Winning streak survives: Incredible defensive play sparks De La Salle rally in NCS D-I baseball semifinals
CONCORD – Jamie Mullin stretched and used every bit of his 6-foot-3 frame as he dove toward the third base line and snagged a sharply hit College Park ground ball. The De La Salle fielder then popped up and rifled a bullet over to first base to end the top of the fifth inning.
Not only did the spectacular play at the hot corner save a run and prevent the visiting Falcons from building upon their two-run lead, but it was the emotional catalyst of De La Salle’s 7-3 come-from-behind victory on Tuesday in the North Coast Section Division I semifinals.
“That play got us emotionally back into the game,” De La Salle coach David Jeans said after his team improved to 20-6.
“I just laid out and gave it everything I had on that ball,” Mullin said. “It worked out and I made the throw, thank God, and definitely got the energy up and rolling after that one.”
Brandon Vargas, who went 2 for 3, continued that momentum with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alec Blair drove him in on a sacrifice fly, and then Tyler Spangler later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 3-3.
The Spartans broke things open in the sixth inning, when Vargas drove in two with a single and Joe McGee got another runner across on a grounder. Spangler finished the scoring with a single to make it a four-run lead with one inning to play.
“Our team has talent all the way through it,” said Vargas, the No. 9 hitter in the order. “This was a big team win.”
De La Salle’s mind-boggling playoff win streak, which started in 2016, went to 33 after the gutsy victory.
But the Spartans will have their work cut out for them if they want to see that number improve to 34.
De La Salle will play No. 1 seed Granada at Livermore High on Friday. The Matadors defeated Acalanes 6-0 in the other semifinal, and the Livermore program took down DLS 5-4 in the regular season.
“That’s going to be another grind, for sure,” Mullin said.
The second-seeded Spartans reached the semifinals in dominating fashion after run-ruling both No. 15 Liberty and No. 7 Heritage. Meanwhile, College Park blanked Berkeley 2-0 in the first round, and then slipped past feisty Castro Valley 3-2 to set up the game against the Concord powerhouse.
College Park struck first when junior leadoff hitter Connor Berkowitz went from first to home on Vincent “Tino” Vassel’s double into center field. De La Salle answered in the second with Mullin’s sacrifice fly, which was deep enough to score Tripaldi.
Once the Falcons got back to the top of the order, Berkowitz was hit by a pitch, moved over to third with a Vassel single, and then came home when ace pitcher Nathan Leffel hit a sac fly.
Berkowitz, as he did all four times he came up to the plate, got on base in the fifth inning and then scored via a Leffel single into right field to give College Park a 3-1 lead.
But after Mullin’s web gem stranded runners on the corners to end the top of the fifth inning, the game turned in De La Salle’s favor.
“They did what they do, which is putting the ball in play and putting the pressure on,” Berkowitz said before adding, “I’ll be working my butt off this summer.”
After Graham Schlicht went 4 ⅓ innings, reliever Jack Karst and closer Tommy Curran combined to pitch 2 ⅔ scoreless innings to propel DLS into the title game and give the team a chance to win a seventh consecutive NCS title.
“I’ll enjoy this one tonight, and then tomorrow I’ll worry about Granada,” Jeans said.