoff games, but could muster only an RBI single by Kelsie Skaggs in the third inning. But that time Salinas (21-8) had a 2-0 lead and would never trail thanks in part to a home run, double and single from Gigi Rossi. … In Division 3, Hillsdale-San Mateo sophomore Lola Jones (three-hitter, seven strikeouts, no walks) outdueled Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa senior Callie Howard (two-hitter, eight strikeouts, two walks) in a 1-0 win in San Mateo. Taylor O'Mahoney's one-out RBI single scored Mia DeMartini who led off with a double to score the winning run in the seventh for the Knights (21-9-1), who won their second straight game with a walk-off. … In D4, Stevie Knight went 4-for-4 and pitched a one-hitter with eight strikeouts to lead top seed East Nicolaus (Sutter County) to a 4-0 win over San Leandro (23-9).
CIF Northern California Baseball Championships
Division 1: No. 1 De La Salle 5, No. 3 Serra 4
Division 2: No. 1 Yuba City 3, No. 2 St. Francis 2
Division 3: No. 3 Rancho Cotate 2, No. 1 Roseville 1
Division 4: No. 5 Menlo School 2, No. 3 Santa Clara 1
Division 5: No. 1 Etna 6, No. 2 Stevenson 5
CIF Northern California Softball Championships
Division 1: No. 2 Del Oro 5, No. 1 Oak Ridge 3
Division 2: No. 2 Salinas 4, No. 4 Liberty-Brentwood 1
Division 3: No. 1 Hillsdale 1, No. 2 Cardinal Newman 0
Division 4: No. 1 East Nicolaus 4, No. 3 San Leandro 0
Division 5: No. 1 Biggs 4, No. 3 King City 2
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