SANTA CLARA — When Santa Clara trailed Oakland Tech by five runs in the CIF NorCal Division IV quarterfinals, there was doubt in the Bruins dugout. 

“A lot of guys were down,” senior Zach Gallegos said.

But Santa Clara wasn’t out. Drew Diffenderfer’s two-run double gave the Bruins life, cutting the deficit to three and sparking a sustained comeback that ultimately resulted in a one-run lead. 

Oakland Tech responded with two runs in the sixth. Santa Clara retorted with a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie it.

Then in the seventh, it was Gallegos who ensured Santa Clara’s dream season would last at least two more days. With two runners on and one out, Gallegos ripped a single to left-center, scoring Kalani Tesimale to cap an improbable 10-9 win and advance the Bruins to the NorCal Division IV semifinals for the first time in school history.

Santa Clara’s Zach Gallegos (7) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a walk-off single during a CIF NorCal baseball game between Oakland Tech and Santa Clara on June 3, 2025, at Santa Clara High School. (Photo courtesy Joshua Cedro) Photo courtesy Joshua Cedro

“It was just coming up for my guys,” Gallegos said of his mindset. “Just try to hit something hard, try to hit something through a gap. I really struggled at the beginning of the game, grounding out a lot. So I knew I had to step up for my guys.”

Santa Clara (28-3) relied on contributions from several different players to get back in the game. Diffenderfer’s key two-out single in the fourth was the spark that made the Bruins believe. 

Jaxton Chao’s two-run single in the fourth brought them to the brink of tying the game. And when Greg Salgado reached on an error with two outs in the fifth, Savion Thomas and Andrew Traffas scored, completing the comeback and giving Santa Clara an 8-7 advantage. 

“The turning point was when we finally took the lead,” Santa Clara coach Pedro Martinez said. “We’ve always been in tight games, it seems like every game. We hadn’t been punched in the mouth for a while. All of sudden, you get in this tournament, and it’s one and done. We got ourselves together.”

Santa Clara coach Pedro Martinez fist-bumps Santa Clara’s Andrew Traffas (1) during a CIF NorCal baseball game between Oakland Tech and Santa Clara on June 3, 2025, at Santa Clara High School. (Photo courtesy Joshua Cedro) 

The hits didn’t stop when the Bruins went up. Oakland Tech (17-10) was game for a comeback too.

Diego Delgado led off the sixth with a single, then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. With two outs, Elijah Rucker ripped a single to left, tying the game.

Then things unraveled a bit for Santa Clara. Gyasi Rapier followed with a single to right, then Lee Tshohane’s ground ball to second slipped under a glove, giving the Bulldogs the lead right back. 

“Our boys showed a lot of heart,” Oakland Tech coach Chris McClarty said. “Showed a lot of grit. They showed their brotherhood, and it was a game that they embraced. They were enjoying the game as well. They liked the tense moments, and they battled. They showed a lot of character, and I’m very proud of them for that.”

But Santa Clara had more to say. The Bruins answered right back when Traffas drove in Chao, who had walked to lead off the inning and then stole second base.

The tying run gave pitcher John Kepner, who had navigated traffic in the sixth, a second wind. Kepner, who had multiple extra-base hits and a pair of RBIs at the plate, pitched a shutdown seventh, setting the stage for Gallegos’ walk-off heroics in the bottom of the frame. 

“I just hate losing,” Kepner said. “I hate it so much. I would much rather not lose than win. That was big to keep my composure. I could have easily let them score even more runs. But big props to my defense. They struggled a little bit, but they bounced back and made the plays when they needed to. In that last inning, I wanted to get a shutdown inning there. Get pumped up, get my guys going.”

The comeback was a testament to Santa Clara’s senior class. The Bruins have nine fourth-year players on their roster, and they have been building toward this season since Martinez took over in 2023.

They have now won their first-ever CCS championship and their first NorCal game within the past five days.

“You guys are freakin’ cockroaches and you know it,” Martinez told his team after the game. “You just won’t die.”

Oakland Tech had to swallow a bitter pill in defeat. But McClarty took pride in how his team represented the rich legacy of baseball in the Town.  

“I’m very proud of the kids and the coaching staff,” McClarty said. “We represented Oakland well. We let everybody know that there is some good baseball on that side of town.”

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The back-and-forth contest was a testament to the belief of both teams. But Santa Clara, which has not lost a game at home all season, refused to let likely the final matchup on its field this year go in favor of the visiting Bulldogs. 

‘We got a couple big hits, got some runs,” Kepner said. “That spark lit under us. And then we were like, ‘Wow, we can really do this.’ Like, why would we stop playing? Let’s keep playing. Why not, right? We graduate tomorrow. Let’s play into the summer. It was quiet a first. But then we were like, ‘Yeah, we can do this. Let’s rally.’”

And the Bruins are not done yet. Santa Clara will travel to face No. 2 West Valley of Cottonwood on Thursday at 4 p.m.

“We’re here to make history,” Gallegos said. “We’ve done it twice already. Winning a league title, winning our first CCS championship. So it feels great to be able to implement our names here and just compete.”