Senior Dan Vogelbach stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with two out, the bases empty and a tie score. His 17 home runs during the season weighed heavily on the strategy and the ultimate outcome before he saw the first pitch.

“I thought for sure he would get a chance to hit in that situation,” said Bishop Verot coach Tom LoSauro. “They chose to walk him and in hindsight you can’t argue with that strategy. He has a flair for the dramatic, but walking him it takes perhaps two hits to score.”

That’s exactly what the Vikings did, winning the state Class 3A baseball championship Thursday night with a dramatic 4-3 win over Pensacola Catholic in Port St. Lucie.

“There was a lot of euphoria on the field,” said LoSauro. “To win it like that was unbelievable. There was mass chaos.”

Nick Rivera followed Vogelbach to the plate and lined a shot off the leg of Crusaders relief pitcher Cody Alling for a single.

Senior Hudson Boyd, who pitched a complete-game two-hit shutout victory Wednesday to get the Vikings to the championship game, then singled off the third baseman’s glove. The ball caromed through the shortstop hole into shallow left field as Vogelbach scampered around third and slid across home plate with the game-winning run.

It was Boyd’s first hit in his final two games as a Vikings player.

“With two out, Dan got a good jump off second,” said LoSauro. “It would have been easier to take it to the eighth tied 3-3, but it was worth taking a shot and it wasn’t close at the plate.”

The Vikings (28-4), who won the Class 2A state title in 1994, never had the lead in the game until the final play. Pensacola Catholic (27-5) scored an unearned run in the second inning to lead 1-0, but Verot answered with Evan Dougherty’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

The Crusaders took a 3-1 lead in the third on a two-run single up the middle with one out by Tanner Halstead. Again the Vikings answered with two in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 3-3.

Josh Garcia (2-for-4) reached on a throwing error and Thomas Dougherty singled to center. With the bases loaded, Garcia scored on a passed ball and Rivera tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right.

Verot starting pitcher D.J. Schleicher settled down to hold the Crusaders scoreless until loading the bases with two out in the sixth inning. Senior Keith Ryan relieved and slammed the door on an infield pop fly.

“They were a battling bunch of guys,” said LoSauro. “Both teams had chances to score, but pitched out of it.”

The Vikings had one of those chances in the bottom of the sixth when Frank Romano doubled to left with two out, but was left stranded. The Vikings left a total of eight runners on base compared to five for the Crusaders.

The Crusaders sent Alling to the hill for the seventh inning in relief of starter Michael Yarborough. Alling coaxed Garcia to ground out and Thomas Dougherty to fly out to open the inning and bring Vogelbach to the plate to start the fateful rally.

“Hudson had been swinging the bat well in the playoffs, so I knew he could come through and he got the base hit,” said LoSauro.

The Vikings had phenomenal fan support despite playing three hours from home. Several busloads of students made the trek for Wednesday’s semifinal game, a 6-0 victory over Mount Dora.

A large contingent of adults and Verot alumni made the trip Thursday.

“The three-hour bus ride over seemed endless,” said LoSauro, “but the bus ride home seemed over in the blink of an eye.”

The bulk of the Vikings’ starting lineup will be back next year.

“We’ve been very fortunate at Verot to have good players go through the program,” said LoSauro. “The guys coming back will be a formidable group.”

Pensacola Catholic012 000 0 – 3 6 1

Bishop Verot012 000 1 – 4 8 3

W – Ryan. L – Alling.

2B – Haefeli (BV), Garcia (BV), Romano (BV). LOB – Catholic 5, Verot 8.