De La Salle edges Serra in thriller: CIF NorCal high school baseball regional championship roundup

Lance Smith

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De La Salle edges Serra in thriller: CIF NorCal high school baseball regional championship roundup image

Five CIF NorCal regional baseball championship closed out California's 2024-25 high school sports year in style on Saturday.

All five came down to one run, and that's as good as it gets. None more high-profile than a thriller between De La Salle and Serra in pursuit of the overall NorCal crown.

Here's a quick roundup of the five regional championships in Northern California baseball.

DIVISION I: De La Salle 5, Serra (San Mateo) 4

Known for their flair for the dramatic, the Spartans rallied in the bottom of the seventh from down 4-2 to win on a walk-off infield single from Niko Baumgartner that drove in Antonio Castro. Before that, Ethan Sullivan got it going with a single, Tyler Spangler and Castro both hit one-run doubles, and Alec Blair was intentionally walked.

De La Salle had opened the scoring with a two-spot in the first inning from the same bats as Sullivan and Spangler hit doubles and Spangler later scored on a sacrifice fly by Bubba Vargas. Davis Minton tied the game up in the third with a two-run double and Serra took the lead an inning later on an unearned run driven in by Aaron Meier. The Padres upped their lead to 4-2 in the top of seventh on a one-run double from Evan Bradshaw.

The Spartans finish as section and regional champions with an undisputed No. 1 ranking in Northern California. Despite the gutting loss, Serra still ends 2025 with a Central Coast Section title and runner-up finish in NorCal.

DIVISION II: Yuba City 3, Saint Francis (Mountain View) 2

After both teams put up a two-spot in the first inning, no more runs were scored until Yuba City won in the seventh.

Brandon Pelechowicz got the complete game victory with four hits, two runs, and zero earned runs allowed, and he also hit an RBI triple and scored. Max Guth and Ashton Decker drove in the Honkers' other runs, and Cesar Guizar and Julian Garcia both went 2-3.

DIVISION III: Rancho Cotate 2, Roseville 1

Rancho Cotate won its first regional title as Jett Derammelaere (4.1 innings) and Camden Henington (2.2 innings) combined for a two-hitter with no earned runs allowed. Derammelaere also went 1-2 with an RBI double and a walk. Marshall Lemons went 1-3 with a fifth-inning double and scored what would prove to be the game-winning run on a single from Luke Morie. Jeremiah Olvera went 1-3 and scored The Ranch's other run. Jacob Welch hit a single and was driven in by Austin Chang for Roseville's only run.

DIVISION IV: Menlo School 2, Santa Clara 1

Jackson Flanagan spearheaded a one-run effort from a four-man Menlo pitching rotation with four scoreless innings against one hit and no walks allowed. Zach Roeder and KC Chavinson scored the Knights' only runs in the fourth, and they were driven in by Ben Salama and Fletcher Cahill. Roeder finished 2-3.

Andrew Trafas scored Santa Clara's only run in the sixth inning after reaching on a single and later getting driven in by Drew Diffenderfer. Diffenderfer went 2-3, and Connor Houle went 2-4. Despite picking up the loss, Jaxton Chao turned in a strong performance for the Bruins with five hits and two earned runs allowed in five innings. John Kepner allowed no baserunners in two scoreless innings of relief.

DIVISION V: Etna 6, Stevenson 5

Etna exploded for five runs in the first inning and it was nearly enough. But Stevenson held the Lions scoreless for five innings after that and chipped away at the deficit in the fifth, six, and seventh to tie it up before Etna responded to win in the bottom of the inning.

Emmett Stacher led the way for Etna with one earned run (three total) and four hits allowed in five innings on the mound, plus two walks and one run scored on offense. Clayton Harris hit 2-3 with a home run, drew a walk, and scored two runs. Stevenson was led by Finn Thomas, who tossed four scoreless innings with just one run allowed and hit 2-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBI.

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Lance Smith

Lance has covered high school basketball, football and softball since 2019. A graduate of The USC Marshall School of Business, Smith dabbles in linear algebra and football and basketball computer rankings.