The Woodland Christian High School varsity baseball team earned its 10th win in a row and seventh shutout of the season this week in Sacramento.
The Cardinals (16-3, 5-0 Central Valley California League) have won 16 of their last 17 contests. The latest victory came at Encina Prep (1-9, 0-3) on Monday afternoon by a final score of 15-0 in five innings. Woodland Christian tallied 22 total hits against the Bulldogs, scored 11 runs in the first frame and 1 in the second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
“How we keep them up is going home and practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday because we have a game on Thursday and a big one against Vacaville Christian on Saturday,” said coach John Rodegerdts. “What we’re trying to do here at the end of the season is to be all business. We want to get these other games out of the way and then concentrate on the teams that matter.”
Two pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter. Senior right-hander Abriean Eredia (3-0) earned the win by pitching the first 3.0 innings, allowing 1 walk, 1 stolen base and 1 hit by pitch with 6 strikeouts on 38 pitches. Junior RHP Alejandro Torres tossed the final 2.0 frames in relief, giving up 2 walks, 4 swiped bags and 1 HBP with 5 Ks on 35 pitches.
“We beat them like we should but there are some things that we could’ve done better,” recalled junior third baseman Kyle Misner. “We had some people we could’ve thrown strikes to but we didn’t. We just need to focus on strikes instead of velocity.”
Junior outfielder Garry Mann led the way offensively, going 3-for-3 with a game-high 3 runs batted in, 1 (inside the park) home run, 1 run scored and 1 walk. Sophomore first baseman Jayden Badhesha also went 3-for-3, with 2 runs, 1 double, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base.
“Garry stayed focused and didn’t play down to their level,” Misner recalled. “He hit one in the first inning very well.”
Eight Cardinals reached base in each of their at-bats: Badhesha, Mann, Armaan Badhesha, Wyatt Bickel, Parker Howald, Gabriel Sanchez, Wyatt Trafican and Jordan Villanueva. Ten Woodland Christian batters recorded one RBI, respectively: Bickel, Eredia, Howald, Misner, Sanchez, Trafican, Villanueva, Jeffrey Nannini and Owen Tessier. The speedy junior OF, Tessier, also tallied a game-high 3 stolen bags.
“It’s just remembering that sometimes these games will happen and we have to come back against those good teams and know when to be on it,” explained Misner, who got to play catcher and bat lefty versus Encina. “Catching was fun just showing my coaches what I can do. Hopefully they put in a good word for me later on so I can catch more. Batting lefty was sort of a childhood thing going back that far. I was trying to see if I still have it.”
Four regular season games remain for the Cardinals. Woodland Christian has two remaining this week, both at Joseph Trafican Memorial Field. The Cardinals host the Bulldogs for a rematch on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Woodland Christian battles for the Crusaders Cup against Vacaville Christian (10-2) on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We’ve gotta win. We know they’re a good team, gonna bring and going to try as hard as they can,” Misner foreshadowed. “We have to have our mindset there. We’ve played and beaten good teams so we just need to go in their focused.”
The Cardinals will join the Falcons in the Sierra Delta League next year, making this weekend’s clash a rivalry preview.
“The cup thing is great but we’re not worried about it. We’re worried about playoffs,” Rodegerdts foretold. “We need to come out with victories against the tougher teams that we’re facing right now. That’s going to be a playoff team and win or lose, we need to play well. That’s our only focus. I had forgotten about the Crusader’s Cup but we’re completely focused for May 8, which is the start of the playoffs.”
