Back on top! Once again, De La Salle rallies with three runs in seventh to win 3rd NorCal title in 4th year of competition

CONCORD — De La Salle did it again.

The Spartans have now won three of the first four CIF NorCal Division I championships after a scintillating 5-4 walk-off win over Serra on Saturday. And just as they did in 2022 and 2023, De La Salle had to mount a stunning seventh-inning comeback.

The Spartans entered the bottom of the seventh down 4-2 to the Padres. With one out, Ethan Sullivan started the rally with a single to center.

Then Tyler Spangler had the hit that really got De La Salle to believe, lacing an opposite-field double down the left field line that brought in Sullivan.

De La Salle’s Ethan Sullivan (8) reacts after scoring against Junipero Serra High during the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Antonio Castro followed with a double down the right-field line, scoring Spangler to tie the game. Then after an intentional walk and a groundout, Niko Baumgartner legged out a high-chopping, infield single to shortstop, scoring Castro and clinching the Spartans’ third NorCal crown.

“I knew I got speed, so I saw the high chopper,” Baumgartner said. “I just knew I was there. I had a great feeling. I was like, it’s a little too high. I trusted myself and got down the line.”

De La Salle is making a habit of legendary comebacks in the NorCal title game. In 2022, the Spartans scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off St. Francis.

In 2023, De La Salle was down 8-5 to Valley Christian but scored six times in the top of the seventh to win 11-8.

So this little two-run comeback was old hat.

De La Salle baseball head coach David Jeans congratulates his players after their 5-4 walk-off single hit by De La Salle’s Niko Baumgartner (21) against Junípero Serra High in the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

“We got back to our plan in the seventh of going the other way,” Spartans coach David Jeans said. “We kind of lost that in the middle of the game. But we always preach, ‘As long as there’s outs left, the game’s not over.’”

Initially, De La Salle (29-4) was the aggressor, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Serra (28-7) mounted its comeback starting in the third inning, as Davis Minton hit a two-out, two-run double to tie the game.

The Padres took the lead in the fourth, as Aaron Maier lined a single up the middle to score Tyler Harrison.

“They’re as competitive as they come,” Serra coach Mat Keplinger said of his players. “They don’t back down from any adversity, which we knew was going to strike at some point. We’ve been in those situations, so there’s no panic from the group.”

Junipero Serra’s Evan Bradshaw (4) celebrates with teammate Ian Josephson (7) after Bradshaw scored against the De La Salle High during the third inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Serra added an insurance run when Evan Bradshaw doubled down the left-field line in the seventh, scoring Jack Wessell to give the Padres a 4-2 lead. But Ian Josephson, who advanced to third on the play, was thrown out at home after Minton hit a medium-depth fly ball to center field, snuffing out Serra’s rally.

The player who made the inning-ending throw? Baumgartner.

“Having a two-sport guy is phenomenal,” Jeans said of his right fielder. “He’s going to Fresno State for football, and he throws a guy out at the plate in the seventh. And then he comes up with the chopper and with his speed, no way. Right when he hit it, I knew.”

Baumgartner prevented the run that could have put the game out of reach. Then he drove in the winning run.

De La Salle baseball players celebrate their 5-4 win against Junípero Serra High after De La Salle’s Niko Baumgartner (21) hit the walk-off single in the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

“Probably the best baseball feeling I’ve ever had, for sure,” Baumgartner said. “Teammates running after me after we just won the game, NorCal championship, doesn’t get better than that.”

De La Salle made history simply by winning the game, but Castro made a bit of individual history as well. With his game-tying hit in the seventh, he broke Tony Martinez’s DLS record for RBIs in a season.

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Castro now stands alone with 45 runs batted in this year.

“I was just happy that I got it done for the boys,” Castro said. “That was what was going through my mind the whole at-bat. I saw a pitch that I could hit. I was just thinking, ‘Do it for the boys. Get this run in, so we got a chance.’”

The home setting in Concord added to the pageantry of De La Salle returning to the NorCal mountaintop after a disappointing loss to Granada in the NorCal semifinals last year. This Spartans senior class leaves a legacy of reestablishing De La Salle baseball as the preeminent program in Northern California.

“We trust in our guys,” said Spangler, who was on the 2023 team that beat Valley with the six-run rally. “We trust in the guys behind us, and we’re confident in anyone that they can do the job. I can’t even describe it. You play for that the whole season. That’s really what you play for. I’m just really happy about it.”

De La Salle baseball players mob De La Salle’s Niko Baumgartner (21) after he hit the walk-off single to defeat Junípero Serra High 5-4 in the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
De La Salle baseball players mob De La Salle’s Niko Baumgartner (21) after he hit the walk-off single to defeat Junípero Serra High 5-4 in the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
De La Salle’s Ethan Sullivan (8) reacts after scoring against Junipero Serra High during the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
De La Salle’s Ethan Sullivan (8) celebrates his double against Junipero Serra’s Ian Josephson (7) during the first inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
De La Salle starting pitcher Roman Bartosh (23) tosses the ball to first baseman John Salter (7) to throw out Junipero Serra’s Nate Hui (5) during their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
De La Salle catcher Zach Tchejeyan (5) tags out Junipero Serra’s Ian Josephson (7) during the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Junipero Serra’s Tyler Harrison (12) scores the go-ahead run against De La Salle catcher Zach Tchejeyan (5) during the seventh inning of their CIF NorCal Division I championship game at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)