High School

St. John Bosco baseball wins CIF title with extra-inning walk-off over Santa Margarita

Miles Clark has etched himself in St. John Bosco baseball lore after his walk-off heroics Friday night.

Tarek Fattal

St. John Bosco celebrates its dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Santa Margarita in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025.
St. John Bosco celebrates its dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Santa Margarita in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025. / Heston Quan

In front of a sold-out crowd, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final delivered.

Southern California is known for its hotbed of high school baseball talent, and it was on display Friday night at Cal State Fullerton as St. John Bosco defeated Santa Margarita 3-2 in nine innings to lift the coveted CIF championship plaque under the bright lights at Goodwin Field.

Miles Clark delivered a walk-off single to finish the never-ending game, which lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes.

It was only St. John Bosco's second all-time CIF finals appearance after last year's Division 3 title game, which ended in a 2-1 loss to Beckman, according to the CIF record books.

Clark's walk-off wasn't the only drama ...

Santa Margarita's Brennan Bauer, who came into the championship game allowing just one earned run during the postseason, was able to get out of a jam in the bottom of the 7th when St. John Bosco had the bases loaded and just one out. Bauer was able to get the last two outs on pop ups to keep the Eagles alive.

California high school baseball: St. John Bosco
St. John Bosco celebrates its dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Santa Margarita in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025. / Heston Quan

In the ensuing inning (top of the 8th), St. John Bosco got out of the inning by turning a double play with two Santa Margarita runners on and one out. In the 9th inning, St. John Bosco's Noah Everly made a SportsCenter Top 10-worthy play in left field with a dramatic diving catch while Santa Margarita had runners on.

Santa Margarita (20-13) was making its second Division 1 final appearance since 2023, which resulted in a 1-0 loss to JSerra.

St. John Bosco (27-4) took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning thanks to a two-RBI single from Moises Razo scored James Clark and Jaden Jackson. Santa Margarita cut the deficit in half in the 2nd inning when Brody Schumaker's RBI double scored Lucas Owens.

California high school baseball: St. John Bosco
St. John Bosco celebrates its dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Santa Margarita in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025. / Heston Quan

Santa Margarita knotted the game at 2-2 when Blake Ankrum's squeeze bunt scored Amaris Perez in the 5th.

It was the fourth time the two teams met this season after St. John Bosco beat Santa Margarita two out of three times during Trinity League competition.

PHOTOS

High school baseball: Noah Everly diving catch.
St. John Bosco's Noah Everly makes a spectacular diving catch in left field during the 9th inning of an eventual 3-2 victory over Santa Margarita in the CIF-SS Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025. / Donn Parris
High school baseball: Miles Clark
Miles Clark hits a walk-off single in the 9th inning to give St. John Bosco a 3-2 win over Santa Margarita in the CIF-SS Division 1 final at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 30, 2025. / Donn Parris

CIF FINAL SCHEDULE

FRIDAY AT CS FULLERTON
DIVISION 1: St. John Bosco 3, Santa Margarita 2 (9 innings)

SATURDAY AT CS FULLERTON
DIVISION 9: Mountain View vs. Nuview Bridge, 10AM
DIVISION 6: Estancia vs. Marshall, 1PM
DIVISION 3: San Dimas vs. Glendora, 4PM
DIVISION 2: West Ranch vs. Mater Dei, 7:30PM

SATURDAY AT LONG BEACH ST.
DIVISION 8: Fillmore vs. Pioneer, 10AM
DIVISION 7: Notre Dame/Riverside vs. Mary Star, 1PM
DIVISION 4: Dos Pueblos vs. Ganesha, 4PM
DIVISION 5: Long Beach St. Anthony vs. Elsinore, 7:30PM

FINAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

The final CIF Southern Section Top 25 rankings were released before the start of the 2025 postseason. Corona, St. John Bosco, Huntington Beach and Crespi were ranked No. 1 through 4, respectively.

NO. 1 SEEDS

D1: Corona (26-2)
D2: La Habra (19-9)
D3: Colony (22-6)
D4: Woodridge (19-9)
D5: Northwood (12-15)
D6: Shadow Hills (12-14)
D7: Channel Islands (12-13)
D8: Colton (10-16)
D9: Loma Linda Academy (13-0)

HOW CIF USES COMPETITIVE EQUITY TO MAKE PLAYOFFS

feed

Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school sports news.

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: 

Download iPhone App | Download Android App

Published |Modified
Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

Home/California