SANTA CLARA — When Santa Clara trailed Oakland Tech by five runs in the CIF NorCal Division IV quarterfinals on Tuesday, there was doubt in the Bruins’ dugout.

“A lot of guys were down,” senior Zach Gallegos said.

But Santa Clara wasn’t out. Drew Diffenderfer’s two-run double gave the Bruins life, cutting the deficit to three and sparking a sustained comeback that ultimately resulted in a one-run lead.

Oakland Tech responded with two runs in the sixth. Santa Clara retorted with a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie it.

Then in the seventh, it was Gallegos who ensured Santa Clara’s dream season would last at least two more days. With two runners on and one out, Gallegos ripped a single to left-center, scoring Kalani Tesimale to cap an improbable 10-9 win and advance the Bruins to the semifinals for the first time in school history.

“Just try to hit something hard, try to hit something through a gap,” Gallegos said. “I knew I had to step up for my guys.”

Santa Clara (28-3) relied on contributions from several players to get back in the game. Diffenderfer’s two-out single in the fourth was the spark that made the Bruins believe.

Jaxton Chao had a two-run single in the fourth after Diffenderfer’s hit, then Greg Salgado scored two runs in the fifth when he reached on an error, giving Santa Clara an 8-7 lead.

“We hadn’t been punched in the mouth for a while,” Santa Clara coach Pedro Martinez said. “All of sudden, you get in this tournament, and it’s one and done. We got ourselves together.”

The hits didn’t stop when the Bruins went up. Oakland Tech (17-10) was game for a comeback, too.

Diego Delgado led off the sixth with a single and scored when Elijah Rucker ripped a single to left, tying the game.

Gyasi Rapier followed with a single to right, then Lee Tshohane’s ground ball to second slipped under a glove, giving the Bulldogs the lead right back.

“Our boys showed a lot of heart,” Oakland Tech coach Chris McClarty said.

But Santa Clara answered when Andrew Traffas drove in Chao, who had walked to lead off the inning and then stole second base.

The tying run gave pitcher John Kepner, who had navigated traffic in the sixth, a second wind. Kepner pitched a shutdown seventh, setting the stage for Gallegos’ walk-off heroics.

The comeback was a testament to Santa Clara’s nine-player senior class, which has won the Bruins’ first-ever CCS championship and their first NorCal game.

“You guys are freakin’ cockroaches and you know it,” Martinez told his team after the game. “You just won’t die.”

And the Bruins are not done yet. Santa Clara will travel to face No. 2 West Valley of Cottonwood on today at 4 p.m.