De La Salle walks it off again in seventh, shocks Serra in Northern California (CIF) High School baseball D1 finals

CONCORD, Calif. — Niko Baumgartner couldn’t count the number of sprints he’s run over eight seasons and four years between the De La Salle High School football and baseball teams.

His last one of 90 feet will surely be his most memorable.

With runners at second and third and two out in the bottom of the seventh, the fleet 6-foot-3, 190-pound right fielder chopped a ball high over the third basemen. By the time shortstop Ian Josephson got to the ball for a long accurate throw, Baumgartner had already touched the bag, scoring Antonio Castro with the winning run of a wild 5-4 victory over Serra Saturday afternoon for the Northern California Division 1 championship.

While Castro flung his helmet to the fence in glee, the top seeded Spartans (29-4) mobbed Baumgartner in right field, starting a wild season-ending — and in some case career-ending — celebration that lasted for minutes.

It likely continued through much of the night.

The rally, the back-and-forth game, played before an absolutely jammed crowd on a perfectly warm late afternoon day, was a perfect way to end the 2024-25 athletic season in California.

Even the Padres, a considerable underdog considering it was the third seed, that it lost to De La Salle earlier in the year, and came in with a depleted pitching staff following a 12-inning first-round victory on Tuesday, could appreciate the clean, crisp, intense two-hour and 20 minute classic.

As well and hard as Serra battled, shutting down the mighty De La Salle bats for five innings after getting down 2-0, the Spartans were always in control.

That's because they had a last at-bat and with it came an unyielding belief based on a lot of history, all against West Catholic Athletic League foes, they would prevail.

"We always find a way," De La Salle senior center fielder Alec Blair said.

It was the third seventh-inning rally to win a NorCal championship in four years and the second at De La Salle.

In 2022, the Spartans rallied for four runs to beat St. Francis, 7-6.

In 2023 at Valley Christian, they need six runs in the top of the seventh to win 11-8.

And now this.

Baumgartner, who will play football on scholarship at Fresno State, also had a key assist in the top of the seventh to throw out Josephson trying to score on a potential sacrifice fly.

He said he had never thrown out a runner at home plate or had a walk off hit in his De La Salle career.

“Perfect timing,” he said with a grin. “Best timing.”

Best moment as a Spartan?

“It’s my top moment, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “Walk off. Last game. Tie game. That’s the best it could get.”

As far as all those sprints he’s run over his career?

“I’ve run too many to not be safe there,” he said. “It all paid off.”

The game-winning single was preceded with back-to-back RBI doubles from Stanford-bound junior Tyler Spangler (just inside the left field line) and Castro (over the first-base bag) after a one-out single from Ethan Sullivan. An intentional walk to Alec Blair and groundout put runners at second and third to set up Baumgartner’s heroics.

• KYLE SPANGLER | Nation's No. 3 ranked junior leads De La Salle into finals

“There’s no one I’d rather have up at the end of a game than Niko Baumgartner,” Sullivan said. “I was so confident in him then and I’m so happy for him now. I was the first one out in right field jumping on top of him. He’s a super good athlete, but a better person.”

Said De La Salle coach David Jeans: “As long as the we have outs left, the kids believe and we’re gonna keep fighting.”

This, between high profile teams, with rich histories and notable alumni, was nothing but a heavyweight fight, featuring comebacks, heated arguments and a near skirmish between the teams while shaking hands. There were defensive gems, timely hits and excellent, pinpoint pitching.

From both teams.

"This team is one of one," Lim said. "Wouldn't trade them for any team."

Said Serra second-year coach Mat Keplinger, whose team lost 18 seniors off the 2024 WCAL championship squad to win another WCAL crown and its first CCS crown since 2009: "We talked after the game that it's one of the better teams in Serra's history and we took a moment to reflect on that. ... To see this group come together and learn how to play sellflessly, without ego, that's so hard to accomplish in today's dynamic."

They needed all that togetherness to take De La Salle's first big blow.

It was two-run rally in the first started by back-to-back doubles from Sullivan and Spangler, a single to Castro and sacrifice fly from Bubba Vargas, it was all Padres (28-7) over the next five innings.

Unwavering, battle tested and not at all intimidated, Serra totally shut down the high-powered De La Salle attack behind ace Riley Lim, who settled down to pitch four scoreless innings while allowing one squib hit.

He gave way to Davis Minton, who worked a scoreless sixth before the Spartans finally got their bats back going again.

In the meantime, the Padres struck for two in the third on a two-run double by Minton and took the lead 3-2 in the fourth on an RBI single from Aaron Maier, scoring Tyler Harrison who reached on just De La Salle’s 24th error of the season.

In the seventh, they gave Minton an insurance run on a one-out RBI double by Evan Bradshaw — his third hit of the game, moving Ian Josephson to third.

Minton’s fly ball to right looked plenty deep enough to give Serra a three-run lead, but Josephson, nursing a tender hamstring, stumbled somewhat heading to the plate and Baumgartner sent a perfect one-hop rocket to the plate for the inning-ending double play.

De La Salle catcher Zach Tchejeyan held on to the throw and the play evidently gave the Spartans momentum heading into the bottom of the seventh.

“He’s going to Fresno State to play football, but he could definitely play baseball there too,” Sullivan said.

No matter what he accomplishes at the next level, he'll never have a moment quite like this. He said the team was based on having faith in the next guy, "and it was just my turn. It was a high chopper. I'm pretty fast. I knew I was going to get there. Once I saw the ball chop up I was like 'I'm there.' Got there, celebrated."

Indeed, Baumgartner might have run faster while being chased down the right field line to start the much anticipated dog pile, one the Spartans yearned for after being defeated twice last season by league rival Granada.

"Amazing feeling," he said about being chased. "Best feeling in baseball ever."

Check back for much more on this game later